Ghost Comments allows you to leave notes, reviews, or reminders directly in your code without modifying the source file itself. Comments are stored in a separate JSON file, keeping your production code clean while enabling team collaboration via Git.
Key Features
Non-intrusive: Comments are not part of your source code files. They "float" near the code.
Git Friendly: All comments are stored in .ghost-comments.json. Commit this file to share notes with your team.
Centralized Comment Manager: View all project comments in a dedicated Sidebar tree view. Sort by date or alphabet, and filter rapidly.
Smart Context Search: If you add lines above a comment or move a function, the comment follows the code! The extension remembers the code context, not just the line number.
Multiple Display Modes: Choose how you want to see comments (Right, Left, or CodeLens).
Internationalization (i18n): Out of the box English and Russian UI support.
Customizable: Configure colors, authors, language, and behavior.
How to Use
Add a Comment:
Place your cursor on a line of code.
Press Ctrl+Alt+C (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Alt+C (Mac).
(Or use the command palette: Ghost Comments: Add/Edit Note).
Enter your text.
View Comments: Comments appear automatically in the editor.
Edit: Just run the "Add Comment" command again on a line with an existing comment.
Delete: Clear the text in the input box to delete the comment.
Smart Context & Sync
Ghost Comments remembers the code snippet where you left a comment.
Moved Code: If code moves (e.g., you insert new lines), the comment will visually "jump" to the correct line automatically.
Sync: To permanently update the .ghost-comments.json file with the new line numbers, run the command Ghost Comments: Sync Line Numbers or enable ghost-comments.autoSyncOnSave.
Broken Context: If the code line is drastically changed or deleted, the comment will be marked as "broken" (⚠️), letting you know the context is lost.
Extension Settings
This extension contributes the following settings:
Setting
Default
Description
ghost-comments.displayMode
"right"
How comments are shown: "right" (end of line), "left" (gutter badge), or "codelens" (above the line).
ghost-comments.showCommentManager
true
Show or hide the Ghost Comments Sidebar tree view.
ghost-comments.language
"auto"
UI Language for tooltips/prompts ("auto", "en", "ru"). Expandable via lang/ folder.
ghost-comments.sortOrder
"alpha"
Default sort order in the sidebar ("alpha", "date").
ghost-comments.author
""
Your name/nickname. Will be asked on first use.
ghost-comments.filename
".ghost-comments.json"
Name of the file where comments are stored.
ghost-comments.autoSyncOnSave
false
Automatically update line numbers in the JSON file when you save a source file. (Note: This creates changes in file for git).
ghost-comments.searchRange
15
How far (in lines) to search up/down if code has moved. 0 searches the whole file.
ghost-comments.colors.textColor
#6a9953
Color of the comment text.
ghost-comments.colors.errorColor
#ff9900
Color used when the original code context cannot be found.
Commands
Ghost Comments: Add/Edit Note (ctrl+alt+c / cmd+alt+c): Open input box to add or modify a comment.
Ghost Comments: Sync Line Numbers: Scans the current file and updates the stored line numbers in .ghost-comments.json to match the current code positions.
Ghost Comments: Change Language: Dynamically switch the internal UI language of the extension. Filters .json files in lang/.
Team Collaboration
To share comments with your team:
Make sure .ghost-comments.json is NOT invalid in your .gitignore (unless you want private notes).
Commit the JSON file along with your code changes.
Your teammates will see your comments when they pull the changes (and have the extension installed).
