AWS S3 Extension for Visual Studio Code
The AWS S3 extension brings the power of Amazon S3 directly into VS Code. Browse, manage, and manipulate buckets, files, and folders without ever leaving your editor.
📋 Table of Contents
🚀 Features
- File Management – Rename, copy, move, delete, upload, download.
- Folder Management – Create, rename, copy, move, delete, download.
- Copy Options – File name (with/without extension), key, ARN, URL, S3 URI.
- Shortcuts – Pin frequently used files/folders for instant access.
- Advanced Search – Search across buckets by name, extension, or key (case‑insensitive).
- Endpoint & Region Customisation – Works with custom S3‑compatible endpoints (e.g., LocalStack).
- Localstack Support – Seamlessly test against a local S3 emulator.
🌟 Why Use It?
Whether you’re a developer, data scientist, or sysadmin, this extension streamlines your workflow with an intuitive UI that makes S3 resource management faster and more convenient.
📦 Installation
- Open VS Code.
- Go to Extensions (
Ctrl+Shift+X).
- Search for AWS S3 and click Install.
- Reload VS Code if prompted.
🛠️ Getting Started
- Open the AWS S3 Explorer view from the Activity Bar.
- Add a bucket using the
+ button (you can filter by name or list all buckets).
- Browse files/folders, use the context menu for actions, or click the Search button for advanced queries.
📂 Explorer Overview
The Explorer lists all objects in the selected bucket. Use the toolbar to refresh, upload, create folders, or navigate.
🔎 Search Functionality
Search is case‑insensitive and supports:
- File name
- Extension
- Full key path
Results are displayed in the Search view; clicking a result opens it in the Explorer.
📁 Buckets & Shortcuts
- Add buckets via the
+ button.
- Create shortcuts for quick access to frequently used objects.
📄 File & Folder Views
File View
Empty Folder View
🌐 Endpoint & Credentials
Endpoint URL
You can point the extension at any S3‑compatible service (e.g., LocalStack) by setting the endpoint URL:
http://localhost:4566
AWS Credentials
The extension follows the standard AWS SDK credential chain:
- Environment variables (
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY, AWS_SESSION_TOKEN)
- Shared credentials file (
~/.aws/credentials and ~/.aws/config)
- EC2 Instance Metadata Service
- ECS Container Credentials
- AWS SSO
- Web Identity Tokens
For more details, see the AWS CLI credential docs.
🐞 Bug Reporting & Contributions
📊 Telemetry & Privacy
This extension collects anonymous usage telemetry to help improve reliability and features.
What is collected
- Extension activation
- Command usage (e.g. S3 upload, download)
- Success and failure signals
What is NOT collected
- AWS credentials
- Bucket names or object keys
- File paths or file contents
- Personal or identifiable information
Telemetry control
Telemetry is collected only if VS Code telemetry is enabled.
You can disable telemetry via: Settings → Telemetry → Telemetry Level
🗺️ Roadmap
Todo
- A Separate list of s3 buckets to search for buckets and add
- S3 Select support
- Share active profile with other extensions
- Calculate folder size & object count
- Warning for > 1000 items
- Drag‑and‑drop upload
- Detailed error handling (e.g.,
NoSuchBucket)
- Persist favorite/hidden node states
- Progress bars for move/copy/rename operations
- Keep search text per folder navigation
Nice‑to‑Have
- VS Code icons for files/folders (removed in current version)
- Paging beyond 1000 items
- Display selected file/folder count
- Filter by date/size
- Multiple Explorer instances
- Freeze top bar
- Bucket ACL‑based permission handling
- Local folder sync
- Notes & colour tags for buckets/keys
If you find this extension useful, consider:
Thanks for using the AWS S3 Extension!
