PureBasic Language Services for VSCode

PureBasic Language Services is a Visual Studio Code extension that provides PureBasic language support, including IntelliSense, Debugging, and Code Navigation. It supports PureBasic source files (.pb, .pbi) and also provides text-mode language support for PureBasic Forms files (.pbf). (For project management and form creation, see Related Extensions)

Developer/Contributor docs (build, architecture, API reference): see .github/README.md in the repository.

Features

Keyboard shortcuts follow VS Code defaults.

Editor 🧩

• Syntax Highlighting
• Syntax highlighting for PureBasic Forms text mode (.pbf)
• Code Folding (procedures/loops/conditionals)
• Bracket & Quote Matching
• Format Document: Shift+Alt+F

IntelliSense ⚡

• Completion: Ctrl+Space
• Signature Help (type ( / hover)
• Hover Documentation & Type Info
• Outline: Ctrl+Shift+O
• Built-in PureBasic functions in completion, hover, and signature help - updated for PureBasic 6.40.
• Built-In PureBasic constants in completion - updated for PureBasic 6.40.
• PureBasic Forms (.pbf): small completion, hover and signature help for gadget, window, menu, toolbar and status bar commands.
• PureBasic Residents constants and structures in completion and hover (configure purebasic.residentsPath to index them)

Navigation & Refactoring 🧭

• Go to Definition: F12
• Find References: Shift+F12
• Rename Symbol: F2

Diagnostics 🛡️

• Live Diagnostics
• Code Actions (quick fixes/refactorings)
• Missing include file diagnostics
• IncludeBinary diagnostics for invalid usage outside a DataSection
• PureBasic 6.40 migration diagnostics:
  • Error when #PB_String_InPlace is used with ReplaceString() (flag removed in PureBasic 6.40), with migration hint
  • Warning when Space() is used as a Win32 API write buffer without a subsequent PeekS() length fixup (required since PureBasic 6.40 due to the reworked string manager)
  • Semantic validation can be disabled via purebasic.linting.enableSemanticValidation: false for large files where the analysis impacts responsiveness

PureBasic 🟦

• Modules: Module::Function
• Structures: member access via \
• Constants: #CONSTANT
• String variables with $ sigil (myVar$) — fully supported in completion, hover, go-to-definition and rename
• Arrays / Lists / Maps IntelliSense
• Structure member completion, including chained access and With blocks
• Type completion after . for type suffixes, built-in types, structures, and interfaces
• Native OS API IntelliSense (via PureBasic APIFunctionListing.txt)
  • Loads OS-specific API functions from your PureBasic installation (Compilers/APIFunctionListing.txt)
  • Provides Completion + Signature Help (including inline comments, if present in the listing)
  • Windows-only minimal fallback suggestions if the listing is not configured/available
• Common PB subsystems: Graphics/Game, Network, Database, Threading

Compiler / Build / Run Integration (Toolchain) 🐞

• Build Active Target command
• Run Active Target command
• Build & Run Active Target command
• Syntax Check Active Target command
• Standalone fallback build context when no .pbp project is active
  • PureBasic IDE metadata in the source file (including UseMainFile resolution)
  • .vscode/launch.json
  • <filename>.pb.cfg
  • project.cfg
• Run mode selection for executable launch
  • spawn for output-channel based execution
  • terminal for interactive console programs
• Breakpoints: Set breakpoints in your PureBasic code
• Step Debugging: Step Over, Step Into, Step Out
• Variable Inspection: View local and global variables
• Call Stack: Navigate through the call stack

Related Extensions

pb-lang-support works standalone. For an expanded PureBasic workflow, you can optionally install:

• PureBasic Project Files
  
  Adds workspace-level .pbp project discovery, active target selection, and project context.
  View in Marketplace
  View Repo

• PureBasic Forms Editor
  
  Visual designer and tooling for PureBasic Forms (.pbf). pb-lang-support adds the text-mode language support for these files.
  View in Marketplace
  View Repo

Installation

Search for PureBasic Language Services in the VSCode Extension Marketplace and install

Configuration

The extension provides some configuration options. Access these via:

• VSCode Settings (Ctrl+,)
• Search for "PureBasic" to see all available options

Settings Reference

General

Build & Run

Linting

Formatting

Performance

Example settings.json

{
  "purebasic.apiFunctionListingPath": "C:/PureBasic/Compilers/APIFunctionListing.txt",
  "purebasic.residentsPath": "C:/PureBasic/Residents",
  "purebasic.build.compiler": "pbcompiler",
  "purebasic.build.fallbackSource": "launchJson",
  "purebasic.run.mode": "spawn",
  "purebasic.linting.enableSemanticValidation": true
}

Usage

Writing Code

1. Open any .pb or .pbi file
2. Start typing to see auto-completion suggestions
3. Hover over functions to see documentation
4. Press F12 to jump to definitions

Editing Forms as Text

1. Open any .pbf file in text mode
2. Edit the form source with PureBasic syntax highlighting
3. Use Ctrl+Space for completion of gadget and window commands
4. Type ( to see signature help with parameter hints
5. Hover over any built-in command to see its signature and description

Quick Debug Setup

1. Open your .pb file in VSCode
2. Press F5 or go to Run → Start Debugging
3. The debugger will automatically compile and run your program

Quick Build / Run Setup

1. Open a PureBasic source file
2. Run PureBasic: Build Active Target, PureBasic: Run Active Target, or PureBasic: Build & Run Active Target
3. With pb-project-files, the active .pbp target is used automatically
4. Without pb-project-files, the extension uses the configured fallback source

Quick Syntax Check (over PureBasic Compiler)

1. Open a PureBasic source file
2. Run PureBasic: Syntax Check from the Command Palette or the editor context menu
3. Errors and warnings appear as diagnostics in the editor and in the PureBasic (Syntax Check) output channel
4. With pb-project-files, the active .pbp target is checked automatically
5. Without pb-project-files, the extension uses the configured fallback source

Keyboard Shortcuts

Commands & Shortcuts

⌨️ Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P)

• PureBasic: Show Diagnostics — Problems panel
• PureBasic: Restart Language Server — Restart LSP
• PureBasic: Clear Symbol Cache — Clear symbol cache
• PureBasic: Format Document — Format file
• PureBasic: Find Symbols — Workspace symbol search
• PureBasic: Build Active Target — Compile the active target or fallback source
• PureBasic: Run Active Target — Run the resolved executable
• PureBasic: Build & Run Active Target — Build and then run the resolved executable
• PureBasic: Syntax Check — Check the active file or project target for syntax errors with the PureBasic compiler

🧭 Shortcuts

• F12 → Definition
• Shift+F12 → References
• Ctrl+Shift+O → Symbols in file
• Ctrl+Shift+M → Problems
• F2 → Rename
• Shift+Alt+F → Format
• Ctrl+Space → Suggestions

Acknowledgements

This extension is based on vscode-pb-lang-support by meimingqi222, which provided the initial PureBasic TextMate grammar and language support foundation.

It has since been significantly extended with a Language Server, Debug Adapter, build/run toolchain integration, and is now part of the PureBasic VS Code Language Suite monorepo.

License

MIT License

PureBasic is a registered trademark of Fantaisie Software.
This extension is not affiliated with or endorsed by Fantaisie Software.