IFS Cloud Development Kit

The IFS Cloud Development Kit is a VS Code extension that brings first-class language support, AI-assisted development, and code generation tooling to IFS Cloud developers. It supports the full IFS Cloud DSL (Domain Specific Language) across 40+ file types. While currently packaged as a VS Code extension, the goal is to be IDE agnostic — supporting any editor that is compatible with the VS Code ecosystem (including Cursor).

Disclaimer

IFS Cloud Development Kit is a VS Code Extension that is currently in early preview (beta) and not yet officially released. It is still under active development, so features may change or be incomplete. For this reason, it is not recommended for production or daily use.

Optional telemetry. You may opt in to send anonymized product-usage events to help improve this extension. Details: Data and telemetry.

Information about support, usage, and availability of this extension and related components will be shared on our IFS Developer Portal in the future. Until the extension becomes generally available, we recommend using IFS Developer Studio for your daily usage and production application development.

This is currently only for testing purposes.

For now you can only generate code on the ongoing/latest IFS Cloud development track. We will introduce previously released target versions later on.

If you have suggestions or feedback on this VS Code extension as we work towards general availability, please share them with us through the IFS Community.

Use of this extension is subject to the IFS Development License Agreement, the same agreement that applies to all other IFS Developer Tools. See License.

Getting Started

1. Install the extension.
2. Open a folder containing IFS Cloud source files
3. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and run IFS: Open Getting Started for a walkthrough of the extension.
4. Download and set up the IFS code generator using IFS: Select Code Generator Target Version from the Command Palette.
5. Right-click any supported file in the Explorer and choose IFS: Generate Code or IFS: Generate & Deploy Code.
6. For AI assistance, open GitHub Copilot Chat and use the IFSCloudAgent agent.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.105.0 or later
• Java 11 or higher runtime — required to run the IFS code generator JAR
• Node.js — required to run the local MCP that starts with the extension
• Oracle SQL Developer Extension or Oracle SQLcl — required for database deployment features

Features

Syntax Highlighting

Full syntax highlighting for 40+ IFS Cloud DSL file types, including:

.abnf .analysisdatasource .analysismodel .annotations4 .antlrtoken .app .bo .client .clnsource .dbchange .dbdictionary .ddlsource .dmlsource .entity .enumeration .fragment .genericmodel .javatemplateexpression .jsonschema .lobbydatasource .lobbyelement .mkd .offline .offlineexpression .outbound .parquetdatasource .plsql .plsql4 .plsvc .plsvt .pltst .pltst4 .projection .projectiontest .scheduling .sequence .sequence4 .sqldml .sqldml4 .sqldmltest .sqlfunctions4 .storage .storage4 .template .utility .views .views4 .xetrigger

Code Generation & Deployment

Invoke the IFS code generator directly from VS Code:

• IFS: Generate Code (Ctrl+Shift+F7) — Runs the code generator on the active or selected file and shows generated output files.
• IFS: Generate & Deploy Code (Ctrl+Shift+F8) — Generates code and immediately deploys it to the configured database.
• IFS: Deploy Code — Validates selected deployable files for illegal Unicode characters before deployment and proceeds only when validation passes.
• These actions are also available in the editor context menu, Explorer context menu, and IFS File Explorer context menu for supported files and artifact folders.

IFS File Explorer & Navigator

Version 0.0.8 adds a dedicated IFS File Explorer activity bar view for navigating IFS Cloud source trees in a structure closer to IFS Developer Studio.

• Organizes files by component → artifact type → file
• Supports artifact groups such as entities, utilities, enumerations, fragments, client pages, projections, reports, upgrade scripts, storage artifacts, and generated output
• Includes Reveal Active File in Tree (Ctrl+Shift+1) for quickly locating the current editor file
• Includes a Navigator view that lists symbols for supported .plsql, .plsvc, .pltst, .plsvt, .storage, .storage4, .views, and .views4 files
• Supports A-Z sorting or file-order navigation in the Navigator, with configurable symbol kinds
• Lets you open generated files in read-only mode to avoid accidental edits

AI Chat Agents

Two purpose-built AI agents are included for use with GitHub Copilot Chat or Cursor:

• IFSCloudAgent — Full-featured expert agent for all IFS Cloud development tasks. Integrates with the MCP server, code generation tools, and all skills.
• IFSCloudBasicAgent — Lightweight variant optimized for free-tier AI models.

AI Skills

Domain-specific skills that give Copilot deep knowledge of IFS Cloud file formats:

MCP Server

An embedded Model Context Protocol (MCP) server exposes IFS Cloud language knowledge to AI tools:

• get_supported_languages — Lists all supported IFS Cloud DSL languages.
• get_language — Returns detailed information about a specific language.
• get_keywords — Looks up keyword definitions for a given language.
• get_rules — Looks up grammar rules for a given language.

This server is automatically registered in Cursor workspaces and is available to the IFSCloudAgent.

Customization Project Setup

Getting started with Customization project setup

1. Open a folder containing customization project.
2. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and run IFS: Set Core Files Location (Customization Support)
3. Set the core files location (secondary files location path) and press enter which automatically loads the Core Files - Workspace.
4. Right-click any supported file in the Explorer and choose IFS: Generate Code or IFS: Generate & Deploy Code.
5. For AI assistance, open GitHub Copilot Chat and use any agents.

• Ability to configure secondary file locations via settings.conf
• Improved indexing for:
• Customization files
• Extended project structures
• AI context awareness

Database Integration

• IFS: Select Default Database — Set the default Oracle database connection via the status bar. The active connection is always visible in the bottom-right of the editor.
• Integrates with Oracle SQL Developer Extension for VS Code or Oracle SQLcl.

utPLSQL Test Dev Loop

The fastest single-file loop for utPLSQL database tests, driven directly through SQLcl. Right-click a Test<Entity>.tpi (package spec) or Test<Entity>.tpy (package body) file (in the editor, the Explorer, or the IFS File Explorer) to:

• IFS: Deploy utPLSQL Test — deploy the package spec and body (spec first, as Oracle requires).
• IFS: Run utPLSQL Test — run the already-deployed suite via ut.run(<package>).
• IFS: Deploy & Run utPLSQL Test — deploy then run in one action.

Shared helpers and builders (the Helpers.tpi/.tpy, DataBuilders.tpi/.tpy and <Entity>Builders.tpi/.tpy packages under <component>/test/<component>/utplsql/builders/, which carry no Test prefix and never run) get their own action:

• IFS: Deploy Shared Helpers/Builders — compile one helper/builder package (spec then body). The single-file editor equivalent of scripts/deploy-shared.ps1 / the MCP deploy_shared verb.
• IFS: Deploy Shared Helpers/Builders (Whole Component) — deploy the whole shared set in dependency order: inttst Helpers → DataBuilders, then the component's own utplsql/builders/ packages.

The action finds the sibling .tpi / .tpy pair automatically and fires ut.run against the bare package name — read from the CREATE PACKAGE header of the .tpi, not derived from the file name, since the two differ (TestCustomerOrder.tpi declares TEST_CUSTOMER_ORDER_TST). It is never a dotted suite-path, because IFS Cloud deploys every component into IFSAPP. The human-readable ut_documentation_reporter output streams to a dedicated IFS Marble output channel.

The connection resolves from the dedicated ifsMarble.connection.* settings when connectString is set (the sandbox override, using user alongside — default ifsapp; the extension asks once for the password and keeps it in the OS credential store); otherwise it falls back to the default connection selected in the Database Connections view — so you don't have to configure the connection twice. Note: the override is all-or-nothing on connectString — setting user without connectString has no effect (the fallback connection brings its own credentials), and the extension warns once if you do. The SQLcl executable reuses the existing MarbleCodeGenerator.SqlclExecutablePath setting (shared with Generate & Deploy, defaulting to sql on PATH); the workspace root comes from ifsMarble.workspaceRoot. Use IFS: Test utPLSQL Connection to verify it (Connected as IFSAPP to localhost:1521/or19c). Menu items are gated on position as well as name: the suite actions appear only for Test*.tpi/.tpy files sitting directly under <component>/test/<component>/utplsql/, and the shared-builder actions only for files in its builders/ subfolder. When ifsMarble.workspaceRoot is set the file must live under it. This is a single-file loop — for whole-component runs, coverage, or CI parity use scripts/run-tests.ps1. Requires Oracle SQLcl.

utPLSQL suites also appear in VS Code's Testing panel: tests are discovered from the Test*.tpi package specs and run through SQLcl with the JUnit reporter, surfacing pass/fail/errored results with durations and inline failure messages. A Testing-panel run deploys each package first and stops that package's run on a compile error, showing the PLS- line; disabled tests (--%disabled) show as skipped, and Stop ends the SQLcl run. In the IFS File Explorer, test suites and their builders/helpers group under a dedicated Tests category.

.tpi and .tpy files are editor-highlighted as PL/SQL through two dedicated languages (tpi, tpy) whose grammars delegate to the existing PL/SQL grammar. They are deliberately not registered with the Marble language server and are not code-generation inputs — they are hand-authored test packages, not Marble model files.

Commands

All commands are available via the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P).

Extension Settings

Configure this in your VS Code settings to your preferred deployment provider.

Data and telemetry

At IFS, we aim to make your developer experience smooth and easy to use. When you opt in, this extension sends anonymized product-usage events so we can identify pain points, prioritize enhancements, and improve usability — similar in intent to IFS Cloud Behavior Analytics, but scoped to this VS Code extension.

• Legal basis: your explicit consent (extension setting or Enable in the onboarding prompt). Telemetry is off by default; nothing is transmitted until you opt in.
• Data controller: IFS Aktiebolag (IFS AB), Sweden.
• Data processor: FullStory, Inc. receives events via the Server Events API only — not browser session replay or screen recording.
• What we collect (when opted in): coarse feature usage (for example generate_code, deploy), success/failure outcomes, extension and VS Code versions, host app (VS Code or Cursor), OS platform, locale, and a pseudonymous installation ID (SHA256 of a salted machine ID; the raw machine ID is never sent).
• What we do not collect: workspace paths, filenames, source code, generated output, MCP or chat content, or database credentials.
• Retention: 12 months, then deleted automatically.
• Recipients: IFS R&D product teams with FullStory access; analytics are not shared with customers.
• How to disable: set ifsCloudDevelopmentKit.telemetry.enabled to false, or disable VS Code global telemetry so vscode.env.isTelemetryEnabled is false (see Extension telemetry).
• Your rights: see the IFS privacy statement for GDPR rights and how to contact us.
• More detail: TELEMETRY.md and the telemetry.json event inventory.

Known Issues

This extension is currently in preview. Please report issues through your internal IFS development channels.

License

The IFS Cloud Development Kit is an IFS Development Tool. Use is subject to the IFS Development License Agreement, the same agreement that applies to all other IFS Developer Tools.

A copyright notice and pointer to that agreement are in LICENSE.txt. The Visual Studio Marketplace License resource for this extension also refers to that file (license in package.json is SEE LICENSE IN LICENSE.txt).

By downloading, installing, or using this extension you confirm that you are authorized to accept those terms. If you do not agree, do not install or use this extension.

Release Notes

0.0.10

• Added utPLSQL support as a part of the testing framework.

0.0.9

• Code generator downloads now use a bundled Java verification helper to validate signed JAR contents and signer fingerprints before replacing the active version.
• SQLcl deployments and connection tests now launch in thin mode to avoid OCI client version mismatch failures on machines with incompatible Oracle client libraries.
• Code generation now stops when the active file has error diagnostics and reports the blocking locations in the Code Generation output.
• Navigator reopen behavior no longer forces stale symbol selection when the tree view is hidden.

0.0.8

• Added the IFS File Explorer activity bar view for browsing IFS Cloud artifacts by component and file type.
• Added the Navigator view for supported PL/SQL, test, storage, and view files.
• Added file explorer commands for revealing the active file, filtering components, opening generated files read-only, and configuring navigator behavior.
• Added workspace settings for IFS File Explorer visibility, generated output root override, and navigator symbol presentation.

0.0.7

• RMB option to deploy code for the deployable files have been added with the illegal unicode characters validations
• Reinstated the rollbacked changes from the version 0.0.5

0.0.6

• Rollbacked the changes related to customization support from version 0.0.5 due to stability issues.

0.0.5

• Added full customization framework support.
• Introduced agentic support for customization development.
• Code generator updated for customization-aware generation.
• Added multi-root workspace support.
• Introduced secondary file locations via settings.conf through a command.
• Improved indexing for customization and extended project structures.

0.0.4

• Updated readme

0.0.3

• Code generator is now downloaded and managed by the extension — no manual JAR installation required.
• IFS: Select Code Generator Target Version command to download and activate a code generator version.
• Background update check for rolling-track (early-access) versions.
• Two-stage JAR verification (signature integrity + certificate fingerprint pinning).
• Improved language server stability: no more crash-loop on missing or corrupt JAR.
• Added disclaimer section clarifying early-preview status.

0.0.2

• Getting started walkthrough with guided setup steps.
• Deployment provider selection: Oracle SQL Developer Extension (default) or Oracle SQLcl.
• IFS: Select Default Database command and status bar indicator.
• Database connection tree view with add / edit / delete / refresh commands.

0.0.1

Initial preview release.