Independent terminals and document previews in VS Code. The Primary Side Bar uses collapsible sections; the Secondary Side Bar uses a compact tab strip. Keep Vim, Neovim, or another command-line tool beside its output and preview.
Requires VS Code 1.106+ on desktop or a remote extension host. No separate Node.js installation is needed to use the extension.
Get started
Install a matching VSIX through Extensions: Install from VSIX…. Marketplace also lists published versions.
Open Side Terminals and select + for a shell. The arrow button opens the other side bar.
Select the gear to configure startup terminals. Closing a terminal keeps its startup profile.
Use Preview in Sidebar Terminal in the editor title bar for PDF, Markdown, LaTeX, HTML, CSS, JSON, or JSONC. LaTeX opens an existing compiled PDF; build with your usual tools first.
Work beside your editor
Saving a document refreshes its preview, including saves from Vim. PDFs offer vertical/horizontal continuous scrolling and single/two-page layouts beside the zoom menu, with arrow-key navigation and remembered reading positions.
Markdown supports common syntax, task lists, footnotes, and KaTeX math. Change preview font defaults to Default; your choice follows VS Code Settings Sync.
Preview static HTML with local assets, or formatted CSS/JSON/JSONC source. HTML scripts and forms remain inactive.
Cmd+F / Ctrl+F searches terminal buffers and document text, with case, whole-word, regex, counts, and highlighting. Right-click the search button to search all open tabs on both sides. PDF search requires a text layer.
Double-click a PDF location to return to its LaTeX source through SyncTeX. Compile with -synctex=1 and install synctex.
Drag tabs to reorder; right-click for actions. Export terminal output as HTML, PDF, Markdown, or plain text.
Change tab marker selects a themed icon. Startup-profile icons follow the same profile across repositories. Document icons follow the same file. Temporary-terminal icons stay workspace-local.
Keep in mind
Reloading VS Code creates new shell processes. Directory memory and command status depend on shell integration and are best effort. Startup settings can sync: do not store credentials in commands, arguments, or environment values.
