RefLens

RefLens adds a dedicated sidebar panel that shows Find All References results grouped, sorted, and color-coded by reference kind — so you can navigate your codebase without losing context.

Features

Grouped results

References are organized so you can find what you need at a glance:

Reference kinds with color and icon

Every reference is tagged with its semantic role:

Sort order

Within any group mode, toggle between:

• Line — ascending line number (default)
• Kind — by semantic role, then by line

Symbol highlighting

The searched symbol is highlighted inside every snippet so it's always easy to spot.

Auto-update on cursor move

Enable Auto-Update to have RefLens automatically refresh results as you move the cursor. A configurable debounce delay (default 500 ms) prevents unnecessary work while you navigate.

Grid lines

Toggle the Lines button to draw borders between columns (Kind, Snippet, Location) for easier scanning.

Usage

1. Click the RefLens icon in the Activity Bar to open the panel.
2. Place the cursor on any symbol in the editor.
3. Click Find References ($(references) icon in the panel toolbar) — or right-click the editor and choose RefLens: Find References at Cursor.
4. Results appear instantly, grouped and sorted. Click any row to jump to that location.

Commands

Settings

Requirements

Any language with a reference provider (TypeScript, JavaScript, C#, Go, Python, Rust, etc.). RefLens delegates all symbol resolution to the active language server — no additional setup needed.