Get Started

Your First Five Minutes

Where things sit in the window, how to open the command palette, and how to get from an empty window to a project you can run.

The layout at a glance

The window is split into a few regions. They stay put, no matter what you are working on.

Activity Bar

The narrow strip on the far left. Each icon switches the side bar: Explorer, Search, Source Control, Run and Debug, Extensions, and Gyaanmitra AI.

Side Bar

The panel next to the Activity Bar. What you see depends on the icon you picked. Most of the time it is the file Explorer.

Editor Groups

The large area in the middle, where files open as tabs. Split it vertically or horizontally when you want more than one file in view.

Panel

The area under the editor. The Terminal, Problems list, Output logs, and Debug Console live here.

Secondary Side Bar

A second side bar on the right. Gyaanmitra AI sits here by default, so the conversation stays next to your code.

Status Bar

The thin strip along the bottom. It shows the branch name, the language, your line and column, and progress for any background task.

The Command Palette is the fastest way to do anything

Press Ctrl + Shift + P (Cmd + Shift + P on macOS) from anywhere and type what you want to do. Opening a settings page, changing a theme, running a task, toggling word wrap: if Gyaanmitra can do it, you can reach it from here. That is usually faster than hunting through a menu.

A few worth memorizing early:

Command	Windows / Linux	macOS
Command Palette	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`P`	`Cmd`+`Shift`+`P`
Quick Open (go to file)	`Ctrl`+`P`	`Cmd`+`P`
Toggle integrated terminal	`Ctrl`+`	`Ctrl`+`
Open Gyaanmitra AI	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`I`	`Cmd`+`Ctrl`+`I`
Open Settings	`Ctrl`+`,`	`Cmd`+`,`

You can see and change every one of these in Keyboard Shortcuts (Ctrl + K Ctrl + S). See Keyboard Shortcuts for the full list.

From blank window to running project

1

Open a folder, not a file

Gyaanmitra is built around a workspace. Use File → Open Folder… so you get the Explorer tree, search across files, Source Control, and the right IntelliSense.

2

Let the editor find your files

Press Ctrl + P and start typing a filename. Quick Open matches loosely across the workspace, so pkgjson finds package.json.

3

Open a terminal

Press Ctrl + ` for a terminal that starts in your project folder. Run your install and build commands there. See Terminal.

4

Bring in Gyaanmitra AI

Open the AI panel and ask about the project you just opened. It reads your files for context on its own. See Gyaanmitra AI Overview.

5

Check your work live

If you are building a UI, open the Integrated Browser beside your code and point it at your local dev server.

Zen Mode, when you need to focus

Press Ctrl + K Z to hide every panel except the editor. Press Esc twice to bring the rest back.