Inverigator

Inverigator is a powerful VS Code extension that helps developers navigate InversifyJS dependency injection containers. Jump instantly from injected dependencies to their concrete implementations, making it easier to understand and work with complex IoC container setups.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Installation
• Usage
  • Navigation Commands
  • Keyboard Shortcuts
  • Context Menus
• Configuration
  • Extension Settings
  • Ignore Patterns
• How It Works
• Requirements
• Known Issues
• Release Notes
• Contributing
• License

Features

🚀 Smart Navigation

• Navigate from injection tokens to their concrete implementations
• Jump from interfaces to their bound implementations
• Navigate from injected properties to their service classes
• Support for Symbol-based and string-based injection tokens

🔍 Comprehensive Scanning

• Content-based scanning finds all bindings regardless of file location
• Supports modular container architectures with deep import following
• Automatically discovers registry and configuration modules
• Resolves TypeScript path aliases from tsconfig.json

⚡ Developer Experience

• CodeLens integration shows clickable links above injections
• Rich context menu integration
• Multiple keyboard shortcuts for quick access
• Real-time file watching with automatic rescanning
• Output channel for debugging and diagnostics

🎯 Flexible Configuration

• Customizable container file patterns
• .inverigatorignore file support for excluding files/directories
• Configurable scan depth for modular containers
• Toggle auto-scan and CodeLens features

Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

1. Open VS Code
2. Press Ctrl+P / Cmd+P to open the Quick Open dialog
3. Type ext install inverigator and press Enter
4. Click the Install button

From VSIX Package

1. Download the latest .vsix file from the releases page
2. Open VS Code
3. Press Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P to open the Command Palette
4. Type Extensions: Install from VSIX... and press Enter
5. Select the downloaded .vsix file

Usage

Navigation Commands

Inverigator provides several commands for navigating your InversifyJS containers:

Go to Implementation (inversifyNavigator.goToImplementation)

Navigate from an injection token, interface, or injected property to its concrete implementation.

Example scenarios:

// Navigate from token to implementation
container.bind(TYPES.UserService).to(UserService);
//            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Place cursor here and run command

// Navigate from interface to implementation
interface IUserService { }
//        ^^^^^^^^^^^^ Place cursor here and run command

// Navigate from injected property to implementation
@inject(TYPES.UserService) private userService: IUserService;
//                                  ^^^^^^^^^^^ Place cursor here and run command

Show All Bindings (inverigator.showBindings)

Display a searchable list of all discovered InversifyJS bindings in your workspace.

Rescan Container Files (inverigator.rescan)

Manually trigger a rescan of all container files to update the bindings map.

Show Injection Mappings (inverigator.showInjections)

View all discovered interface-to-token mappings from @inject decorators.

Generate Ignore File (inverigator.generateIgnoreFile)

Create a sample .inverigatorignore file with common exclusion patterns.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Command	Windows/Linux	macOS
Go to Implementation	Ctrl+Alt+F12 or Alt+F12 or Ctrl+Alt+I	Cmd+Alt+F12 or Alt+F12 or Cmd+Alt+I

Context Menus

Inverigator integrates seamlessly with VS Code's context menus:

• Editor Context Menu: Right-click in any TypeScript file to access "Go to Inversify Implementation"
• Editor Title Bar: Quick access buttons for "Show All Bindings" and "Rescan Container Files"
• Explorer Context Menu: Right-click TypeScript files in the explorer to trigger rescanning
• Command Palette: All commands available via Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P

Configuration

Extension Settings

Configure Inverigator through VS Code settings (File > Preferences > Settings or settings.json):

inverigator.containerPaths

Array of glob patterns to identify InversifyJS container files.

Default:

[
  "**/container.ts",
  "**/inversify.config.ts",
  "**/ioc.ts"
]

Example:

{
  "inverigator.containerPaths": [
    "**/container.ts",
    "**/di-container.ts",
    "**/src/config/ioc.ts"
  ]
}

inverigator.autoScanOnSave

Automatically rescan container files when they are saved.

Default: true

inverigator.maxScanDepth

Maximum depth to follow imports when scanning modular containers.

Default: 5 (Range: 1-10)

inverigator.enableCodeLens

Show clickable "Go to Implementation" links above InversifyJS injections and bindings.

Default: true

inverigator.maxFilesToScan

Maximum number of files to scan to prevent memory issues in large workspaces. Use -1 for unlimited.

Default: 1000 (Range: -1 to 10000)

inverigator.scanTimeout

Timeout in milliseconds for scanning operations. Use -1 for unlimited.

Default: 30000 (Range: -1 to 600000)

inverigator.useCache

Use cached bindings from .inverigator folder for faster startup.

Default: true

inverigator.cacheMaxAge

Maximum age of cache in milliseconds before it's considered stale.

Default: 3600000 (1 hour)

inverigator.showWelcomeMessage

Show welcome message with binding count on first installation.

Default: true

Caching System

Inverigator uses an intelligent caching system to provide instant startup after the initial scan:

• Cache Location: .inverigator folder in your project root
• Cache Contents:
  • bindings.json - All discovered InversifyJS bindings
  • injections.json - Interface-to-token mappings
  • metadata.json - Cache version and configuration hash
• Cache Invalidation: Automatic when:
  • Configuration settings change
  • Container files are modified (with auto-scan enabled)
  • Cache age exceeds configured maximum
• Manual Cache Management:
  • Inverigator: Show Cache Statistics - View cache age and size
  • Inverigator: Clear Cache - Force cache rebuild on next scan

Note: Add .inverigator/ to your .gitignore file to exclude cache from version control.

Ignore Patterns

Create a .inverigatorignore file in your project root to exclude specific files or directories from scanning. The file uses gitignore-style syntax.

Default exclusions:

• Test files (*.test.ts, *.spec.ts, __tests__/, __mocks__/)
• Build outputs (dist/, build/, out/)
• Dependencies (node_modules/, vendor/)
• Type definitions (*.d.ts)
• Temporary files (tmp/, temp/)

Example .inverigatorignore:

# Custom exclusions
examples/
archived/
legacy/

# Exclude specific patterns
**/*.backup.ts
**/*.old.ts

# Exclude generated files
src/generated/

To generate a sample ignore file, use the command: Inverigator: Generate .inverigatorignore File

How It Works

Inverigator uses advanced TypeScript AST parsing to understand your InversifyJS container configuration:

1. Discovery Phase

   • Scans workspace for container files matching configured patterns
   • Uses content-based scanning to find all .bind( patterns
   • Recursively follows imports to discover modular registries

2. Analysis Phase

   • Parses TypeScript AST to extract binding information
   • Maps injection tokens (strings, Symbols, identifiers) to implementations
   • Resolves TypeScript path aliases using tsconfig.json
   • Follows export declarations to find actual implementations

3. Indexing Phase

   • Builds comprehensive maps of:
     • Token → Implementation class
     • Interface → Token (from @inject decorators)
     • Service classes and their locations

4. Navigation Phase

   • Determines context at cursor position (token, interface, or property)
   • Resolves through injection mappings if needed
   • Opens implementation file at the correct location

Requirements

• VS Code version 1.103.0 or higher
• TypeScript project using InversifyJS for dependency injection
• TypeScript installed in your project (used for AST parsing)

Known Issues

• Complex dynamic bindings may not be detected
• Conditional bindings based on runtime values are not fully supported
• Very large workspaces may experience initial scanning delays

Please report issues on our GitHub repository.

Release Notes

0.0.1 - Initial Release

Features

• ✨ Basic navigation from injection tokens to implementations
• ✨ Support for Symbol and string-based tokens
• ✨ Content-based scanning strategy
• ✨ TypeScript config path alias resolution
• ✨ Interface and property navigation
• ✨ CodeLens integration
• ✨ Context menu integration
• ✨ Multiple keyboard shortcuts
• ✨ Configurable container paths
• ✨ .inverigatorignore file support
• ✨ Real-time file watching
• ✨ Output channel for diagnostics

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guide for details.

Development Setup

1. Clone the repository
2. Run npm install to install dependencies
3. Open the project in VS Code
4. Press F5 to launch a new VS Code window with the extension loaded
5. Make changes and test them in the Extension Development Host

Running Tests

npm run test        # Run all tests
npm run lint        # Run linting
npm run check-types # Type checking

License

This extension is licensed under the MIT License.

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Enjoy navigating your InversifyJS containers with ease! 🚀

If you find this extension helpful, please consider:

• ⭐ Starring the repository on GitHub
• 📝 Leaving a review on the VS Code Marketplace
• 🐛 Reporting issues or suggesting features