SideCar review
A free VS Code assistant with agentic edits, inline help, and security scanning.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
SideCar is an open-source AI coding assistant extension for Visual Studio Code, aimed at developers who want agent-driven code changes alongside inline help. Its agent loop can read and edit project files, run commands and tests, then iterate on failures. It also includes chat, inline completions, multi-file edit planning, Git operations, and security scanning. The product is free and supports Windows, macOS, and Linux through VS Code environments.
Its main distinction is the combination of an agent loop and code-context extraction. SideCar uses AST-based extraction for JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, Rust, Go, and Java/Kotlin. That defined language coverage is useful for teams working in those ecosystems, but offers less evidence of equivalent context depth for other languages. Model Arena lets developers compare multiple models, while the extension can connect to Ollama, Anthropic API, OpenAI-compatible servers, and MCP servers. MCP client/server support adds a route to tool-connected workflows without changing the editor focus.
SideCar itself is free, though hosted model providers may charge separately; local Ollama use is an option for workflows intended to run locally. This makes it worth considering for developers who want to choose between local and hosted models, and who value testing iterations, security checks, and natural-language Git operations in the editor. It is a less direct fit for people seeking an assistant for editors beyond VS Code or broader stated language-context coverage. The published feature set covers useful coding workflows, but it remains centered on the extension rather than an editor-independent development environment.
SideCar pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Agent loop can edit files, run tests, and iterate on failures
- Offers inline completions, chat, multi-file edits, and Git operations
- Includes security scanning and MCP client/server support
- Where it doesn't
- AST-based code context extraction is specified for a limited language set
- Hosted model providers may charge separately
- Focused on Visual Studio Code rather than other editors
SideCar fact sheet, pricing and score →
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