Labelixa ZPL for VS Code

See the Zebra ZPL label you are editing — rendered, without a printer — and get the label linted in the Problems panel while you work.

Install

ext install labelixa.labelixa-zpl

Or from the command line:

code --install-extension labelixa.labelixa-zpl

Also on Open VSX for Cursor, VSCodium, Gitpod, Theia and other editors that use the Open VSX registry — search for "Labelixa ZPL" in the extensions view.

What it does

Preview the label under your cursor. Put the caret anywhere inside a ^XA … ^XZ block and run Labelixa: Preview the label under the cursor. The block is rendered by the Labelixa API and shown beside your code.

If the cursor is between labels, nothing is rendered and the extension says so. Showing the nearest label instead would let you edit one label while looking at another — a quiet way to ship the wrong thing.

Lint while you type. 700 ms after you stop typing — and on save — the file is checked and the findings land in the Problems panel with their real line and column: unknown commands, unterminated fields, out-of-range parameters, RFID notes, and more. Each finding code is a link to its rule page (labelixa.com/zpl/rules/<code>): what it means, why it matters and a label that shows the fix. The delay is not cosmetic: a request per keystroke would exceed the rate limit and answer your typing with errors.

Fix it from the marker. Where the API returns a fix, the finding offers it as a quick-fix (Ctrl+. / Cmd+.) — a missing ^FS, a parameter put back in range. Only fixes that carry a readable title are offered; you are never asked to accept a change you cannot read.

Hover a command to see what it does. Hovering ^FO, ^BY, ~JC and the rest shows the command's name, format and parameters, from the same dictionary the command reference is built from. A command the preview engine does not render says so — better to read it here than to discover it on a blank label.

Quota, plainly

Linting does not consume label quota. It only shares the rate limit. That is why it can run on every save.
Rendering a preview does consume quota — so it is never automatic. It happens only when you run the preview command.

Quick-fixes and hover help do not consume quota either: both are served from data the extension already has or from a free endpoint.

Anonymous use is free and rate limited. To use your own quota, run Labelixa: Set the API key and paste your key (lbx_… from labelixa.com/panel).

The key is stored as a secret, not in a settings file. Until 0.1.3 it was an ordinary setting, which meant it could end up in a workspace's .vscode/settings.json and be committed, or be carried to other machines by Settings Sync. A key already in settings is moved into the secret store the first time 0.1.4 runs, and the setting is then cleared.

Settings

Setting	Default	Meaning
`labelixa.apiKey`	empty	Deprecated. Use Labelixa: Set the API key; a value left here is moved into the secret store once and then cleared.
`labelixa.baseUrl`	`https://api.labelixa.com`	Change only for a self-hosted Labelixa. User settings only (see below).
`labelixa.dpmm`	`8`	Printer resolution (8 dpmm = 203 dpi).
`labelixa.widthIn` / `labelixa.heightIn`	`4` / `6`	Label size in inches.
`labelixa.lintOnSave`	`true`	Lint on save.
`labelixa.lintWhileTyping`	`true`	Lint 700 ms after you stop typing.

Where your API key goes

labelixa.baseUrl can only be set in your user settings. A value in a workspace's .vscode/settings.json is ignored, so a repository you open cannot point the extension, and your key, at another server.
The key is sent without asking only to https://api.labelixa.com, https://labelixa.com and https://staging.labelixa.com.
For any other https address (your own self-hosted Labelixa) the extension asks once, per address, before it sends the key. If you say no, requests go to that address without the key. A "yes" is remembered on this machine.
Over plain http the key is never sent; requests go out anonymously.
Redirects are not followed, so a server cannot forward your key to another host.

What it does not do

It does not print. It renders what a printer would produce, from our own ZPL engine — a simulation, not a device.
It is not a substitute for a test print. Fonts, media calibration and darkness live in the printer; the preview cannot see them.
The caret character is fixed to ^. ^CC (change caret) is not handled — the Labelixa engine does not handle it either, so the preview is exactly as capable as the renderer behind it, no more.
It sends nothing from an untrusted workspace. A folder you opened only to read is not shipped to a network service; trust it first.
It has no AI rewriting of your ZPL. Quick-fixes come from the rules that found the problem, so they are the same every time.

Privacy

Your ZPL is sent to the Labelixa API to be rendered and checked. The diagnostics endpoint is stateless: the label is not written to disk and not logged, and the response carries positions and codes rather than your label text. See labelixa.com/security.

The extension collects no telemetry: nothing about your editing, your files or your usage is sent anywhere except the label text you ask it to render or check. Your API key is kept in the editor's secret store and is never written to a settings file, a log or a request URL.

Support

Bug reports and questions: support@labelixa.com (API reference: labelixa.com/docs/api). Labelixa on GitHub: github.com/Labelixa (examples, cheatsheets and the labelixa-mcp package source).

MIT licensed.