aws / aws/aws-toolkit-vscode

Amazon Q Intellij plugin: /dev does not work.

Open
#8,784 1 comment 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
bug
Dominant language
TypeScript
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

Note, this issue was previously raised, but was closed without resolution or reason. I don't have permission to reopen, so am re-raising it in hope of getting this feature working as expected.

Problem
I want amazon q to find and work on multiple files, without having to give the actual file names every time.
Amazon q tells me that because @workspace does not work, I should used /dev command.... to do it in dev mode.

/dev find and fix all remaining Joda-Time usages across the codebase, replacing with java.time equivalents and remove any joda-time dependencies from pom files

But when I do this, it gives this error:

"To add your workspace as context, enable local indexing in your IDE settings. After enabling, add @workspace to your question, and I'll generate a response using your workspace as context.

Open settings
I can help with that, but I should let you know that /dev mode needs to be triggered from the Amazon Q chat input in your IDE — it's not something I can activate from within this conversation.

To use it:

Open the Amazon Q chat panel in VS Code

Type /dev at the start of a new message in the chat input box

Type your task after it:"

When I follow these instructions, it just gives the above error.

Steps to reproduce the issue
type /dev xxx
Expected behavior
Well, amazon q tells me that this should put it in /dev mode, which will allow amazon q to "see" the files in the workspace and do stuff with them, instead of me having to tell amazon q every individual file it should work on.

System details (run AWS: About and/or Amazon Q: About)
OS: Win 11
Visual Studio Code version: intellij 2025.2.2 (Community Edition)
AWS Toolkit version: 3.97.252
Amazon Q version: 4.1.252 AWS

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start by reproducing `/dev xxx` from the Amazon Q chat input using the reported Windows, IntelliJ, AWS Toolkit, and Amazon Q versions, while comparing the response's VS Code instructions with the reported IntelliJ environment. Trace the chat command and workspace-context entry points; done means `/dev` accepts a task in the reported IDE and can use workspace files without requiring each filename.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
typescript, vscode
Domain
developer-experience, devtools
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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