AI Assistance¶

truST exposes project-aware AI tooling in the desktop extension and a separate external Agent API for scripted automation. The boundary is tool scope: editor AI works inside VS Code; Agent API serves external scripts, CI, and repair loops.

Two AI Surfaces¶

Surface	Best for	What it can use today
Editor AI tools	VS Code-side assistance while you are working in the project	ST diagnostics, hover, symbols, definitions, references, completions, signature help, rename edits, formatting edits, code actions, file reads/writes, HMI bindings/layout/patch/validation/preview/journey tools, telemetry, settings, and debug actions
Agent API	non-editor automation, CI, repair loops, and harness execution	project info, workspace read/write, diagnostics, formatting, build, validate, test, compile/reload, runtime reload, and deterministic harness methods

Editor AI Tools¶

The VS Code extension contributes typed language-model tools instead of asking an AI assistant to guess from free-form text alone.

VS Code AI tools diagnostics flow

Figure: A VS Code-side AI workflow should call typed truST tools, read diagnostics, apply an auditable edit, and rerun validation instead of guessing from chat context alone.

flowchart LR Prompt[Engineer prompt] Tools[Editor AI tools] Diagnostics[Diagnostics and symbols] Files[Read, range, edit] HMI[HMI plan, patch, validate, preview] Debug[Debug and runtime actions] Validate[Validated truST path] Prompt --> Tools Tools --> Diagnostics Tools --> Files Tools --> HMI Tools --> Debug Diagnostics --> Validate Files --> Validate HMI --> Validate Debug --> Validate

Figure: AI assistance routes through typed truST tools. The same diagnostics, HMI validation, and runtime/debug paths remain visible to the engineer.

Use the editor AI tools when you want the assistant to:

read diagnostics before editing
inspect definitions, references, symbols, hover, completion, or signature help
read a file or range before applying edits
preview formatting or rename edits
inspect HMI bindings and descriptor layout
apply HMI descriptor patches through typed operations
validate or preview HMI changes before accepting them
start, attach, reload, or open the runtime I/O panel for debug-oriented work

Evidence:

Tool registration lives in editors/vscode/src/lm-tools.ts.
Tool declarations live in editors/vscode/package.json.
The desktop extension test suite includes a drift guard in lm-tools-contract.test.ts.

AI Capability Matrix¶

Capability	Editor AI tools	Agent API
read diagnostics	yes, through typed LSP tools	yes, through `lsp.diagnostics`
inspect symbols, definitions, references, hover, signature help	yes	partial; use editor/LSP surfaces for full navigation
edit files	yes, through file/range/edit tools	yes, through workspace read/write methods
build, validate, and test	no direct editor-AI tool; use CLI or Agent API	yes
compile and reload	partial debug/reload helpers	yes, through runtime methods
deterministic harness loops	no	yes
HMI descriptor planning and validation	yes	no direct v1 HMI authoring surface
HMI runtime writes	policy-controlled by runtime/HMI authorization	policy-controlled by runtime/HMI authorization

Agent API¶

Use trust-dev agent serve when the AI workflow should be scriptable outside the editor:

trust-dev agent serve --project ./my-plc

The Agent API is the right path for:

build, validate, and test loops
compile/reload loops
deterministic harness execution
CI and hosted-worker automation
repair workflows that need structured machine-readable results

Start here:

Guardrails¶

AI uses the same validated pathways as human engineers: diagnostics drive edits, typed tool calls expose the available operation, runtime validation confirms the result, and HMI authorization decides whether writes are allowed.

Editor AI tools and Agent API methods have different scopes. Use the One Project, Every Surface matrix when you need the exact boundary.

Useful Prompts¶

For editor work:

Read the diagnostics for this ST file, inspect the referenced definitions, then propose the smallest edit.

For HMI work:

Inspect the available HMI bindings and current layout, then dry-run a descriptor patch for a readonly status widget.

For automation:

Use the Agent API loop: read project info, run diagnostics, build, validate, and only then propose a reload.