🎓 LiveCode Mentor

AI-powered coding tutor inside VS Code — real-time explanations, error detection, execution tracing, and personalized learning for beginner programmers.

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✨ What is LiveCode Mentor?

Beginner programmers often struggle to understand why their code works — not just whether it runs. LiveCode Mentor sits right inside VS Code and acts as your personal coding tutor, explaining your code as you write it, detecting mistakes before you even run it, and adapting to your skill level over time.

No more switching between your IDE, StackOverflow, and ChatGPT. Everything you need to learn while you code is in one place.

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🚀 Features

🧠 Real-Time AI Explanations

Paste or write code and instantly get a plain-English explanation tailored to your experience level — beginner, intermediate, or expert. Powered by Llama 3.3 70B via Groq API.

🐛 Mistake Detection

Automatically detects common beginner errors:

• Off-by-one errors in loops
• Infinite while True loops with no break
• Mutable default arguments in functions

📊 Complexity Analysis

Every explanation includes Time & Space Complexity with Big-O notation and a plain-English reason — so you actually understand why it's O(n log n).

🔍 Deep DSA Classification

Automatically detects algorithm types: Binary Search, Dynamic Programming, Two Pointer, Graph BFS/DFS, Backtracking, Sliding Window, and 10+ more — and gives algorithm-specific explanations.

📈 Step-Through Execution Tracer

Watch your Python code execute step by step — see exactly what each variable holds at every line. Like a debugger, but explained in English.

🧪 Auto Test Generator

Automatically generates test cases and runs them against your code — no manual test writing needed.

🗺️ Flow Diagram Generator

Converts your code into a Mermaid.js flowchart — visualize your logic at a glance.

📚 Smart Recommendations

Get LeetCode problem suggestions and learning articles matched to exactly what you're practicing right now.

🏆 Gamification System

Earn points and badges as you code:

• 🐛 Bug Squasher — Fix your first bug
• 🧭 DSA Explorer — Use 3 different DSA concepts
• 💯 Century — Reach 100 points
• 🔥 On a Roll — Code 3 days in a row
• ...and more!

🎯 Line-by-Line Explanation

Right-click any line → "LiveCode Mentor: Explain This Line" — get a deep-dive explanation of exactly that line in context.

🔄 Adaptive Learning Mode

Switches between Learning Mode (beginner-friendly analogies) and Developer Mode (concise technical summaries) based on your preference.

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📦 Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

1. Open VS Code
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+X to open Extensions
3. Search for "LiveCode Mentor"
4. Click Install

From Command Line

Install the latest version from the marketplace:

code --install-extension payal-mak.livecode-mentor

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🖥️ How to Use

1. Install the extension
2. Click the 🎓 LiveCode Mentor icon in the Activity Bar (left sidebar)
3. Open any .py, .js, .cpp, or .java file
4. Start coding — explanations appear automatically!

Available Commands

Command	Description
LiveCode Mentor: Explain This Line	Right-click any line for a deep explanation
Reanalyze	Manually trigger analysis of current file
Generate Flow	Create a flowchart of your code
Set Mode	Switch between Learning / Developer mode

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🌐 Backend & Privacy

LiveCode Mentor uses a cloud-hosted Python backend deployed on Render.

• Backend URL: https://livecode-mentor.onrender.com
• Your code is sent to the backend for AI analysis via the Groq API (Llama 3.3 70B model)
• Code is processed in real-time and not stored permanently
• Progress, scores, and badges are stored locally in a lightweight database

⚠️ Note: The free-tier backend may take up to 30 seconds to respond after a period of inactivity (Render cold start). This is normal — please wait for the first response.

Custom Backend

If you want to run your own backend:

git clone https://github.com/Payal-mak/LiveCode-Mentor
cd LiveCode-Mentor/backend
pip install -r requirements.txt
# Add your GROQ_API_KEY to .env
uvicorn main:app --reload

Then update the setting in VS Code:

Settings → LiveCode Mentor → Backend URL → http://localhost:8000

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🛠️ Supported Languages

Language	Explanations	Mistake Detection	Step-Through	Auto Tests
Python	✅	✅	✅	✅
C++	✅	✅	❌	❌
JavaScript	✅	❌	❌	❌
Java	✅	❌	❌	❌

Full execution features currently support Python only. C++ and JavaScript support coming soon!

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🧩 Extension Settings

Setting	Default	Description
livecodeMentor.backendUrl	https://livecode-mentor.onrender.com	Backend server URL

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📋 Requirements

• VS Code ^1.110.0
• Internet connection (for AI analysis)
• No local Python installation needed!

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🐞 Known Issues

• First request after inactivity may take 30–60 seconds (Render free tier cold start)
• Step-through execution only works for Python files
• Very large files (>500 lines) may have slower analysis

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📝 Changelog

0.0.2

• Connected to cloud-hosted backend (no local setup needed)
• Fixed icon format for Marketplace compatibility
• Improved .vscodeignore for smaller package size

0.0.1

• Initial release
• Real-time AI code explanations
• Mistake detection (Python)
• Execution tracer
• Flow diagram generation
• Auto test generation
• Gamification system (badges + scores)
• LeetCode recommendations

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🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or pull request at: github.com/Payal-mak/LiveCode-Mentor

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👩‍💻 Author

Payal Makwana — B.Tech ICT, Marwadi University

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📄 License

MIT © 2025 Payal Makwana