Salamatrix Studio

Salamatrix Studio is a developer-first Visual Studio Code and VSCodium extension for creating Open Salamander extensions. It is distributed as a standalone VSIX and does not require a running or installed Open Salamander.

The extension is intended for developers who prefer to keep source code as the source of truth while using visual designers as a convenient layer for menus and Salamatrix UI dialogs.

Install

In Visual Studio Code, open Extensions, choose the ... menu, select Install from VSIX..., and choose the salamatrix-studio-win32-x64-*.vsix file. The same VSIX can be installed in VSCodium from the command palette or its Extensions view.

The current package contains a native Windows x64 preview host. It supports Windows x64 only; ARM64 is reserved for a future package. A running Open Salamander installation and the Visual C++ Redistributable are not required. The preview host uses the static C/C++ runtime and is distributed inside the VSIX.

Quick start

1. Open an empty folder or an existing extension repository in VS Code.
2. Open Salamatrix Studio in the Activity Bar.
3. Choose Create New Extension or Add Existing Extension Folder.
4. Open Overview to inspect the manifest, Menu Builder to design commands, or Dialogs to create and edit Salamatrix UI dialog documents.
5. Use the editor actions to preview the dialog or generate runtime-specific source code.

Studio never overwrites existing project files during scaffolding. Generated files are written below generated/; the original entry script remains under the developer's control. Menu metadata is stored in .salamatrix/menu.json and dialog source documents are stored in .salamatrix/dialogs/.

Implemented scope

• creates functional extension projects for PowerShell, Python, Node.js, PHP, Lua, and Automation JScript without overwriting existing files;
• discovers extension.json projects in the workspace and offers a welcome page for creating or adding one when the workspace is empty;
• shows each project as Overview, Menu Builder, Dialogs, and Source Files in the Salamatrix Studio activity bar;
• creates .salamatrix/dialogs/*.salamatrix-dialog.json design documents;
• creates standalone dialog designs for native plugin projects without an extension.json;
• opens design documents in a visual custom editor;
• supports drag-and-drop insertion, selection, movement, resizing, deletion, text/geometry editing, option maps, items, columns, selection, and validation;
• saves project-local dialog templates and creates dialogs from them;
• provides separate visual Overview and Menu Builder tabs while preserving manifest fields outside their visual surface;
• stores Studio-owned menu action metadata in .salamatrix/menu.json, previews plugin/context/toolbar placements with light or dark SVG icons, and can generate simple Program, Open, Command Line, and PowerShell actions;
• generates readable PowerShell, Python, Node.js, PHP, Lua, Automation JScript, and native C++ dialog modules, either from the project runtime or an explicit per-generation target selection;
• bundles a standalone x64 native Win32 preview host in the VSIX.

The existing PowerShell Extension Menu Builder remains an independent shipped extension and is not changed or removed by Studio.

Development

Requirements for building Studio are Node.js, npm, and Visual Studio 2022 C++ Build Tools. End users do not need these dependencies because the bundled JavaScript and native x64 host are packaged into the VSIX.

cd src\tools\salamatrix-studio
npm install
npm run build:host
npm run check
npm run build
npm run package

npm run package produces a win32-x64 VSIX in build/salamatrix-studio/ at the repository root. The project structure and native host protocol are architecture-neutral so a win32-arm64 package can be added later.

Distribution and security

The native preview executable is an independent PE file and should be Authenticode-signed by the publisher before packaging a release. The release workflow signs the executable first, verifies it with signtool verify, and only then creates the VSIX. The Visual Studio Marketplace applies its own package signature and malware scanning when the VSIX is published.

For VSCodium, which uses Open VSX by default, publish the same signed VSIX to Open VSX or provide it through the project's release downloads. The official Visual Studio Marketplace remains the primary gallery for Visual Studio Code.

Project files

The visual design document is the source of truth for the generated dialog module:

MyExtension/
  extension.json
  main.ps1
  generated/menu-actions.generated.ps1
  generated/settings-dialog.generated.ps1
  .salamatrix/menu.json
  .salamatrix/dialogs/settings.salamatrix-dialog.json
  .salamatrix/templates/optional-template.salamatrix-dialog.json

Files below generated/ are overwritten by Studio. A newly scaffolded entry point contains one stable menu-dispatch integration block. Existing projects remain in non-invasive Custom Handler mode until the developer explicitly enables generated actions and accepts a preview of that one-time entry-point integration; code outside the marked block is left untouched.

Native preview boundary

The preview host does not link or start salamand.exe. It consumes the Studio dialog model through a versioned private transport and compiles the same SDK NativeDialog and Salamatrix-specific control sources as Salamatrix.spl. There is no separate Studio renderer or Win32 fallback control path. Its C/C++ runtime is linked statically, so the installed VSIX does not require the Visual C++ Redistributable or app-local MSVC/UCRT DLLs.

The planned persistent request/response boundary is described by src/salamatrix-sdk/contracts/studio-host-protocol.schema.json; the current VSIX launches one isolated host process per preview.