CMake GUI Editor
A visual, lossless editor for CMakeLists.txt and *.cmake files inside VS Code.
Open any CMake file as a GUI and edit common parts — project metadata, target dependencies,
and include directories — without fighting raw CMake syntax. Everything else is preserved byte-for-byte.
No managed regions required. The whole file is parsed; unknown or complex parts are shown read-only and kept as-is.
Features
Visual editor — three panels
| Panel |
What you can edit |
| Project |
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION …), project(…), set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD …) |
| Target |
Source files (read-only), target_link_libraries(… PRIVATE …), target_include_directories(… PRIVATE …) |
| Unparsed Content |
Read-only view of anything not yet modelled — preserved verbatim on Apply |
Opening the editor
- Right-click
CMakeLists.txt in the Explorer → Open with CMake GUI (Visual)
- Editor title bar button (when a CMake file is active)
- Command Palette
Ctrl+Shift+P → CMake GUI: Open Visual Editor
- Custom editor selector — VS Code prompts automatically when you open a
.cmake / CMakeLists.txt
Diff & apply flow
Clicking Apply Changes shows a single, in-memory diff tab — no temp files on disk. Confirm to write; cancel to discard. The diff tab is cleaned up automatically.
Field-level dirty tracking
Modified fields are highlighted amber. The Apply button gains an amber ring when anything has changed.
Managed regions
Ctrl+Shift+P → CMake GUI: Insert Managed Region stamps a # === cmake-builder:begin/end === block at the cursor. Content inside managed regions is filtered from the Unparsed panel.
Getting started
- Open a workspace that contains a
CMakeLists.txt.
- Right-click the file → Open with CMake GUI (Visual) (or use the command palette).
- Edit project fields or select a target and update its libraries / include dirs.
- Click Apply Changes → review the diff → Apply to save.
How it works
- The extension tokenizes the CMake file into commands and raw spans while tracking byte offsets.
- It builds a small model (project meta, targets,
target_link_libraries, target_include_directories) and populates the GUI.
- On Apply, only the relevant commands are replaced or inserted in place; all other text is left untouched.
- Edits are applied end → start to ensure byte offsets stay valid.
- The diff is powered by an in-memory content provider — no stray tabs or temp files remain after you apply or cancel.
Supported edits
| Command |
GUI action |
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION …) |
Edit or insert |
project(…) |
Edit or insert |
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD …) |
Edit; inserts CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON when creating new |
target_link_libraries(… PRIVATE …) |
Edit per-target; inserts if absent |
target_include_directories(… PRIVATE …) |
Edit per-target; inserts if absent |
Everything else is preserved. Common commands (target_compile_definitions, install, option, find_package, add_subdirectory, control flow, custom functions/macros, etc.) are recognised as "supported for preservation" and won't appear in the Unparsed panel.
Commands
| Command |
ID |
Description |
| CMake GUI: Open Visual Editor |
cmake-gui-editor.openVisual |
Opens the current/selected CMake file in the GUI |
| CMake GUI: Insert Managed Region |
cmake-gui-editor.insertManagedRegion |
Stamps a cmake-builder:begin/end region at the cursor |
Context menus added:
- Explorer → Open with CMake GUI (Visual)
- Editor title → Open with CMake GUI (Visual)
- Editor context → Open with CMake GUI (Visual) / Insert Managed Region
Tip: Bind a key via **Keyboard Shortcuts → search "CMake GUI"_.
Requirements
- VS Code
^1.103.0
- No required dependencies.
Optional: CMake Tools for configure/build/debug; this extension focuses purely on editing CMake files.
The extension activates automatically when your workspace contains a CMakeLists.txt or *.cmake file — no CMake language extension required.
Extension settings
None. Sensible defaults are used throughout.
Known issues
- Target detection is conservative. Unusual target definitions (generated names, heavy macro indirection) may not appear in the target dropdown.
- Editing currently handles a single normalised
target_link_libraries / target_include_directories block per target (existing duplicate blocks are collapsed into one).
- Formatting of rewritten commands is normalised; whitespace inside modified commands may differ from your original style.
- Very exotic bracket-arguments or deeply nested custom macro structures might confuse the balanced-parentheses scanner. Please file examples.
MODULE and OBJECT library targets are parsed correctly but the GUI currently treats them the same as library.
Troubleshooting
- The GUI command doesn't appear — reload the window. The extension activates on
onLanguage:cmake and workspaceContains:**/CMakeLists.txt, so no additional language extension is required.
- Webview is blank — open Help → Toggle Developer Tools and check the Console for errors. Ensure
media/index.html and media/app.js were packaged (verify "files" in package.json includes media/**).
- No targets listed — confirm your targets use standard
add_executable(…) / add_library(…) syntax. Macro-wrapped targets are not yet detected. Please file a snippet.
Release notes
1.0.0
- Full GUI redesign: three-panel layout, topbar, source chips, kind badge, dirty highlighting
- New: editable include directories per target
- New: source files displayed as animated chips (read-only)
- New:
insertManagedRegion command implemented
- New: extension icon
- Fixed 7 bugs (Range end, unregistered command, spurious cxxStandard writes, comment-paren segmenter, multi-TLL replacement, URI comparison, activation events)
0.0.1
- First development preview
Roadmap
- Edit
target_compile_definitions and target_compile_options per target
- Multi-target bulk editing in one view
- Smarter parsing of macro-wrapped targets
- Source file editing (add/remove from
add_executable / add_library)
- Optional formatting-preservation heuristics for replaced blocks
License
MIT
