VS Code extension

Context Porter

Export your AI assistant session and project context to clean Markdown for fast handoff between tools, teammates, or fresh chats — free and offline in VS Code.

VS Code Marketplace ↗ Open VSX ↗ Source on GitHub ↗

Key takeaways

Context Porter is a free Visual Studio Code extension that export your AI assistant session and project context to clean Markdown for fast handoff between tools, teammates, or fresh chats — free and offline in VS Code.
It runs entirely offline inside the editor and keeps your files on your own machine.
Install it free from the Visual Studio Marketplace or Open VSX in seconds.
Core capabilities include new export file — Creates a timestamped Markdown file under context-exports/ with YAML front matter, then a Session snapshot: workspace root listing, a sample of project files (scanned *.md, *.ts, etc., excluding node_modules), tab bar titles, open buffers, git branch (searching upward for a repo), optional selected text, plus template sections for summary and transcript; cursor Composer / chat (experimental) — When running inside Cursor, the extension can read local SQLite used by Cursor (globalStorage/state.vscdb and the current workspace’s workspaceStorage/.../state.vscdb) and pull rows whose keys look like Composer / chat / bubble data. Prompts, replies, and “thinking” may appear inside those JSON blobs. This is best-effort and breaks when Cursor changes storage; there is still no official API. Toggle with contextporterext.importCursorLocalHistory. If import is empty, paste from the chat panel into Transcript or use Append Clipboard to Session Log; session log — Append titled notes or clipboard content to SESSION.md in the same folder.

Context Porter is a Visual Studio Code extension that exports AI session and project context to Markdown so you can hand it off to other tools (ChatGPT, Claude, docs, tickets) without retyping everything.

Repository: github.com/michaelsam94/contextporterext

Compatibility: Development and day-to-day use are in Cursor. The same VSIX may run in stock VS Code or Claude-based / other VS Code forks, but those environments are not fully tested yet—if something breaks outside Cursor, open an issue with your editor and version.

Features

New export file — Creates a timestamped Markdown file under context-exports/ with YAML front matter, then a Session snapshot: workspace root listing, a sample of project files (scanned *.md, *.ts, etc., excluding node_modules), tab bar titles, open buffers, git branch (searching upward for a repo), optional selected text, plus template sections for summary and transcript.
Cursor Composer / chat (experimental) — When running inside Cursor, the extension can read local SQLite used by Cursor (globalStorage/state.vscdb and the current workspace’s workspaceStorage/.../state.vscdb) and pull rows whose keys look like Composer / chat / bubble data. Prompts, replies, and “thinking” may appear inside those JSON blobs. This is best-effort and breaks when Cursor changes storage; there is still no official API. Toggle with contextporterext.importCursorLocalHistory. If import is empty, paste from the chat panel into Transcript or use Append Clipboard to Session Log.
Session log — Append titled notes or clipboard content to SESSION.md in the same folder.
Secret-safe by default — Heuristic redaction for common tokens (API keys, JWTs, Bearer headers, PEM blocks, env-style assignments, and more). Optional extra regex list in settings.
Path privacy — Optional omission of absolute workspace paths in front matter (folder names only), suitable for external prompts.
Optional AI review (VS Code) — When the Language Model API is available (for example with GitHub Copilot Chat in VS Code), you can send the sanitized export to the IDE-connected model for a second-pass leak check. Forks such as Cursor may not expose this API; heuristic redaction still applies.

Commands

Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P):

Command	Description
Context Porter: New Export File	Create a new context Markdown file.
Context Porter: Append to Session Log	Append an optional title and short note to the session log.
Context Porter: Append Clipboard to Session Log	Append clipboard text (sanitized) in a fenced block.
Context Porter: AI Review Active File (IDE model)	Sanitize the open file and append an IDE model review section (when available).

Settings

ID	Default	Description
`contextporterext.exportFolder`	`context-exports`	Output folder relative to the workspace folder.
`contextporterext.sessionLogFileName`	`SESSION.md`	Session log file name inside the export folder.
`contextporterext.toolLabel`	(empty)	Override the `tool` field in front matter; otherwise uses the app name.
`contextporterext.sanitizeExports`	`true`	Enable heuristic secret redaction.
`contextporterext.omitFullWorkspacePaths`	`true`	Omit absolute paths in front matter.
`contextporterext.extraRedactRegex`	`[]`	Additional RegExp sources for custom redaction.
`contextporterext.aiReview`	`ask`	`off` / `ask` / `always` — optional LM review after a new export.
`contextporterext.importCursorLocalHistory`	`true`	In Cursor, try to import Composer/chat-related rows from local SQLite into new exports (experimental).

Privacy and limitations

Automatic redaction is best-effort, not a guarantee. Review exports before sharing.
AI review sends sanitized text to your IDE’s language model provider when you confirm (or when set to always). Read your provider’s terms.
This extension does not read proprietary chat databases from Cursor or other vendors; it focuses on files you export through these commands.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Context Porter VS Code extension?

Context Porter is a free Visual Studio Code extension by Michael Samuel Naeem that export your AI assistant session and project context to clean Markdown for fast handoff between tools, teammates, or fresh chats — free and offline in VS Code. It runs inside the editor so document work stays next to your code and notes.

How do I install Context Porter?

Open the Extensions view in VS Code and search for "Context Porter", or install it from the Visual Studio Marketplace or the Open VSX registry. No account or sign-in is required.

Is Context Porter free to use?

Yes. Context Porter is free on both the Visual Studio Marketplace and Open VSX, and its source code is published on GitHub for review.

Does Context Porter work offline?

Yes. Context Porter processes files locally inside VS Code, so it works without an internet connection and your documents never leave your machine.

What can Context Porter do?

Key capabilities include new export file — Creates a timestamped Markdown file under context-exports/ with YAML front matter, then a Session snapshot: workspace root listing, a sample of project files (scanned *.md, *.ts, etc., excluding node_modules), tab bar titles, open buffers, git branch (searching upward for a repo), optional selected text, plus template sections for summary and transcript; cursor Composer / chat (experimental) — When running inside Cursor, the extension can read local SQLite used by Cursor (globalStorage/state.vscdb and the current workspace’s workspaceStorage/.../state.vscdb) and pull rows whose keys look like Composer / chat / bubble data. Prompts, replies, and “thinking” may appear inside those JSON blobs. This is best-effort and breaks when Cursor changes storage; there is still no official API. Toggle with contextporterext.importCursorLocalHistory. If import is empty, paste from the chat panel into Transcript or use Append Clipboard to Session Log; session log — Append titled notes or clipboard content to SESSION.md in the same folder.

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