TabPreview

TabPreview is a custom Ctrl+Tab switcher for VS Code with visual tab previews.

Features

• Replaces the default editor switcher flow with a visual tab panel.
• Overrides the built-in VS Code Ctrl+Tab editor switching shortcut.
• Shows file icons and optional code thumbnails.
• Supports quick tab switching and tab closing from the panel.
• Provides extension settings for size, icon style, and thumbnail rendering.

Usage

1. Press Ctrl+Tab to open the TabPreview panel.
2. Keep holding Ctrl, then press Tab (or Shift+Tab) to cycle selection.
3. Release Ctrl to switch to the selected tab.
4. Middle-click a tab item in TabPreview to close that tab directly.

Command Visibility

The main command is intentionally hidden from Command Palette in package.json:

"menus": {
	"commandPalette": [
		{
			"command": "tabpreview.showSwitcher",
			"when": "false"
		}
	]
}

Settings

TabPreview contributes settings under the tabPreview.* namespace, including:

• tabPreview.size
• tabPreview.icon.*
• tabPreview.showCloseButton
• tabPreview.thumbnail.*

Use the command tabpreview.settings to quickly open the TabPreview UI settings page.

Known Limitations

• Thumbnail rendering depends on available text document content in memory.
• Some non-file tabs (for example certain webview/terminal tabs) may use fallback identifiers.

Development

• Build extension: npm run compile
• Build webview: npm run webview:build
• Watch mode: npm run watch and npm run webview:watch

License

MIT