Copy Info with Context - VS Code Extension

Born from the frustration of constantly copying and pasting code snippets, data, and configuration fragments without any context about where they came from or what they represented.

A VS Code extension that copies code snippets with intelligent contextual information - filename, line numbers, and smart path detection for structured data. Perfect for documentation, code reviews, debugging, and sharing code with proper attribution.

The Problem This Solves

Have you ever:

• Copied a JSON snippet and forgot which property path it came from?
• Shared XML data without knowing which nested element you were looking at?
• Pasted code in Slack without line numbers, making it impossible to reference?
• Lost track of which file a configuration came from?
• Struggled to explain CSV data without column context?

This extension was created to solve exactly these problems - providing rich context for any code or data you copy.

Features

• Context Detection: JSON/JSONC property paths, XML/HTML hierarchy, CSV/TSV/PSV columns, function/class context, CSS selectors.
• Multiple Output Formats: Plain text, HTML, Markdown, ANSI colored, custom formats.
• Syntax Highlighting: 10+ languages, smart color coding, auto-detects delimited files.
• Smart Data Masking: Detects and masks 40+ types of PII (email, phone, address, credit cards, SSN, IBAN, BSB, TFN, ABN, passports, IDs, etc.)
  • Industry Presets: Basic, Financial, Healthcare, Enterprise, Custom — each preset now enables the right PII types, and you can switch presets straight from the right-click menu (fixed and added in v1.8.0).
  • Masking Strategies: Partial, Full, Structural, Hash, Redact
  • Manage masked/excluded fields by right-click: Add a field to the always-mask (deny) or never-mask (allow) list, or manage both lists, straight from the editor context menu — no settings JSON editing required (shown only when masking is enabled).
  • Disabled by default – Enable in settings
• CSV Intelligence: Delimiter detection, quote-aware parsing, column type detection, ASCII table rendering.
• Performance Optimizations: Fast parsing, memory-efficient, O(1) lookups, lazy RegExp compilation.
• VS Code Integration: Keyboard shortcuts, right-click menu, command palette, status bar indicator.

Quick Start

1. Install from VS Code Marketplace
2. Copy code/data with context using:
   • Ctrl+Alt+C / Cmd+Alt+C – Copy with context
   • Ctrl+Alt+H / Cmd+Alt+H – Copy with HTML highlighting
3. Configure features in VS Code settings (Ctrl+, → search "copy info with context")

Configuration

See Configuration Guide for all settings.

Example: Enable Data Masking

{
  "copyInfoWithContext.enableDataMasking": true,
  "copyInfoWithContext.maskingPreset": "financial"
}

Usage Examples

• JSON: Shows property path and array indices
• XML: Shows element hierarchy and sibling indices
• CSV: Shows column context and supports 4 output modes
• Functions/Classes: Shows containing function/class name
• HTML/Markdown/ANSI: Rich formatted output for documentation, Slack, email

See Usage Examples for details.

Key Features in Latest Version

✨🐛 v1.9.0: Column-Aware Masking for Delimited .txt Files

• Column-aware masking now applies to delimited .txt and other non-CSV files when they look tabular with a header row — column-type detection plus your deny/allow lists, the same as .csv/.tsv. Plain prose and headerless data fall back to normal masking. Also fixes multi-delimiter masking so the file's actual delimiter (tab, pipe, semicolon, comma) is detected and preserved.
• See full details in CHANGELOG.md

🐛 v1.8.1: Masking Bug Fixes

• Deny/allow lists now apply across CSV, XML, and JSON; repeated sensitive values are masked in every occurrence; CSV/TSV copy with masking enabled no longer errors; and impossible calendar dates are no longer accepted as dates of birth.
• See full details in CHANGELOG.md

🐛🎯 v1.8.0: Presets Fixed + Apply Preset from the Right-Click Menu

• Fixed: Masking presets now actually apply. Previously, selecting basic, financial, healthcare, or enterprise via maskingPreset had no effect due to a key mismatch — every preset silently fell back to the defaults. Each preset now enables the correct PII detection types:
  • Basic — email and phone only.
  • Financial Services — banking, credit cards, and account numbers (Australian BSB/TFN/ABN, IBAN, SWIFT, routing numbers).
  • Healthcare — SSN, date of birth, address, national ID, Australian Medicare, passport, and driver's licence, plus email and phone.
  • Enterprise — all detection types enabled.
  • None / Custom are unchanged (no preset filtering / use your own type toggles and custom patterns).
  • If you had already selected a preset, you now get that preset's behaviour automatically — a behaviour change in your favour.
• Added: A new editor context menu command Masking: Apply Preset… opens a QuickPick of all six presets (with descriptions and your current one marked) and applies your choice immediately — no reload, no settings JSON editing. It appears only when data masking is enabled, does not destructively overwrite your per-type toggles, and your deny/allow lists continue to apply on top.
• See full details in CHANGELOG.md

🎯 v1.7.0: Manage Masking Lists from the Right-Click Menu

• Three new editor context menu commands manage which fields are masked or excluded — no settings JSON editing required.
  • Masking: Add Field to Deny List (Always Mask)
  • Masking: Add Field to Allow List (Never Mask)
  • Masking: Manage Deny/Allow Lists… (view and multi-select remove entries)
• Field names pre-fill from your selection or the word under the cursor; dedup is case-insensitive while preserving your original casing.
• Adding a field already on the opposite list prompts you to move it (Allow > Deny > Auto-Detection).
• The commands appear only when data masking is enabled, write to User (Global) settings, and take effect immediately — no reload needed.
• See full details in CHANGELOG.md

🐛 v1.6.2: CDATA Masking Bug Fixes

• Fixed CDATA line merging caused by \s-based patterns (BSB, TFN, phone, etc.) matching across newlines inside CDATA sections.
• Fixed outer XML tag corruption that occurred when length-changing masks were applied alongside CDATA replacements.
• See full details in CHANGELOG.md

🏗️ v1.6.0: Modular Architecture & Performance Optimization

• Monolithic masking engine split into 8 focused modules for maintainability, speed, and testability.
• 66% code reduction (1,739 → ~590 lines).
• 97% faster module load time, 50-70% fewer false positives, O(1) lookups.
• Enhanced maintainability and testability.
• See full details in CHANGELOG.md

Documentation & Guides

• 🔒 Data Masking Guide
• 📊 CSV Intelligence Guide
• 🎯 Confidence Scoring Example
• 🧠 Context-Aware Masking
• 📜 Full Changelog

Supported File Types

Development

git clone https://github.com/dwmchan/copy-info-with-context.git
cd copy-info-with-context
npm install
npm run compile
npm test

Note on the test runner: The project's tests are written in TypeScript and compiled to JavaScript under out/test. The test entrypoint is src/test/runTest.ts, which imports the individual test suites; the test script runs npm run compile and then executes node ./out/test/runTest.js. Keep src/test/runTest.ts as the canonical place to add new test suites.

Contributing

Contributions welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT License – see LICENSE.

Support

• Issues
• CHANGELOG
• Feature Guides

Credits

Created by Donald Chan (donald@iendeavour.com.au)

Special thanks to the VS Code community for feedback and suggestions.