Hear it when you break it. Error Sound plays an audio clip every time a terminal command fails, so you never miss a silent failure again.
✨ Features
Feature
Description
Instant error feedback
Plays a sound the moment a terminal command exits with a non-zero code
Multiple audio files
Add as many sounds as you want — a random one plays each time
Built-in default sound
Works out of the box with a bundled default sound, no setup needed
Volume control
Set volume from 0% to 100%
Status bar toggle
One-click enable/disable right from the status bar
File picker
Add and remove audio files through a native file dialog
🚀 Getting Started
Install the extension
Open a terminal in VS Code
Run a failing command — you'll hear the sound immediately
That's it. No configuration required. The extension ships with a default sound and is enabled on install.
🎮 Commands
Open the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P) and type "Error Sound":
Command
Description
Error Sound: Enable
Turn on error sounds
Error Sound: Disable
Turn off error sounds
Error Sound: Add Audio File
Pick an audio file to add to the playlist
Error Sound: Remove Audio File
Remove a file from the playlist
Error Sound: Set Volume
Set playback volume (0–100%)
⚙️ Settings
Configure via Settings → search for "Error Sound":
Setting
Type
Default
Description
errorSound.enabled
boolean
true
Enable or disable the extension
errorSound.audioPaths
string[]
[]
List of audio file paths. If empty, the built-in default sound is used
errorSound.volume
number
50
Volume percentage (0–100)
Supported audio formats
mp3 · wav · aiff · aac · m4a
🖱️ Status Bar
The status bar shows the current state of the extension:
State
Icon
Click action
Enabled
🔈 Error Sound
Click to disable
Disabled
🔇 Error Sound
Click to enable
💡 How It Works
The extension uses VS Code's Terminal Shell Integration API (onDidEndTerminalShellExecution) to detect when a command finishes. If the exit code is non-zero, it plays a sound using macOS's native afplay command.
Exit code 0 → Success → No sound
Exit code ≠ 0 → Error → Sound plays
Ctrl+C → Ignored (no false positives)
Note: Shell integration must be active in your terminal (enabled by default in VS Code 1.93+).
