Inspiration
The rapid evolution of web standards inspired us to help developers avoid accidental adoption of unsupported features. Many devs waste hours troubleshooting browser-specific bugs, so we wanted to solve this with reliable, actionable guidance directly in the code editor.
What it does
BaseLens is a VS Code extension that scans code for web platform features and instantly shows whether each feature is safe to use, based on Baseline data. It highlights risky APIs in real-time and suggests alternatives, empowering developers to ship compatible code with confidence.
How we built it
we combined the web-features npm package with VS Code's extensibility API. Our extension parses JavaScript, CSS, and HTML files for feature usage, queries Baseline data, and overlays compatibility warnings or confirmations inline. We built and refined the UI iteratively, with a focus on minimal disruption to the coding flow.
Challenges we ran into
key challenges included parsing edge-case code patterns, ensuring the extension performed quickly on large files, and mapping feature usage to canonical Baseline web features. Integrating up-to-date data efficiently and handling overlapping compatibility issues also required extra engineering effort.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We're most proud that BaseLens can parse complex files in milliseconds and highlight issues before code reaches production. Early user feedback highlights the extension's ease of use and its impact in preventing bugs. We also open-sourced our data mapping logic for others to improve.
What we learned
We learned a lot about the intricacies of cross-browser support and the subtleties of feature detection in real-world code. Balancing speed, accuracy, and seamless UX was a rewarding challenge, and we gained new skills in both tool design and open-source collaboration.
What's next for Base in
Next, we want to expand support to other editors (like JetBrains IDEs), incorporate custom project-level compatibility baselines, and integrate automated PR review comments. We're also eager to grow our user base and collaborate on expanding Baseline data coverage
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