Claude Code vs ISFS. Has anyone cracked how to get one to see the other?
I'm starting to play more with AI enabled coding.
I've been using Github Copilot inside Visual studio code, which is very good at coming up with autocomplete suggestions that are accurate and useful. (Along with some utter rubbish, naturally).
For web development I'm starting to use Claude Code in VS Code to help create web sites and integrations. I want to see how it can help with IRIS development.
However I can't get claude to read any iris code directly as I'm connected to my server via isfs server connections. Asking Claude about it gives an answer that it can't read the files, despite them being displayed in the editor.
A quick example on an open class file:
I can't locate the file — the path C:\SalesLedger\PrintStatement.cls doesn't appear to exist on disk from my perspective. Could you share the file path as it appears in your file explorer, or paste the file contents directly here?
Since I don't want to change the way I'm working with the IRIS files, (as in keeping them on the remote server, using deltanji for source control), does anyone have any suggestions on how I might be able to have Claude see the files.
Copying and pasting the file contents to a chat window is not going to be a usable workflow so despite it's suggestion that's a non starter.
Claudes answer to this was as follows:
The additional complication for you specifically is the InterSystems setup. Claude Code works with files on your local filesystem or in a terminal-accessible workspace. Files held on an IRIS server accessed via InterSystems Server Manager are presented in VS Code through a virtual filesystem (the isfs:// scheme) — they don't sit on local disk. Claude Code is unlikely to interact cleanly with those files since it can't reach them via normal filesystem tools or the terminal.
Practical options worth considering:
- For agentic/chat-style help: Claude Code is fine for discussing your ObjectScript logic, reviewing code you paste in, or helping you write classes — just not for directly editing server-side files autonomously.
- For true inline autocomplete with Claude's models: The Continue extension (separate from Claude Code) supports Claude via the Anthropic API and does provide Copilot-style ghost text completions. It's worth a look if autocomplete is what you're after.
- Keep Copilot for autocomplete, add Claude Code for bigger tasks: VS Code's own multi-agent vision positions these tools as complementary — use Copilot for autocomplete-style assistance and Claude Code for complex reasoning tasks.
Given the IRIS/virtual filesystem constraint, you may find Claude Code most useful as a thinking partner and code generator that you then paste into the VS Code editor, rather than an agent that edits your server-side files directly. Would you like help configuring any of these options?
I asked for clarification on option 2 and it walked back the idea as apparently the product no longer, (5 minutes later), does what claude suggested it did!
Comments
@Mark Charlton This is blocked by VS Code issue #227970, which is dependent on the VS Code team finalizing the two proposed APIs that our main extension consumes. We do not know when this will be resolved. The best way to develop with AI and IRIS is to get your files on the local file system and edit them there (what we call "client-side editing"). AI tools are very good at working with files.
Thanks for the update. I figured it would most likely be down to the file exposure from the VS Code team. I wasn't sure if there was any clever work arounds to get that visibility. I know the community can be inventive!
I'll cross my fingers and hope they get a move on then. I don't really want my files client side, and as of yet, the AI benefit isn't high enough to justify the change of strategy, but we'll see how that goes with time.