Commands Extension

One-click command runner for VS Code. Define commands in JSON or let the extension pick up your package.json scripts and .ps1 files automatically — then run anything from a sidebar or panel.

💬 Questions → Discussions · Q&A · Ideas → vote · Bugs → Issues

Quick Start

code --install-extension PavelKhabusov.commands-extension

1. Open a workspace in VS Code
2. Create commands-list.json in the root (or just have a package.json with scripts)
3. Click the Commands icon in the Activity Bar — done

📚 Detailed docs live in docs/: Server Uploads · SQL Console · Combined Operations · Claude Hooks Manager.

Features

Sidebar & Panel

Access your commands from the Activity Bar sidebar or open a dedicated panel via Ctrl+Shift+P > Commands: Open Panel.

Search & Filter

Filter commands instantly by typing in the search bar. Matches command names, command text, and group names. Groups auto-expand during search and restore their collapsed state when cleared.

Context Menu

Right-click any command to access:

Run Confirmation

Enable confirmation for critical commands via the context menu. Protected commands show a lock icon indicator and require a modal confirmation dialog before running.

Collapsible Groups

Organize commands into named groups. Collapse/expand individual groups or all at once. Group state is preserved across sessions. Command count badge appears on hover.

Favorites

Star any command to pin it to the Favorites group at the top. Use the star button or right-click > "Add to favorites". Favorites persist across sessions.

Multiple Shell Types

Add Commands from UI

Click + in the toolbar to add new commands without touching JSON. Pick an existing group or create a new one on the fly.

Terminal Management

• Re-running a command reuses its existing terminal
• Active terminals show a green indicator dot and a close button
• Stop terminals via the close button, context menu, or the Clear Terminals toolbar button

Auto-Detection

Server Uploads

Per-project FTP / FTPS / SFTP / SSH-rsync upload targets in server-uploads.local.json, run with one click — live progress, cancel, mirror deploys, parallel transfers, skipUnchanged, badge-exact "Modified" uploads, and a Quick Upload for one-off files. Full reference → docs/server-uploads.md.

Marketplace Templates

The built-in Recommended section offers ready-made command sets:

Click + on a template to add the whole set, or expand it and add individual commands.

Theme-Aware

Uses VS Code CSS variables — looks native in any theme (light, dark, high contrast).

commands-list.json Format

{
  "commands": [
    {
      "name": "Build Project",
      "command": "npm run build",
      "type": "terminal",
      "group": "Build"
    },
    {
      "name": "Start Server",
      "command": "server.js",
      "type": "node",
      "group": "Dev"
    },
    {
      "name": "Deploy",
      "command": "./scripts/deploy.ps1",
      "type": "pwsh",
      "group": "Deploy"
    }
  ]
}

Fields

Bound stop command (stop + hidden)

Link a start command to a stop command by the stop command's name. While the start command is running (its terminal is open), its card shows a red ⏹ Stop icon next to the ✕. Clicking it closes the start command's terminal and runs the bound stop command. Mark the stop command "hidden": true so it isn't shown as its own card (it's only reached through the Stop icon).

Several start commands can share one stop command — e.g. all your "start" variants bound to a single "stop project" — and on/off pairs (a service "up" bound to its "down") toggle from one icon.

{
  "commands": [
    { "name": "▶ Start (full)",    "command": "./start.sh",           "type": "terminal", "group": "App", "stop": "■ Stop" },
    { "name": "▶ Start (partial)", "command": "./start-partial.sh",   "type": "terminal", "group": "App", "stop": "■ Stop" },
    { "name": "■ Stop",            "command": "./stop.sh",            "type": "terminal", "group": "App", "hidden": true },

    { "name": "Storage up",   "command": "docker compose up -d",   "type": "terminal", "group": "App", "stop": "Storage down" },
    { "name": "Storage down", "command": "docker compose down",    "type": "terminal", "group": "App", "hidden": true }
  ]
}

The Stop icon appears only while the command's terminal is open. Terminal-type commands keep their terminal open after running (even docker … up -d), so the icon stays available until you stop or close it.

Each group header also has a pencil icon (next to the count) that opens the file the group's commands come from — commands-list.json for custom groups, package.json for the npm scripts group.

package.json Scripts

Scripts from your package.json are auto-imported under the npm scripts group:

{
  "scripts": {
    "build": "tsc -p ./",
    "test": "jest",
    "start": "node server.js"
  }
}

These appear as npm run build, npm run test, npm run start.

Claude Hooks Manager

Manage Claude Code hooks from the panel across project / local / user-global settings.json — toggle, edit, presets, copy/paste across projects. Full reference → docs/claude-hooks.md.

Combined Operations

Bundle terminal commands, server uploads, and helpers (wait / open / sound / notification / vscode-cmd) into one ordered, cancellable sequence defined in commands-list.json. Full reference → docs/combined-operations.md.

Cross-platform requirements

sound, notification, and open steps (in Combined Operations) and the matching presets (in Claude Hooks Manager) rely on small system utilities. Most are already installed on desktop Linux / macOS / Windows; some Linux setups (servers, minimal distros) need extras.

Install commands when something's missing:

• Ubuntu / Debian: sudo apt install libnotify-bin pulseaudio-utils xdg-utils
• Fedora: sudo dnf install libnotify pulseaudio-utils xdg-utils
• Arch: sudo pacman -S libnotify libpulse xdg-utils
• macOS: everything ships with the OS
• Windows: nothing required for basics; for richer toast notifications, run Install-Module -Name BurntToast -Force in PowerShell

The editor's "Add step ▾" submenu shows a ⚠ icon next to presets whose underlying tool isn't detected on the current OS, with a tooltip hint about what to install.

SQL Console

Give a server an sql block in server-uploads.local.json and the Server Uploads header gains a database button opening a console panel with three tabs: Query (a phpMyAdmin-style box — Ctrl+Enter, one result table per statement, full MySQL errors), Browse (page through a table with server-side search and click-to-sort headers) and Export (dump the database as full, schema only or data only, with live progress).

Queries and dumps run on the server over SSH, not from your machine — over the internet every client round-trip costs network latency, so the same dump takes seconds server-side instead of minutes. Needs SSH access and your key installed (ssh-copy-id user@host). Full reference → docs/sql-console.md.

Configuration

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for a full list of changes per version.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.85.0+

License

MIT