# Clone in VS Code, Cursor and other editors

> Add "Clone from Diffinery" to VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf and VSCodium, sign in with your passkey, and clone, push and publish without tokens.

Source: https://diffinery.com/docs/repositories/clone-in-your-editor

When you clone a repository in VS Code or Cursor, the clone picker offers **Clone from GitHub**. The Diffinery extension adds **Clone from Diffinery** next to it, lists your repositories, and signs Git in for you, so clone, pull and push work without a token or password. It works in every editor built on VS Code: VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium and others.

![VS Code's clone picker: "Provide repository URL or pick a repository source", with Clone from Diffinery listed under remote sources.](https://diffinery.com/docs/images/editor-clone-picker.webp)

## 1. Install the extension

Run this in a terminal on the computer with the editor. It installs the extension into every VS Code-based editor it finds:

```sh
curl -fsSL https://diffinery.com/install-editor | bash
```

On Windows, in PowerShell:

```powershell
powershell -c "irm https://diffinery.com/install-editor.ps1 | iex"
```

To install into one editor only, use the editor's own command:

| Editor | Command |
| --- | --- |
| VS Code | `curl -fsSLo diffinery.vsix https://diffinery.com/-/vscode/diffinery.vsix && code --install-extension diffinery.vsix` |
| Cursor | `curl -fsSLo diffinery.vsix https://diffinery.com/-/vscode/diffinery.vsix && cursor --install-extension diffinery.vsix` |
| Windsurf | `curl -fsSLo diffinery.vsix https://diffinery.com/-/vscode/diffinery.vsix && windsurf --install-extension diffinery.vsix` |
| VSCodium | `curl -fsSLo diffinery.vsix https://diffinery.com/-/vscode/diffinery.vsix && codium --install-extension diffinery.vsix` |

Without a terminal: download [diffinery.vsix](https://diffinery.com/-/vscode/diffinery.vsix), open the **Extensions** view, choose **…** (Views and More Actions) → **Install from VSIX…**, and pick the file.

The extension comes from diffinery.com rather than a marketplace, and keeps itself up to date from there: once a day it checks for a newer build and offers to install it (checked against the SHA-256 that diffinery.com publishes).

## 2. Clone a repository

1. Open the Command Palette (`Ctrl+Shift+P`, or `Cmd+Shift+P` on a Mac) and run **Git: Clone**, or choose **Clone Repository** on the editor's welcome page.
2. Choose **Clone from Diffinery**.
3. The first time, the editor asks to sign in with Diffinery. Choose **Allow**, then **Sign in to diffinery.com** (or **Use another Diffinery server…** for a [self-hosted Diffinery](#self-hosted-diffinery)): your browser opens Diffinery's consent page.
4. On the consent page, check that it says **Diffinery extension for VS Code and Cursor**, published by diffinery.com, keep **Act as** set to you and **Access** set to **Write**, and choose **Connect**. The browser shows **You're signed in to Diffinery**; close the tab and go back to the editor.
5. Back in the editor, pick a repository. The list shows your repositories and your organizations', most recently pushed first. Type to search every repository you can read, or paste `owner/name` or a diffinery.com link.
6. Choose a folder. The editor clones the repository and opens it.

![Diffinery's consent page for the editor extension: "Connect Diffinery extension for VS Code and Cursor to Diffinery", an app published by diffinery.com that sends you back to an app on this computer, with Act as set to you and Write access selected.](https://diffinery.com/docs/images/editor-consent.webp)

![The Diffinery repository list in VS Code's clone picker, each repository with whether it's private or public and its description.](https://diffinery.com/docs/images/editor-repositories.webp)

**Diffinery: Clone Repository** in the Command Palette goes straight to the Diffinery list.

## Check that it works

- The **Accounts** menu (the person icon at the bottom of the Activity Bar) shows your Diffinery login.
- In the cloned repository, `git pull` and `git push` in the editor's terminal or the Source Control view work without asking for a password.
- On diffinery.com, **Settings → Access tokens → Connected apps** lists **Diffinery extension for VS Code and Cursor**.

## Open in your editor from diffinery.com

Every repository's **Clone** box on diffinery.com has **Open in VS Code**, **Cursor**, **Windsurf** and **IntelliJ IDEA** buttons. They use the editors' own clone links, so they work even without the extension: your browser asks to open the editor, and the editor asks where to clone. For a private repository, the extension (or, in IntelliJ IDEA, the [JetBrains plugin](https://diffinery.com/docs/repositories/clone-in-jetbrains-ides)) signs Git in when Git asks; without it, Git asks for your username and an [access token](https://diffinery.com/docs/accounts/tokens).

The links follow this pattern, if you want to put them in a README or a script:

```text
vscode://vscode.git/clone?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiffinery.com%2Facme%2Fwebsite.git
cursor://vscode.git/clone?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiffinery.com%2Facme%2Fwebsite.git
windsurf://vscode.git/clone?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiffinery.com%2Facme%2Fwebsite.git
jetbrains://idea/checkout/git?idea.required.plugins.id=Git4Idea&checkout.repo=https%3A%2F%2Fdiffinery.com%2Facme%2Fwebsite.git
```

## Publish a local repository to Diffinery

In a repository that has commits but no remote, choose **Publish Branch** in the Source Control view (or run **Git: Publish to…**) and pick **Publish to Diffinery**. Choose the owner (you or one of your organizations), the name and whether it's private or public. The extension creates the repository, adds it as the `origin` remote and pushes the branch.

## How sign-in and Git passwords work

- Signing in uses Diffinery's [OAuth sign-in](https://diffinery.com/docs/connect/how-sign-in-works), the same one Claude and Codex use. The extension never sees your passkey. It gets a token that lasts 8 hours and renews itself while the editor runs; after 30 days unused the connection lapses and the editor asks you to sign in again.
- When Git needs a password for diffinery.com, the editor answers with your signed-in account. Git may save that password in your computer's credential helper (the macOS keychain, Git Credential Manager on Windows, libsecret on Linux). The extension keeps that saved copy current each time the token renews, and removes it when you sign out, so Git in a terminal keeps working while the editor is open.
- **Diffinery: Sign Out**, or signing out from the Accounts menu, disconnects the editor on Diffinery too. **Disconnect** under **Settings → Access tokens → Connected apps** does the same from the website.
- **Diffinery: Sign In with an Access Token** uses a token you paste instead, for an [agent](https://diffinery.com/docs/agents/overview) account or a browser-based editor. Create one under **Settings → Access tokens** with Write access. A pasted token isn't renewed and isn't revoked when you sign out.

## Settings

| Setting | Default | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `diffinery.serverUrl` | `https://diffinery.com` | The Diffinery to sign in to. For a self-hosted Diffinery, its address; see below. |
| `diffinery.gitAuthentication` | `true` | Answer Git's password prompts for the server with your signed-in account, and keep Git's saved copy current. |
| `diffinery.checkForUpdates` | `true` | Check the server once a day for a newer build of the extension. |

## Self-hosted Diffinery

The extension works with any Diffinery, such as one your company runs at `https://git.example.com`. Install it from your server, so it also updates itself from there:

```sh
curl -fsSL https://git.example.com/install-editor | bash
```

On Windows: `powershell -c "irm https://git.example.com/install-editor.ps1 | iex"`.

Then point the extension at your server, in any of these ways:

- **Installed with your server's script:** when the extension starts, it asks **The Diffinery extension was installed from https://git.example.com. Sign in, clone and push there?** Choose **Use git.example.com**. (Editors can't set a setting from their command line, so the script leaves the address in `~/.config/diffinery/editor-server`, or `%USERPROFILE%\.config\diffinery\editor-server` on Windows, and the extension asks once.)
- **The first sign-in:** the extension asks **Which Diffinery do you use?** Choose **Use another Diffinery server…** and enter the address, such as `git.example.com`.
- **Any time:** run **Diffinery: Use Another Server…** from the Command Palette and enter the address. Enter `diffinery.com` to go back.
- **By hand:** set `diffinery.serverUrl` to `https://git.example.com` in your user settings.

The extension checks that a Diffinery answers at the address before it uses it (an address must use `https`, except `http://localhost` for a server on your computer). Each server keeps its own sign-in, so switching back doesn't sign you out. Git's passwords are answered for the server in `diffinery.serverUrl` only.

## JetBrains IDEs

IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, GoLand and the other JetBrains IDEs have their own Diffinery plugin, which adds **Diffinery** to **Get from Version Control** with the same passkey sign-in: see [Clone in JetBrains IDEs](https://diffinery.com/docs/repositories/clone-in-jetbrains-ides).

## Other editors and Git tools

Any Git client clones Diffinery repositories over HTTPS with your username and an access token: see [Git](https://diffinery.com/docs/repositories/git). For Git in any terminal, even with the editor closed, let the [`diffinery` CLI](https://diffinery.com/docs/repositories/git#let-the-cli-handle-credentials) answer Git's password prompts: `diffinery login`, then `diffinery auth setup-git`. Git then asks the CLI first, and the editor's sign-in is used only inside the editor.

## Troubleshooting

| What you see | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| No **Clone from Diffinery** in the picker | Check the extension is installed and enabled in the Extensions view, then reload the window (**Developer: Reload Window**). It needs the editor's built-in Git support (`git.enabled`). |
| The browser opens but the editor doesn't continue after **Connect** | The browser hands the answer to the editor on a one-time address on your computer (`127.0.0.1`). Make sure the editor is still running and the sign-in notification is still showing, then try again. A firewall or proxy that blocks local addresses stops it; use **Diffinery: Sign In with an Access Token** instead. |
| "This app isn't registered with Diffinery" on the consent page | `diffinery.serverUrl` points at a server that doesn't have the editor sign-in yet. Use **Diffinery: Sign In with an Access Token**, or update the server. |
| Git still asks for a password | Check `diffinery.gitAuthentication` is on, and that the remote URL is on diffinery.com (`git remote -v`). An old saved password for diffinery.com in your keychain can win; remove it, and the extension's renewals keep the new one current. |
| `Authentication failed` once after the editor was closed for hours | Git used a saved token that had expired; it has now forgotten it. Run the command again, from the editor. |
| An editor that isn't listed (another VS Code fork) | It works the same way: the extension needs only the editor's built-in Git support. |

## For AI agents reading this page

- To clone a Diffinery repository yourself, use Git with a token (`git clone https://diffinery.com/OWNER/REPO.git`, with your token as the password through a credential helper), or the [MCP server](https://diffinery.com/docs/agents/mcp)'s tools. The extension is for people using an editor.
- When a person asks how to open a Diffinery repository in VS Code, Cursor or Windsurf, point them to this page: they run `curl -fsSL https://diffinery.com/install-editor | bash`, then **Git: Clone → Clone from Diffinery**. Don't try to complete the browser sign-in for them.
- For a self-hosted Diffinery, they run the same script from their server (`curl -fsSL https://git.example.com/install-editor | bash`) and choose **Use git.example.com** when the editor asks, or run **Diffinery: Use Another Server…**. Don't edit their `settings.json` for them.
- For connecting an editor's AI (Cursor's agent, VS Code's Copilot Chat) to Diffinery's MCP server, see [Other apps](https://diffinery.com/docs/connect/other-apps).