Sometimes the simplest ideas come from daily pain. I often lose track of which Git branch I’m working on, and even if VS Code (Cursor in my use case) shows it in the status bar, it’s easy to overlook. I wanted something that screams the current branch, with the possibility to customize colors based on regex rules (e.g., master in green, hotfix in red, etc.). I usually work on solo projects, and long life branches are my way to keep focused on the dev/stage/production cycle…and as messy as I am, sometimes I mistakenly start developing in the wrong branch (that sometimes is linked to pipelines with automatic deploy) and mess all over my git branch (also I’m not a seasoned Git expert, and this sometimes leads me to wrong Git usage and mess with the repos).
So I decided to build a small extension.
1. The Spark: ChatGPT-5 💡
The whole journey actually started with ChatGPT-5.
I was brainstorming how to make my workflow safer and more fun, and it suggested the concept of a highly visible branch indicator. From there, ChatGPT-5 helped me shape the idea into a minimal extension, suggested possible names, and even guided the visual branding direction.
What could have been “just a quick hack” suddenly had a brand, identity, and vision: Branch Beacon.
2. The Name 🏷️
We played with a few names:
- Git Branch Screamer 😱 (funny but maybe too loud)
- Branch Blaster 💥
- Branch Beacon 🌟
In the end, Branch Beacon felt right: professional enough for the Marketplace, yet still memorable and meaningful.
3. The Logo Journey 🎨
This part was pure creativity. With ChatGPT-5’s help, I iterated on prompts to get a developer-nerd, cyberpunk-style logo:
- Early drafts: traditional lighthouse + Git nodes. Too plain.
- Refinements: neon lights, futuristic aesthetics.
- Final version:
- A cyan/teal lighthouse at the center.
- Two mirrored Bs (recalling Branch Beacon) in purple.
- Strong yellow neon beams extending from the top.
It became something I’d actually be proud to see next to the other extensions in my sidebar.
4. Coding: Cursor in Action 👨💻
Once the idea and branding were clear, I moved into coding.
Here I used Cursor, the AI-augmented editor, to refine the JavaScript implementation of the extension:
- Status bar badge + dynamic recoloring.
- Regex-based rules for branch theming.
- Simple, clean architecture.
With Cursor’s inline assistance, I quickly ironed out the details and made sure the extension was stable enough to ship.
👉 The full source code is open on GitHub:
github.com/enreeco/branch-beacon-vscode-ext
5. Publishing 📦
Publishing to the stores was the final step:
- Packaged with
vsce. - Published under my ORGanizer Solutions publisher account.
- Uploaded both to:
- VSCode Marketplace → Branch Beacon
- Open VSX Registry (for Cursor, VSCodium, etc.) → Branch Beacon
Now it’s available to everyone, no matter which editor flavor they use.
6. Lessons Learned 🧑💻
- ChatGPT-5 can be more than a coding partner: it’s also a creative partner for branding and product design.
- Cursor makes refining and shipping code snappy.
- Even a tiny pain point can lead to a polished extension if you respect the process.
- Publishing to both Marketplaces ensures maximum reach.
- Keeping the code open on GitHub invites contributions and transparency.
Conclusion
What started as a casual chat with ChatGPT-5 became a real extension with a proper name, icon, and presence on both Marketplaces.
Branch Beacon is now live, helping developers avoid committing on the wrong branch while glowing in neon style ✨.
👉 Try it out: