Project Info

Twist & Code

Inspiration

The developer community is one of the most underserved audiences when it comes to purpose-built hardware. Creative professionals have consoles, dials, and shortcut decks tuned to their workflows — but developers are largely left with just a keyboard and mouse, even though a huge amount of daily work is repetitive: opening a terminal, scrolling through logs, reaching for an AI assistant, switching context dozens of times an hour. We saw the Logitech MX Creative Console and asked a simple question: why should this only serve designers and video editors? A developer's "day in the life" — jumping between the editor, the terminal, and now AI coding assistants like GitHub Copilot — is exactly the kind of repetitive, physical friction a console like this could remove. We pitched this idea, and it resonated further than we expected: Logitech's Global Hardware & Software Product Manager reached out directly after seeing our pitch, and asked us to help build out exactly this category of plugin — starting with in-editor AI agent access and navigation simplification for developers.

What it does

Twist & Code turns the Logitech MX Creative Console into a physical control surface for Visual Studio Code. The plugin detects when VS Code is the active, focused application and automatically switches the console into a VS Code-specific action profile. When you switch away, it steps back out of the way. Once active, it gives developers: Open/Focus GitHub Copilot Chat — one button press opens Copilot Chat if it's closed, or brings it to focus if it's already open. Open/Focus Integrated Terminal — reveals and focuses the terminal, reusing the existing terminal instance instead of spawning duplicates. Rotary scroll for the Terminal — turn a dial clockwise or counter-clockwise to scroll terminal output down or up. Rotary scroll for the Editor — the same gesture scrolls your active file, without touching the cursor position. Send Prompt to Copilot — the most ambitious action: opens Copilot Chat, focuses the prompt box, inserts a prompt, and submits it — all from the console. The result: a developer can open an AI agent, scroll code, and manage their terminal without ever reaching for keyboard shortcuts or breaking flow.

How we built it

We built the entire plugin using Codex with GPT-5.6, treating it as our primary engineering partner rather than an autocomplete tool. Our approach: Architecture first. We had Codex study the Logitech Actions SDK's documented capabilities before writing any code, explicitly ruling out invented or undocumented APIs. Separation of concerns. We identified early that some features — like injecting text directly into Copilot Chat's input box — couldn't be done by the Logitech plugin alone. So we had Codex design a minimal companion VS Code extension that exposes just the necessary hooks through documented VS Code extension APIs, with a defined communication channel between the plugin and the extension. Production-grade code, not a demo. We pushed for a complete TypeScript project: manifest, icons, build scripts, structured logging (INFO/WARN/ERROR/DEBUG), and full error handling for edge cases like VS Code restarts, Logitech Options+ restarts, multiple VS Code windows, and no active workspace. Documentation as a deliverable. Setup, build, packaging, and troubleshooting instructions were generated alongside the code so the plugin is installable and testable by anyone, not just us.

Challenges we ran into

SDK boundaries. The Logitech Actions SDK can't reach into VS Code's internal UI elements (like the Copilot Chat input box). We had to design a companion extension and a communication bridge rather than force a hacky workaround. Avoiding fragile automation. Our early instinct was to lean on keyboard shortcut simulation for reliability, but we deliberately constrained ourselves to official VS Code commands wherever possible, only falling back to simulated input where no documented API existed. Reliability across restarts. Making sure the plugin correctly re-detects VS Code focus and reconnects to the companion extension after VS Code or Logitech Options+ restarts required careful state handling, not just a happy-path implementation. Staying within documented capability. It was tempting to assume SDK features that would have made things easier — we held the line on only using confirmed, documented functionality.

Accomplishments we're proud of

Going from a hackathon pitch to a real collaboration request from Logitech's Global Hardware & Software Product Manager within the event window. Shipping a genuinely production-ready plugin — not a proof of concept — with no placeholder code, no TODOs, and full error handling. Solving the "text injection into Copilot Chat" problem cleanly, with a proper companion extension architecture instead of a keyboard-simulation hack. Building something that addresses a real, everyday friction point for developers, using hardware that wasn't originally designed with developers in mind.

What we learned

How much of a developer's daily friction is physical and repetitive, not just cognitive — and how removing that friction with dedicated hardware controls can meaningfully improve flow. How to responsibly extend a hardware SDK with a companion software layer when the SDK's documented capability has a hard boundary, rather than reaching for undocumented or fragile workarounds. How effective Codex with GPT-5.6 is as a build partner for a project that spans a hardware SDK, a VS Code extension, and cross-process communication — accelerating architecture decisions as much as the code itself.

What's next

Expand the action library based on direct feedback from Logitech's product team, including more navigation-simplification actions for developers. Support for additional editors and IDEs beyond VS Code. Package and submit through Logitech's official plugin distribution channel so any MX Creative Console owner in the developer community can install it directly.

VS Code MX Creative Console

Cross-platform MX Creative Console controls for Visual Studio Code, Codex, Claude Code, and Microsoft Excel.

Architecture

flowchart LR
  MX[MX Creative Console / Actions Ring] --> LP[Logi Plugin Service]
  LP --> NP[Native C# application plugin]
  NP --> VS[VS Code localhost bridge]
  VS --> CE[Codex + Claude Code extensions]
  NP --> HUB[Excel control hub]
  HUB --> OA[Office.js Excel add-in]

The production Logitech plugin is in native-plugin/. It is a C# ClientApplication plugin that activates for Code.exe and uses documented Logitech command and adjustment classes. The VS Code bridge uses public commands exposed by the installed Codex and Claude Code extensions. The Excel path uses Office.js rather than COM, AppleScript, or UI automation.

Available MX actions

Area	Actions
VS Code	Open VS Code, Copilot Chat, Terminal, editor scroll, terminal scroll
Codex	Open sidebar, new agent, open command menu, add active file to thread
Claude Code	Open, new conversation, focus input, Plan/Manual mode for the next conversation, accept/reject proposed changes
Excel	Open Excel, Home, End, create PivotTable, create chart, Copilot guidance

Codex and Claude model pickers, private chat controls, and arbitrary model questions intentionally remain inside their extensions. No supported public VS Code commands exist to control those private UI elements, so this project does not simulate clicks or keystrokes.

Requirements

Windows 10/11 or macOS with Logi Options+ and an MX Creative Console
.NET SDK 10 for the native plugin build
Node.js 22 for the VS Code bridge and Excel control hub
Visual Studio Code with openai.chatgpt and/or anthropic.claude-code
Excel desktop with Office.js support for Excel actions

Build

For a complete Windows release build (native package, VSIX, control-hub integration test, and Excel compilation):

.\scripts\build-release.ps1

Install the resulting native development link into Logi Options+ and the VSIX into VS Code:

.\scripts\install-windows.ps1

Native Logitech plugin

cd native-plugin
& 'C:\Program Files\dotnet\dotnet.exe' build -c Release

The post-build target links the plugin into Logi Plugin Service. Confirm the native plugin loaded by checking:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Logi\LogiPluginService\Logs\plugin_logs\VsCodeMxConsoleNative.log

VS Code bridge

cd vscode-extension
npm install
npm run package
code --install-extension .\logitech-vscode-bridge-1.0.0.vsix --force

Reload VS Code, then run Logitech VS Code: Show Bridge Status. Use the Logitech VS Code Bridge Output channel to inspect requests.

Excel control hub and add-in

cd control-hub
npm install
npm run build
npm start

Host excel-addin/public/ over HTTPS and update excel-addin/manifest.xml to the trusted host before sideloading it into Excel. Keep the task pane open while using Excel controls. The control hub uses localhost ports 48732 (native TCP) and 48733 (Office.js polling).

Copy excel-addin/public/config.example.js to config.js and place the shared token in it before hosting the task pane.

Configuration

In Logi Options+, enable Adapt to App for the Creative Console.
Focus VS Code and assign actions from VS Code MX Console to buttons, dials, or Actions Ring controls.
The first VS Code profile is blank until actions are assigned. Disable Adapt to App temporarily to return to the general profile.
For Copilot prompts, run Logitech VS Code: Set Copilot Prompt.

Bridge security

The components bind only to loopback. Before deployment, generate a unique random token of at least 32 characters and configure the same value in all components:

MX_CONSOLE_BRIDGE_TOKEN for Logi Plugin Service and the control hub.
logitechVsCode.bridgeToken in VS Code user settings.
excel-addin/public/config.js for the locally hosted task pane.

The included default token exists only to make first-run local development possible and emits warnings. Restart Logi Options+ after changing its environment. Set MX_CONSOLE_ADDIN_ORIGIN on the control hub when the task pane is hosted somewhere other than https://localhost:3000.

Testing

Native build succeeds with zero errors.
VsCodeMxConsoleNative.log reports registered dynamic actions.
VS Code Output shows Bridge request received after an MX action.
Codex/Claude actions open the appropriate VS Code extension command surface.
Claude proposed-diff actions only run when a proposed diff is active.
Excel task pane displays MX Console Excel bridge ready; test Home, End, PivotTable, and chart operations against a sample workbook.

Run npm test in control-hub/ for authenticated queue integration coverage. Complete HARDWARE-ACCEPTANCE.md on both Windows and macOS before publishing a release.

Platform notes

Windows defaults: Code.exe, code, excel, and %LOCALAPPDATA%\Logi\LogiPluginService\Plugins.
macOS defaults: VS Code bundle com.microsoft.VSCode, open -a "Visual Studio Code", open -a "Microsoft Excel", and the user Logi Plugin Service plugin directory.
Override non-standard Windows launch/process detection with MX_CONSOLE_VSCODE_COMMAND, MX_CONSOLE_EXCEL_COMMAND, MX_CONSOLE_VSCODE_PROCESS, and MX_CONSOLE_VSCODE_BUNDLE.

Project structure

native-plugin/     Native C# Logitech application plugin
vscode-extension/  VS Code bridge extension
control-hub/        Local Excel command queue
excel-addin/        Office.js Excel task pane
src/ + index.ts     Legacy Node SDK experiment retained as reference

Official references

Analysis

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Technology

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PythonClaimed

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AI coding agents

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Codebase size

Source size

53 KB

Source files

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