Gatling AI Assistant for VS Code
Gatling Corp · Coding
Gatling AI Assistant for VS Code is a free extension that brings an AI coding assistant into your editor for Gatling performance testing work. It chats about your simulations, generates new test scenarios, explains existing code, and converts LoadRunner C scripts into Gatling. Free? Yes. But you supply your own OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, or Azure OpenAI key, so the extension costs nothing while your token bill doesn't.
About Gatling AI Assistant for VS Code
What Is Gatling AI Assistant for VS Code
Gatling AI Assistant for VS Code is an editor extension for the Gatling load testing tool. It helps you write and understand performance tests without leaving the IDE. Instead of jumping between docs and a browser chat window, you open a sidebar and ask questions about the simulation you're building.
The extension speaks the main Gatling languages: JavaScript, TypeScript, Java, Scala, and Kotlin. It also ships a migration path for teams moving off LoadRunner C scripts. That's the practical draw for anyone sitting on years of old load test code that nobody wants to rewrite by hand.
The catch is the same one that follows most AI coding tools. The models make mistakes. The extension's own listing warns that generated code can be wrong or incomplete, and you're responsible for testing it thoroughly in your environment before anything reaches production. It also needs an external LLM key, so it's not a turnkey service out of the box. Miss that step and nothing runs at all.
Getting Started
- Install the extension from the VS Code Marketplace (or Open VSX if you use a compatible editor).
- Open the Gatling sidebar from the activity bar.
- Run Gatling: Set API Key from the Command Palette and paste your OpenAI, Anthropic, or Azure OpenAI key.
- Start a chat about your simulation, or ask the assistant to generate a new Gatling scenario.
- Review and test the generated code in your own environment before you rely on it.
Product Information
A quick look at Gatling AI Assistant for VS Code's pricing, supported platforms, and performance.
Best for
The users, tasks, and scenarios where this tool fits best.
Users
- Performance engineers building Gatling scenarios
- Developers new to Gatling
- Teams migrating from LoadRunner
Tasks
- Generating a new simulation
- Explaining existing test code
- Converting legacy scripts
Scenarios
- Onboarding a teammate onto an existing Gatling project
- Cleaning up a test suite you inherited
- Prototyping a load test before a launch
Key features
AI Chat Assistant
The sidebar chat answers questions about your Gatling code in context. You can ask for optimization tips, best practices, or a plain explanation of a confusing snippet. It reads what's open in the editor rather than guessing from a blank prompt. No copy-paste gymnastics required.
Simulation Generator
Describe the behavior you want to test and the assistant writes a new Gatling scenario. It supports JavaScript, TypeScript, Java, Scala, and Kotlin, so teams on different stacks get usable output. Treat the result as a draft. The load profile and thresholds still need your judgment, and no AI can guess the traffic pattern your app actually faces.
LoadRunner Migration Assistant
The LoadRunner migration tool translates LoadRunner C scripts into Gatling simulations using AI mapping, which means a test you wrote years ago against a different framework can come back as something you can actually run and maintain today rather than a pile of dead code. For teams with years of inherited LoadRunner tests, that's the difference between a rewrite project and a conversion pass. The output still needs validation against the original behavior. It's a starting point, not a finished job.
Explain Code
Select any Gatling code and ask for an explanation. Newcomers get a fast way to learn simulation structure without reading the full documentation, and experienced engineers get a second opinion before they refactor a test that someone else wrote months ago and never documented. It pays off most when you're dropped into a codebase you didn't write.
Multi-Provider Support
The extension works with OpenAI (GPT-4o), Anthropic Claude (3.5 Sonnet), and Azure OpenAI. Azure is aimed at enterprise setups that need compliance and data governance. The listing flags it as experimental. You bring your own key and pick the provider that fits your policy.
Secure Credential Handling
API keys are stored through VS Code's secrets API rather than a plain config file, so a screenshot of your settings won't leak a live OpenAI token to whoever happens to see it. Prompts get automatic redaction of sensitive data, and you can control how much context is shared. Your code only goes to the provider you chose, not to Gatling.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Free extension, so you only pay your LLM provider for the tokens you use.
- Covers five Gatling languages, which matters if your team isn't all-in on Scala.
- LoadRunner migration saves real time on legacy test code.
- Runs in Cursor and other VS Code-compatible editors, not just stock VS Code.
- Keys stay in VS Code's secrets store with prompt redaction built in.
Cons
- You need your own OpenAI, Claude, or Azure key, so there's setup friction and ongoing token cost.
- Generated code can be wrong, and you're responsible for testing it before production use.
- Azure OpenAI support is labeled experimental, so enterprise users may hit rough edges.
- Requires VS Code 1.85.0 or newer, which rules out older editor installs.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. The extension is free to install, and there's no paid tier. You pay only for the LLM tokens you consume through your own OpenAI, Anthropic, or Azure OpenAI account, so the real cost depends on how much you chat with it and which model you pick rather than on any subscription sitting on your card each month.
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