PowerShell EX — Advanced PowerShell for VS Code & Antigravity IDE

🚀 The most powerful PowerShell integration for VS Code and AI-driven development

Created by Vitaly Golik (mjojo)

🏆 Why PowerShell EX is Better Than Other Extensions

vs. Official PowerShell Extension

🎯 Key Advantages

1. 💰 Token-Optimised for AI Agents
   Every byte returned to an AI costs money. PowerShell EX aggressively minimises output:

   • ANSI escape codes stripped automatically (invisible to AI, waste tokens)

   • invoke_cmdlet returns only meaningful fields — Get-Process goes from 911 KB → ~300 bytes (−99.9%)

   • Compact JSON serialisation (no pretty-print whitespace)

   • Output capped at configurable maxOutput chars (default 4 000)

   • Completions cached for 5 s — no redundant process spawns

2. 🤖 AI-First Architecture
   Built from the ground up for AI agents. MCP protocol enables Antigravity's AI to write, execute, and debug PowerShell autonomously — no human intervention required.

3. ⚡ Lightning Fast
   No bloated language server. Direct PowerShell execution with minimal overhead. Extension activates in under 1 second.

4. 🔒 Secure Execution
   Scripts are written to temp files — no shell injection possible. Input validation on all cmdlet names.

5. 📊 Smart Analysis
   PSScriptAnalyzer integration via temp-file approach. Get actionable suggestions, not just warnings.

6. 🎨 Beautiful Themes
   ISE-inspired themes for developers who love the classic look. Dark and light variants included.

7. 🔌 Zero Configuration
   Works out of the box. Auto-detects PowerShell 7 or falls back to Windows PowerShell 5.1.

Related MCP server: PowerShell MCP Server

✨ Features

MCP Tools for AI Agents

MCP Resources

Token Savings — Benchmarks

VS Code Integration

• 🎹 F8 — Run selection / current line in PS terminal

• 📖 Ctrl+F1 — Show help for symbol under cursor

• 🔍 Real-time diagnostics via PSScriptAnalyzer (on save)

• 💡 Hover docs for cmdlets (Get-ADUser, Set-AzVM, etc.)

• 🎨 Syntax highlighting for .ps1, .psm1, .psd1, .pssc, .psrc

📦 Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/mjojo/PowerShellEX.git
cd PowerShellEX

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build
npm run build

Or install the pre-built VSIX directly:

code --install-extension powershell-ex-1.2.0.vsix

🔧 Usage

In VS Code

PowerShell EX works out-of-the-box as a standard VS Code extension:

• Execute Code: Select code and press F8 to run it in the terminal.

• Get Help: Place cursor on a cmdlet and press Ctrl+F1 for instant documentation.

• Diagnostics: PSScriptAnalyzer provides real-time feedback on file save.

• Hover Docs: Hover over cmdlets for syntax and synopsis.

In Antigravity (AI Agents)

Add to your Antigravity MCP settings (.gemini/antigravity-ide/mcp_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "powershell": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["d:/Projects/PowerShellEX/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Example — AI Agent calls

// Minimal — AI gets clean output, no ANSI noise
{ "tool": "execute_powershell", "code": "Get-Date" }

// Invoke cmdlet — returns only Name, Id, CPU (not 911 KB)
{ "tool": "invoke_cmdlet", "cmdlet": "Get-Process",
  "parameters": { "Name": "pwsh" } }

// Completions — cached, fast, compact
{ "tool": "get_completions", "code": "Get-", "cursorPosition": 4 }

// Increase output cap for large scripts
{ "tool": "execute_powershell", "code": "...", "maxOutput": 20000 }

📋 Requirements

• Node.js 18+ (LTS recommended)

• PowerShell 7+ (pwsh) — auto-detected; falls back to Windows PowerShell 5.1

• PSScriptAnalyzer module (optional, for analyze_script tool)

# Install PSScriptAnalyzer
Install-Module -Name PSScriptAnalyzer -Scope CurrentUser -Force

🛠️ Development

npm run build    # Production build (TypeScript → dist/)
npm run watch    # Watch mode with hot reload
npm run lint     # ESLint
npm run package  # Build + package → .vsix

🗺️ Roadmap

• MCP server with 6 AI agent tools

• PSScriptAnalyzer integration (temp-file, injection-safe)

• Token optimization — ANSI strip, compact JSON, output cap, TTL cache

• Configurable execution timeout

• Smart field selection in invoke_cmdlet (depth=2, selectProperties)

• PowerShell 7 / Windows PowerShell auto-detection + fallback

• GitHub Actions CI with automatic VSIX packaging

• PowerShell Session Manager (persistent process, stateful sessions)

• Debugging support (breakpoints, stepping via DAP)

• Remote PowerShell sessions (SSH, WinRM)

• PowerShell Notebook support (.psnb)

• Performance profiler integration

📄 License

MIT © 2024-2026 Vitaly Golik (mjojo)

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