LinkLeap

Double-click to follow links in VS Code, so you don't have to Ctrl+Click.

LinkLeap turns a double-click on a link into a jump. It works in Markdown, plain text, logs, code comments and config files, and with anything else VS Code can already Ctrl+Click. A single click, a triple-click or a drag still selects text as usual.

It also adds keyboard shortcuts for following links, a peek mode, issue links read from your git remote, jumps to code symbols mentioned in docs, and a Backlinks view.

What it can follow

Wiki links are matched case-insensitively, and the note closest to the current file wins. Double-clicking a wiki link to a note that doesn't exist yet offers to create it.

Keyboard

Open Link at Cursor, Peek Link at Cursor and Go to Link in File... are also in the editor's right-click menu. You can rebind any of these in Keyboard Shortcuts.

Settings

Per-language examples

{
  // Go to Definition on double-click in TypeScript, as well as links.
  "[typescript]": {
    "linkleap.targets": ["patterns", "documentLinks", "urlsAndPaths", "definition"]
  },
  // Turn it off for plain text.
  "[plaintext]": { "linkleap.enabled": false }
}

You can also run LinkLeap: Toggle Double-Click Links for Current Language to turn it off for the current language.

Custom patterns

"linkleap.patterns": [
  { "name": "Jira", "pattern": "\\b([A-Z][A-Z0-9]+-\\d+)\\b", "target": "https://jira.example.com/browse/$1" },
  { "name": "GitHub issue", "pattern": "(?<![\\w&])#(\\d+)\\b", "target": "https://github.com/me/repo/issues/$1", "languages": ["markdown", "git-commit"] },
  { "name": "ADR", "pattern": "\\bADR-(\\d{4})\\b", "target": "${workspaceFolder}/docs/adr/$1.md" }
]

target can use $0 (the whole match), $1–$9 (capture groups), ${workspaceFolder}, ${file} and ${fileDirname}. It can be a URL or a file path. Relative paths resolve from the workspace folder, and a #L10 or #heading suffix jumps inside the file.

Peek mode

Set "linkleap.openMode": "peek" to show a link's target in a peek window under the link instead of switching tabs. You can set it per language, e.g. peek in Markdown but open normally in code. You can also peek once with LinkLeap: Peek Link at Cursor or from the right-click menu. URLs, folders and binary files such as images always open normally.

Issue links

LinkLeap reads the origin remote from your git repository, including worktrees and submodules, and links references to the right place:

Commit SHAs are only detected in prose files (Markdown, plain text, commit messages, logs, diffs), so hex strings in code aren't mistaken for commits. #123 is ignored in stylesheets, where it's a colour. If the folder isn't a git repository, set linkleap.issues.repository.

Symbols in prose

In Markdown and plain text, double-clicking `parseConfig()`, `UserService.find`, or a code-shaped word like UserService or load_config jumps to that symbol. LinkLeap asks VS Code's workspace symbol search first. If no language server is running yet, it scans your source files for a matching declaration such as function, class, def, fn or func. If there are several matches, they open in a peek window.

In code files, only code-shaped text in backticks counts (e.g. // see `parseConfig()`). This keeps JavaScript template strings and shell backticks from triggering jumps.

Backlinks

The Backlinks view in the Explorer lists every Markdown link, reference definition and [[wiki link]] in the workspace that points to the file you're viewing. The matching text in each line is highlighted, and clicking a line opens it. The index updates as files are created, changed or deleted.

How it works

VS Code doesn't give extensions mouse events. LinkLeap watches for what a double-click leaves behind instead: a single mouse-driven selection change that selects exactly one word, according to your editor.wordSeparators. A drag reaches the same selection through a series of growing partial selections, so it is ignored.

After a double-click, LinkLeap waits triggerDelay ms. If the selection changes again in that time (a triple-click or a drag), it does nothing. Otherwise it resolves the word under the cursor against your targets, in order, and opens the first match.

Development

npm install
npm run test:unit                                    # pure logic, node:test
VSCODE_PATH=/usr/share/code/code npm run test:integration   # runs inside VS Code (omit VSCODE_PATH to download one)
npm run package                                      # builds linkleap-x.y.z.vsix

Press F5 in VS Code to launch an Extension Development Host on test-fixtures/workspace.

Releasing

1. Bump version in package.json and add a ## x.y.z section to CHANGELOG.md.
2. Commit, then git tag vx.y.z && git push --follow-tags.

The Release workflow tests the build, attaches the .vsix to a GitHub release, and publishes to:

• VS Code Marketplace when the VSCE_PAT secret is set. This needs a publisher named peckage at https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/manage and an Azure DevOps token with the Marketplace → Manage scope.
• Open VSX when the OVSX_PAT secret is set. This needs a token from https://open-vsx.org/user-settings/tokens and a one-time npx ovsx create-namespace peckage -p <token>.

License

MIT