StreamGuard — VSCode Extension

Apply a decorative overlay to selected lines of code during live streams (Twitch, YouTube, etc.) without ever modifying the actual source files.

All masking is done via the VSCode TextEditorDecorationType API — purely visual and non-destructive.

Installation

Option 1 — Visual Studio Marketplace (recommended)

Open VS Code.
Press Ctrl+P (or Cmd+P on macOS) to open the Quick Open bar.
Type ext install NathanBonnell.stream-guard and press Enter.
Click Install.

Or open the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X), search for StreamGuard, and click Install.

Option 2 — Install from a `.vsix` file

Download the latest .vsix from the releases, then:

code --install-extension stream-guard-<version>.vsix

Or inside VS Code:

Open the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X).
Click the ··· menu (top-right of the Extensions panel).
Choose Install from VSIX… and select the downloaded file.

Option 3 — Build from source

# 1. Clone the repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd stream-utils

# 2. Install dependencies
npm install

# 3. Build
npm run compile

# 4. Package as .vsix  (requires @vscode/vsce)
npm install -g @vscode/vsce
vsce package --no-dependencies

# 5. Install the generated .vsix
code --install-extension stream-guard-*.vsix

Features

File/folder masking — glob-pattern-based full-file masking via workspace settings
Inline comment masking — annotate individual lines or blocks with special comments
Status bar indicator — always know whether stream mode is active
Toggle command — quickly enable/disable with StreamGuard: Toggle Stream Mode
Real-time updates — decorations refresh instantly on every document change or config change

Comment Syntax

Annotation	Effect
`// @stream-guard-next`	Masks the next line
`// @stream-guard-inline`	Masks the line that contains this annotation
`// @stream-guard-start`	Starts a masked block
`// @stream-guard-end`	Ends a masked block

Examples

// @stream-guard-next
const greeting = "Hello, world!";    // ← this line is masked

const config = loadSettings();       // @stream-guard-inline  ← this line is masked

// @stream-guard-start
const host = "localhost";
const port = 3000;
// @stream-guard-end
// ↑ everything between start/end is masked

Configuration (`.vscode/settings.json`)

{
  "streamGuard.enabled": true,
  "streamGuard.maskedFilePatterns": ["**/generated.*", "**/build/output.*"],
  "streamGuard.maskedFolders": ["**/draft/**"],
  "streamGuard.decorationColor": "#ff0000"
}

Setting	Type	Default	Description
`streamGuard.enabled`	`boolean`	`false`	Toggle the extension globally
`streamGuard.maskedFilePatterns`	`string[]`	`[]`	Glob patterns — files matching these have their entire content masked
`streamGuard.maskedFolders`	`string[]`	`[]`	Glob patterns — files inside matching folders are fully masked
`streamGuard.decorationColor`	`string`	`""`	Custom color for the overlay (CSS hex, e.g. `"#ff0000"`). Empty = editor warning theme color
`streamGuard.languageCommentPrefixes`	`object`	`{}`	Custom comment prefixes per language ID (e.g. `{ "lua": ["--"] }`)

Commands

Command	Description
`StreamGuard: Toggle Stream Mode`	Enables or disables stream masking

Development

npm install
npm run compile      # TypeScript build
npm test             # Run unit tests (mocha, no VSCode needed)
npm run lint         # Biome linter
npm run format       # Biome formatter

Project Structure

src/
├── extension.ts               # Entry point (activate / deactivate)
├── constants.ts               # Command ids, config keys, comment tokens
├── types.ts                   # Shared TypeScript types
├── guard/
│   ├── comment-parser.ts      # Parse @stream-guard-* comments
│   ├── decoration-provider.ts # Apply/clear VSCode decorations
│   ├── guard-manager.ts       # Main orchestrator
│   └── pattern-matcher.ts     # Glob pattern matching for files/folders
├── config/
│   ├── workspace-config.ts    # Read StreamGuard config from workspace
│   └── config-watcher.ts      # React to config changes
└── utils/
    └── logger.ts              # Internal logger using OutputChannel

StreamGuard

Nathan Bonnell