Cisco Config Highlight: Redux
Cisco device configuration Syntax Highlighting for Visual Studio Code.
This is a Fork of Y-Ysss/vscode-cisco-config-highlight. No credit is taken from the original work. Implemented changes from the main repository of this extension are intended to improve on it and the only part credit is taken.
Introduction
I'm new at this, so there may be some inconsistencies in documentation as I make changes from main fork of this extension.
I also hope to make further improvement and functionality to the extension as a whole as I'm able to do so.
[!NOTE]
Changes (v0.6 → v0.7)
Version 0.7 includes significant improvements to syntax highlighting, enhanced keyword recognition with case-insensitive matching, and a new token color customization system.
Major Updates:
- Modern tooling: ESLint v9, TypeScript v5.9, VS Code API v1.107.0+
- Enhanced syntax patterns with case-insensitive matching
- New semantic token color customization framework
- Improved interface type and address pattern recognition
- Comprehensive default color theme configuration
- Better code organization and maintainability
For detailed changes, please refer to CHANGELOG.md
Features
This extension provides some awesome features for Cisco config text, including:
- Syntax highlighting
- Config outline (Experimental)
Installation
The extension for VS Code is available on the Visual Studio Marketplace:
Syntaxes commonly used in configuration files are supported.
The following platforms provide similar syntax highlighting for constructs that overlap with IOS:
I would like to expand support for these platforms in the future.
Screenshot
Note: Screenshots are using a custom theme (CantiFirestarter/Daybreak Asuna Theme).
Token Color Customizations
The extension automatically applies token colors on activation. Configure colors via extension settings or by editing settings.json directly. For best results with custom themes, see VS Code Color Themes.
Two ways to customize:
- Extension settings (recommended): Use
cisco-config-highlight.colors.* keys—simple, fast, and syncs automatically.
- Manual textMateRules: Use
editor.tokenColorCustomizations for advanced styling (bold, italic, underline) and fine-grained control.
Both methods work together; your textMateRules are preserved and can override extension colors when needed.
Quick Setup
- Enable defaults: turn on
cisco-config-highlight.applyAllTokenRules to load the extension’s baseline colors.
- Customize colors fast: set keys under
cisco-config-highlight.colors.* (e.g. interface.ethernet, address.ipv4, keyword.vlan). These map to the scopes listed below.
- Discover scopes: run “Developer: Inspect Editor Tokens and Scopes” and click a token in a Cisco file to copy its scope.
- Fine-tune with theme rules: add
editor.tokenColorCustomizations.textMateRules entries for foreground and fontStyle where needed. Your rules override defaults; extension-managed colors follow your settings.
Scope Hierarchy
Tokens follow a hierarchical structure, which allows you to abbreviate scopes when customizing them.
For example, consider the following two scopes:
entity.name.class.interface.ethernetentity.name.class.interface.loopback
If you specify these scopes in full, the customization will apply only to those specific tokens.
However, if you use a higher-level scope such as:
entity.name.class.interface
The customization will apply to all tokens under that scope.
The higher (shallower) the level in the hierarchy, the broader the range of tokens affected.
In v0.7+, the extension reads cisco-config-highlight.colors.* settings and applyAllTokenRules to apply colors automatically on startup and when config changes.
Example settings.json:
"cisco-config-highlight.applyAllTokenRules": true,
"cisco-config-highlight.colors": {
"interface.ethernet": "#328f16",
"interface.loopback": "#33df33",
"address.ipv4": "#2e74b5",
"keyword.permit": "#9933ff",
"keyword.deny": "#ff3333",
"comment": "#339933"
}
- Enable defaults: Turn on
applyAllTokenRules to load sensible default colors.
- Override: Set keys under
colors.* to customize. These override defaults.
- Real-time: Changes apply on save; or run "Cisco Config: Apply Token Colors" from the Command Palette.
Token Scopes List
comment.block.banner
comment.line.config
constant.numeric.hex
constant.numeric.integer
constant.numeric.ipv4-AD
constant.numeric.ipv6-AD
entity.name.class.interface.async
entity.name.class.interface.bri
entity.name.class.interface.bvi
entity.name.class.interface.cellular
entity.name.class.interface.dialer
entity.name.class.interface.ethernet
entity.name.class.interface.loopback
entity.name.class.interface.management
entity.name.class.interface.null
entity.name.class.interface.portchannel
entity.name.class.interface.serial
entity.name.class.interface.tunnel
entity.name.class.interface.virtual-template
entity.name.class.interface.vlan
entity.name.class.interface.wireless
entity.name.class.vrf.declaration
entity.name.tag.acl.access-group.name
entity.name.tag.acl.access-list.name
entity.name.tag.acl.access-class.name
entity.name.tag.bgp.neighbor-peer-group.name
entity.name.tag.bgp.peer-group.name
entity.name.tag.bgp.peer-policy.name
entity.name.tag.bgp.peer-session.name
entity.name.tag.config-string.domain-name
entity.name.tag.config-string.hostname
entity.name.tag.config-string.logging-system-message
entity.name.tag.config-string.username
entity.name.tag.config-string.name
entity.name.tag.crypto.crypto-map.name
entity.name.tag.crypto.transform-set.name
entity.name.tag.crypto.ipsec-profile.name
entity.name.tag.crypto.isakmp-profile.name
entity.name.tag.crypto.keyring.name
entity.name.tag.group.class-map.name
entity.name.tag.group.class.name
entity.name.tag.group.object-group.name
entity.name.tag.group.policy-map.name
entity.name.tag.group.pool.name
entity.name.tag.group.prefix-list.name
entity.name.tag.group.route-map.name
entity.name.tag.group.service-policy.name
entity.name.tag.group.policy-list.name
entity.name.tag.group.traffic-filter.name
entity.name.tag.group.community.name
entity.name.tag.vrf.vrf-name
entity.other.vrf.definition
entity.other.vrf.forwarding
keyword.other.acl.access-list.type
keyword.other.address.ipv4.cidr
keyword.other.address.ipv4.full
keyword.other.address.ipv6.condensed
keyword.other.address.ipv6.full
keyword.other.address.mac
keyword.other.config-keyword.add-remove.add
keyword.other.config-keyword.add-remove.except
keyword.other.config-keyword.add-remove.remove
keyword.other.config-keyword.allowed-native
keyword.other.config-keyword.any-all.all
keyword.other.config-keyword.any-all.any
keyword.other.config-keyword.in-out.in
keyword.other.config-keyword.in-out.out
keyword.other.config-keyword.input-output.input
keyword.other.config-keyword.input-output.output
keyword.other.config-keyword.inside-outside.inside
keyword.other.config-keyword.inside-outside.outside
keyword.other.config-keyword.match.all
keyword.other.config-keyword.match.any
keyword.other.config-keyword.permit-deny.deny
keyword.other.config-keyword.permit-deny.permit
keyword.other.config-keyword.shutdown
keyword.other.config-keyword.remark
keyword.other.config-keyword.group1
keyword.other.config-keyword.group2
keyword.other.config-keyword.group3
keyword.other.config-keyword.group4
keyword.other.config-keyword.group5
keyword.other.config-keyword.group6
keyword.other.config-keyword.status.administratively-down
keyword.other.config-keyword.status.deleted
keyword.other.config-keyword.status.down
keyword.other.config-keyword.status.up
keyword.other.config-keyword.switchport-mode.access
keyword.other.config-keyword.switchport-mode.dynamic
keyword.other.config-keyword.switchport-mode.trunk
keyword.other.config-keyword.vlan
keyword.other.group.object-group.type
meta.function-call.command_hostname.privileged-mode
meta.function-call.command_hostname.user-mode
meta.function-call.command-disable.default
meta.function-call.command-disable.unused
punctuation.separator
punctuation.config-param.first
punctuation.config-param.second
string.other.description
string.other.password
string.other.remark
string.other.secret
Experimental Features
- Show symbols in outline panel
- Multilingual support (settings page)
Show symbols in outline panel
Open the settings and enter a keyword in the search box. Select the check box to enable.
@ext:cantifirestarter.cisco-config-highlight-redux showSymbolsInOutlinePanel
Supported symbols
- Command
hostname#{command name}hostname>{command name}
- Virtual Routing and Forwarding(VRF)
- Border Gateway Protocol(BGP)
router bgp {autonomous-system-number}address-family ipv4 {unicast|multicast|vrf vrf-name }
- Group
class-map {match-any|match-all} namepolicy-map {name}
- Interface
interface {type, slot, port, etc...}- e.g.
interface GigabitEthernet0/0
- Sub Interface
interface {type, slot, port, etc...}.{number}
Multilingual support
Currently, only the settings page is available.
Following supported languages:
Notes
Highlighting in large files
If you want to enable highlighting in large files. Change the following settings to False.
"editor.largeFileOptimizations": false
However VSCode disable feature on large files for performance reasons, and forcing VSCode to syntax highlight large files may result in poor editor performance.
Recommended Extensions
I recommend the following extensions to more beautiful look.
Requests or Issues
If you have any requests or issues, please start an Issue or PullRequest on GitHub.
GitHub - CantiFirestarter/vscode-cisco-config-highlight-redux
License
MIT License Copyright (c) 2021 Original Y-Ysss
MIT License Copyright (c) 2026 Fork CantiFirestarter
