A lightweight Visual Studio Code extension that adds a status-bar button to trigger document formatting with a single click.
Description
format-button provides a small, convenient status bar item labeled "Format" (with a broom icon) that runs the built-in VS Code document formatter for the active editor. It is useful when you want an always-visible one-click formatter without using the command palette or keyboard shortcuts.
Features
Adds a status bar button: $(wand) Format
Runs the editor.action.formatDocument command on the active editor
Shows an information message when no editor is active
Requirements
Visual Studio Code compatible with the extension engine version declared in package.json.
Installation (for development)
Clone the repository.
Install dependencies:
npm install
Build the extension (or run the watcher during development):
npm run compile # build once via webpack
npm run watch # rebuild on file changes
Launch the extension host from VS Code (Run > Start Debugging) or use the VS Code Extension Development Host.
Usage
Open any text file supported by a formatter (e.g. TypeScript, JavaScript, JSON).
Click the $(broom) Format status bar button at the right of the status bar.
If a formatter is available for the file type, the document will be formatted; otherwise VS Code will prompt or do nothing depending on your formatter setup.
There is also a command contributed if you prefer the command palette: Format Document via Button (command id: formatButton.format).
Scripts
npm run compile — build the extension using webpack.
npm run watch — build in watch mode.
npm run package — build a production package.
npm run compile-tests / npm run watch-tests — compile TypeScript tests.
npm test — run tests (hooks into vscode-test).
See package.json for the full list of scripts.
Development Notes
The extension registers a command formatButton.format in src/extension.ts which invokes the built-in editor.action.formatDocument command and creates a status bar item bound to that command.
The status bar item is created with vscode.window.createStatusBarItem and shown immediately on activation.
Testing
Tests are set up under test/ and rely on VS Code test utilities. Run:
npm run pretest
npm test
Publishing
Follow the usual VS Code Marketplace publishing flow (use vsce or npm scripts you prefer). Build with npm run package before publishing.
Contributing
Bug reports and pull requests are welcome. Please open issues describing the problem and include steps to reproduce.
License
Specify your license here (e.g. MIT). Replace this line with the actual license text or a reference.
If you'd like, I can also add a CONTRIBUTING.md, update package.json publisher metadata, or add CI for tests and packaging. What would you like next?
