PDF Case Review

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Set up your computer ​

This tutorial is for someone who has never used VS Code. In about twenty minutes you will install it, learn the five parts of its window, install the PDF Case Review extension, and see where the optional command-line AI assistant fits. Nothing here needs programming experience.

1. Install VS Code ​

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a free editor from Microsoft. Programmers use it to write code, but at heart it is a fast, extensible program for working with files in a folder. PDF Case Review is an add-on that turns it into a PDF reader with categorized highlights, notes and printable reports.

  1. Download it from https://code.visualstudio.com/download. On Windows pick the User Installer; on a Mac pick the build for your chip (Apple silicon or Intel; Universal works on both).
  2. Run the installer. On Windows keep the defaults; on a Mac drag the app into Applications.
  3. Open it once. You can skip or close the welcome page.

Microsoft's own documentation starts with the first launch, and its User interface page names every part of the window in more detail than the next section.

2. The window, in five parts ​

  • Activity bar: the narrow strip of icons down the left edge. Each icon opens a different side bar. The top one, Explorer, is your folder's file list. PDF Case Review adds a pen icon here.
  • Side bar: the panel next to the activity bar that shows whatever icon you clicked. You can drag its edge to resize it or click the active icon again to hide it.
  • Editor area: the big middle space where files open in tabs. A PDF opens here in the viewer. The small icons at the top right of a tab are that file's buttons.
  • Panel: the strip along the bottom, usually hidden, that holds the Terminal (a place to type commands) and messages. View > Terminal opens it.
  • Status bar: the thin bar along the very bottom with counts and notices.

Two keys are worth learning on day one. Ctrl+Shift+P (Cmd+Shift+P on a Mac) opens the Command Palette, a search box for every command VS Code and its extensions know; type a few letters of what you want and press Enter. Ctrl+, opens Settings, also searchable.

3. What extensions are, and installing this one ​

An extension is a plug-in that adds features to VS Code. They come from the Extensions Marketplace, which is built into the editor.

  1. Click the Extensions icon in the activity bar (four small squares), or press Ctrl+Shift+X.
  2. Type PDF Case Review in the search box at the top of the side bar.
  3. Click Install on the result. Installed extensions stay in the list under Installed, where you can disable or uninstall them later.

Until the extension is on the Marketplace, install it from its .vsix file instead: in the Extensions side bar click the ... menu at the top right, choose Install from VSIX..., and pick the file you downloaded from the project's GitHub page.

Microsoft's Extension Marketplace page covers searching, updating and disabling extensions.

4. Open a folder, not a file ​

VS Code works best on a folder. Put your case PDFs in one (Cases, say) and open it with File > Open Folder.... The Explorer then lists the PDFs, the notes file and the reports the extension writes beside each PDF appear there as they are created, and the terminal starts in that folder. The first time, VS Code asks whether you trust the folder's authors; say yes for your own folders. AI features only run in trusted folders.

Click a PDF in the Explorer and it opens in the viewer. You are ready for Your first case, start to finish.

5. Optional: a command-line AI assistant ​

The extension's AI features (an executive summary of your highlights, and letting an assistant read your notes) are optional; everything else works without them. They need Claude Code or Codex installed on your computer. When you want them, follow Install a command-line AI assistant and come back here.