Ansible Log Colors

Make large Ansible logs readable in VS Code in seconds.

This extension gives saved Ansible output the same visual meaning you rely on in a terminal: green for success, yellow for changed, cyan for skipped/included, red for failures, and clear section headers for fast scanning.

Why this extension

When you open exported AAP/AWX output, ansible-navigator output, or long playbook logs in a plain editor, everything is the same color and hard to triage.

Ansible Log Colors restores structure and signal so you can quickly answer:

• What failed?
• What changed?
• Which hosts were unreachable?
• Where in the run should I focus first?

What you get

Accurate Ansible-style coloring

Multi-line results (ok: [host] => { ... }, wrapped warnings, and similar blocks) keep the same style until the next separator/header, matching how Ansible output is read in practice.

Works with both saved log styles

• Plain text logs (AAP/AWX downloads, ansible-navigator captures, | tee run.log, copy/paste): colors are inferred from Ansible callback patterns.
• ANSI logs (ANSIBLE_FORCE_COLOR=1 ... > run.log, AAP/AWX ANSI exports/downloads): original ANSI color codes are honored directly, and raw escape sequences can be hidden with ansibleLog.hideEscapeCodes.

Smart detection + manual override

• Recognizes common names: *.ansible.log, *ansible*.log, job_*.txt, *.awx.txt
• Auto-detects .log and plain text files that look like Ansible output (PLAY [, TASK [, PLAY RECAP) via ansibleLog.autoDetect
• Manual override command: Ansible Log: Color This File as Ansible Output

Folding TASKs and PLAYs (how it works)

The extension scans the currently open log file and creates fold regions from Ansible headers:

• PLAY [ ... ]
• TASK [ ... ]
• RUNNING HANDLER [ ... ]
• PLAY RECAP

Each region starts at that header and folds until the next relevant header. For PLAY sections, child TASK entries stay inside the play fold range.

How to use folding in VS Code

1. Open an Ansible log in Ansible Log mode.
2. Use the gutter chevrons to fold individual TASK or PLAY sections.
3. Use command palette actions like:
   • Fold All
   • Unfold All
   • Fold Level 2 (handy for collapsing most TASK detail quickly)

This makes long run output navigable without losing context.

Customize colors

Colors default to your theme's terminal ANSI palette, so the file view matches your terminal expectations. Override any style in settings.json:

"workbench.colorCustomizations": {
  "ansibleLog.changed": "#d7af00",
  "ansibleLog.skipped": "#5fafaf"
}

Available color ids:

• ansibleLog.ok
• ansibleLog.changed
• ansibleLog.skipped
• ansibleLog.included
• ansibleLog.failed
• ansibleLog.unreachable
• ansibleLog.warning
• ansibleLog.deprecation
• ansibleLog.verbose
• ansibleLog.debug
• ansibleLog.diffAdd
• ansibleLog.diffRemove
• ansibleLog.diffLines

Build and package

npm install
npm run package

This generates ansible-log-colors-<version>.vsix.

Install it from VS Code: Extensions panel -> ... menu -> Install from VSIX...

License

MIT: permissive license requiring preservation of copyright and license notices in redistributions.