Copy Code as Snippet

A Visual Studio Code extension that allows you to copy selected code or the entire content of a file as a Markdown, HTML, or plain text code snippet with language and file path information.

Features

• Copy selected code or the entire file content
• Automatically includes the language identifier based on file type
• Optionally includes the relative file path from the workspace
• Supports Markdown, HTML, and plain text snippet formats
• Handles special cases (e.g., build.gradle → groovy, Dockerfile, docker-compose.yaml)
• Clipboard-ready output for pasting into docs, chats, or markdown editors
• AI-friendly Markdown mode (opt-in) that adds a single file/language/range heading
• Fence strategy controls to avoid broken Markdown when code includes triple backticks or to force ~~~
• Optional head/tail sampling prompt for very large files, with presets and custom head/tail counts

Usage

1. Open any file in VS Code.
2. Run Copy Code as Snippet from the editor context menu, the Command Palette, or the default keyboard shortcut: Cmd+Alt+C on macOS and Ctrl+Alt+C on Windows and Linux.
3. The snippet is copied to your clipboard in the configured format.

```typescript:src/extension.ts
export function activate(context: vscode.ExtensionContext) {
  // ...
}
```

The default legacy path placement keeps the file path in the opening fence for compatibility. Set copy-code-as-snippet.markdown.pathPlacement to header to produce standard Markdown with a separate file header:

### File: src/extension.ts

```typescript
export function activate(context: vscode.ExtensionContext) {
  // ...
}
```

### File: src/extension.ts (typescript, lines 12-34 (selection))

```typescript
// selected code...
```

AI mode keeps its own single-heading file/language/range layout regardless of the configured Markdown path placement. When includeFilePath is disabled, the heading leads with the language instead of the file path.

```javascript:src/huge-file.js
// first N lines...
... 9,940 lines omitted ...
// last M lines...
```

When prompted on large files, choose a preset (e.g., Head 10 / Tail 10) or enter custom head/tail line counts.

Files inside a workspace always use workspace-relative paths. For files outside a workspace, copy-code-as-snippet.outsideWorkspacePath defaults to basename to avoid copying parent directory names. Choose absolute when the snippet must preserve the full file location.

Why Use This Extension?

This extension is particularly useful for:

• Creating rich code examples for documentation and presentations
• Sharing code in chats and forums with language-aware formatting
• Providing context to AI assistants with file-level information
• Pasting syntax-highlighted snippets in HTML/Markdown documents

Requirements

Visual Studio Code 1.106.1 or later.

Extension Settings

Known Issues

See or report current issues in GitHub Issues.

Release Notes

1.4.0

• Simplified opt-in AI mode output to one Markdown heading with file, language, and range metadata.
• Made Markdown fences automatically grow past copied backtick runs by default.
• Changed outside-workspace paths to use only the file name by default.
• Improved VSIX packaging reliability by excluding development-only files.

1.3.0

• Added opt-in standard Markdown path headers and basename-only paths for files outside workspaces
• Added the editor context-menu command and default Cmd+Alt+C / Ctrl+Alt+C shortcut
• Fixed HTML whitespace, collision-safe automatic Markdown fences, and end-exclusive selection range metadata
• Reduced unnecessary full-document reads for selections, canceled prompts, and head/tail samples
• Made invalid configuration values fall back to compatibility defaults
• Added deterministic minimum/latest VS Code testing and repository-managed VSIX packaging

1.2.0

• Added AI-friendly Markdown mode with file/language/range header (opt-in)
• Added Markdown fence strategies: default, auto-upgrade when ``` appears, or tilde fences
• Added large-file prompt to choose full copy or head/tail sampling, including presets or custom head/tail counts
• Default settings keep 1.1.x behavior unchanged

1.1.0

• Added support for:
  • Snippet format options: markdown, html, and plain text
  • Selecting code instead of copying the full file
  • Customizable settings for file path inclusion and output format
• Improved workspace-relative path detection in multi-root environments
• Improved HTML escaping for enhanced security

1.0.0

• Initial release
• Support for copying entire file content as a Markdown code snippet with language and file path information

Development

Building the Extension

yarn install --frozen-lockfile
yarn compile

Testing the Extension

• yarn test runs the Node unit tests and Extension Host integration tests after the existing pretest compilation and lint gates.
• yarn test:repeat runs the Extension Host suite three times to check activation isolation.
• Set VSCODE_TEST_VERSION=stable or another supported version when running yarn test:integration to override the default minimum host version.
• Press F5 to open an Extension Development Host for manual verification.

Packaging

yarn package
yarn vsix

yarn package creates the production webpack bundle. yarn vsix runs the production bundle and packages the extension as a VSIX with the repository-managed @vscode/vsce dependency.

License

MIT