VS Code / Cursor Node Skill

Control a VS Code or Cursor IDE remotely through the OpenClaw Node protocol.

OpenClaw Node for VS Code — The VS Code/Cursor extension you need to install (required)
cursor-ide-agent — Combined skill with both CLI and Node paths (install this instead if you also use Cursor CLI)
Source: github.com/xiaoyaner-home/openclaw-vscode

Prerequisites

Extension openclaw-node-vscode installed and connected (status bar 🟢)
Node visible in nodes status
Commands in Gateway's allowCommands whitelist

Invocation Pattern

nodes invoke --node "<name>" --invokeCommand "<cmd>" --invokeParamsJson '{"key":"val"}'

Both invokeTimeoutMs (Gateway internal) and timeoutMs (HTTP layer, must be larger) are required for long operations.

Timeout guide:

Type	invokeTimeoutMs	timeoutMs
File/editor/lang	15000	20000
Git	30000	35000
Test	60000	65000
Agent plan/ask	180000	185000
Agent run	300000	305000

Command Categories

Category	Prefix	Key Commands	Reference
File	`vscode.file.*`	read, write, edit, delete	commands/file.md
Directory	`vscode.dir.*`	list	commands/file.md
Language	`vscode.lang.*`	definition, references, hover, symbols, rename, codeActions, format	commands/language.md
Editor	`vscode.editor.*`	active, openFiles, selections	commands/editor.md
Diagnostics	`vscode.diagnostics.*`	get	commands/editor.md
Git	`vscode.git.*`	status, diff, log, blame, stage, commit, stash	commands/git.md
Test	`vscode.test.*`	list, run, results	commands/test-debug.md
Debug	`vscode.debug.*`	launch, stop, breakpoint, evaluate, stackTrace, variables	commands/test-debug.md
Terminal	`vscode.terminal.*`	run (disabled by default)	commands/terminal.md
Agent	`vscode.agent.*`	status, run, setup (Cursor only)	commands/agent.md
Workspace	`vscode.workspace.*`	info	commands/editor.md

Quick Examples

Read a file

nodes invoke --node "my-vscode" --invokeCommand "vscode.file.read" --invokeParamsJson '{"path":"src/main.ts"}'
→ { content, totalLines, language }

Find all references

nodes invoke --node "my-vscode" --invokeCommand "vscode.lang.references" --invokeParamsJson '{"path":"src/main.ts","line":10,"character":5}'
→ { locations: [{ path, line, character }] }

Git status + commit

nodes invoke --node "my-vscode" --invokeCommand "vscode.git.status"
→ { branch, staged, modified, untracked, ahead, behind }

nodes invoke --node "my-vscode" --invokeCommand "vscode.git.stage" --invokeParamsJson '{"paths":["src/main.ts"]}'
nodes invoke --node "my-vscode" --invokeCommand "vscode.git.commit" --invokeParamsJson '{"message":"fix: resolve type error"}'

Delegate to Cursor Agent

nodes invoke --node "my-vscode" --invokeCommand "vscode.agent.run" --invokeParamsJson '{"prompt":"Add error handling to all API endpoints","mode":"plan"}' --invokeTimeoutMs 180000 --timeoutMs 185000
→ { output, exitCode }

Common Workflows

See references/workflows.md for detailed step-by-step workflows:

Fix a type error
Safe cross-file refactor
Delegate complex task to Cursor Agent

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
`node command not allowed`	Not in Gateway whitelist	Add to `gateway.nodes.allowCommands`
`node not found`	Extension not connected	Check extension status bar
`timeout`	Operation too long	Increase both timeout params
`path traversal blocked`	Path outside workspace	Use relative paths only
`read-only mode`	Extension in read-only	Disable `openclaw.readOnly` setting

Security

All paths are relative to workspace root — absolute paths and ../ blocked
Writes respect readOnly and confirmWrites extension settings
Terminal disabled by default, whitelist-only when enabled
Each device has unique Ed25519 identity, must be approved by Gateway

vscode-node