An automated pomodoro-style break enforcer that launches a retro Breakout or Pong mini-game in the editor after a configurable period of continuous typing.
Installation
Launch VS Code Quick Open (Ctrl+P), paste the following command, and press enter.
Automated pomodoro-style break enforcer for VS Code. After a configurable
stretch of continuous typing, Code Breakout opens a retro Breakout or
Pong mini-game right inside an editor tab so you actually step away from
the code for a few minutes.
Features
Typing-activity tracking — counts continuous coding time from real
keystrokes, filtering out programmatic edits (format-on-save, bulk
find/replace) so they don't masquerade as work.
Idle-aware — a period of inactivity resets the continuous-typing
counter back to zero.
In-editor mini-game breaks — a Breakout or Pong game opens in a
Webview panel, themed with your current VS Code color theme.
Hard Mode — hides the Skip Break button and pulls focus back to the
break panel if you try to tab away, until the timer runs out or you
win/lose the game.
Status bar indicator — shows continuous coding time
($(watch) Coding: 32m) and a live countdown during a break
($(gamepad) Break: 02:45).
State survives window reloads — a fresh-enough coding streak resumes
after a reload instead of silently resetting.
Commands
Command
Description
Code Breakout: Start Break Now
Manually trigger the break mini-game immediately.
Code Breakout: Reset Timer
Reset the continuous coding time counter.
Code Breakout: Toggle Pause Tracking
Pause or resume activity tracking.
All three are also available by clicking the status bar item.
Extension Settings
Setting
Default
Description
codeBreakout.workIntervalMinutes
45
Minutes of continuous typing before a break is triggered.
codeBreakout.breakDurationMinutes
3
Length of the break mini-game, in minutes.
codeBreakout.idleTimeoutMinutes
5
Minutes of no keystrokes after which the continuous typing counter resets.
codeBreakout.hardMode
false
Hides the Skip Break button and locks focus to the break panel until the timer expires or the game is won/lost.
codeBreakout.selectedGame
"breakout"
Which mini-game to launch: "breakout" or "pong".
Requirements
No external dependencies — the mini-games are pure HTML5 Canvas and vanilla
JavaScript, bundled with the extension.
Known Issues
Hard Mode's focus-lock re-reveals the panel on editor changes but cannot
prevent every way of navigating away from it (e.g. opening a new window).
The idle/activity heuristic is a best-effort filter; unusually large manual
paste operations may not count toward your streak.
Release Notes
0.1.0
Initial release: activity tracking, configurable work/break/idle intervals,
Breakout and Pong mini-games, hard mode, and status bar integration.
Contributing
Issues and pull requests are welcome — see the repository link in the
Marketplace listing (update package.json's repository/bugs/homepage
fields with your real repo URL before publishing).
