Nym Coy explains how you can use VS Code in combination with Claude Code and ChatGPT Codex to turbo-charge your writing:
Programmers may already be familiar with VS Code and its AI extensions for coding. But there’s no rule that says you have to use it for code. It turns out the same setup—file browser, text editor, AI assistant in a sidebar—works surprisingly well for writing fiction.
This isn’t a guide on how to write. Everyone has their own process. This is just a workspace setup that happens to work well for AI-assisted fiction.
Why VS Code?
VS Code is a free code editor, which sounds intimidating, but it’s really just a text editor with a good file browser. The useful part: you can install extensions that add AI assistants directly into the workspace. So you get your files, your draft, and Claude all visible at once without switching apps…This is where ChatGPT’s Codex is useful. It’s good at file manipulation. Give it instructions like:
“Combine the files in my Draft Scenes folder into chapters using my chapter plan. Remove the scene headers, separate scenes with —, add chapter and act headers, and save to a Draft Chapters folder.”
It writes a Python script, runs it, done. It can also convert the manuscript to .docx and .epub.
Just remember this before you start writing your Great American Novel. It’s very helpful to have something to say before you try to say it. AI is a tool, a powerful tool, but it doesn’t have the creative spark.
Supplying that is your job.
In other code-related news, the SG devs have put out a call for volunteers.