AMPscript Smart Formatter

A VS Code extension for intelligent AMPscript formatting, autocomplete, and syntax support in HTML files.

Features

1. Smart Formatting

Automatically formats AMPscript blocks within HTML files while preserving the AMPscript code structure.

• Block Syntax: %%[ ... ]%%
• Inline Syntax: %%= ... =%%
• Adds proper newlines between AMPscript and HTML
• Uses js-beautify for HTML formatting

2. Intelligent Autocomplete

Trigger Characters

The extension provides context-aware completions triggered by:

• % - For AMPscript blocks
• = - For inline AMPscript
• @ - For variable suggestions
• [ - For block syntax completion

AMPscript Functions

When typing inside AMPscript blocks (triggered by = or other characters), you'll get suggestions for:

Control Structures

• IF - IF statement with THEN/ENDIF
• IFELSE - IF/THEN/ELSE/ENDIF statement
• FOR - FOR loop with DO/NEXT

System Variables

• _SubscriberKey
• _MessageContext
• _JobSubscriberKey
• _ListID
• _CampaignID
• _TenantID
• _Language
• AttributeGetValue
• RequestParameter
• Now
• Today

3. Variable Autocomplete

Smart Variable Detection

• Only shows declared variables (from SET @varName or VAR @varName)
• Filters out functions and statements when typing @
• No duplicate suggestions
• Automatically removes the @ prefix from display names for clean insertion

Example:

%%[
  SET @firstName = 'Sagar'
  SET @lastName = 'Tyagi'
  SET @country = 'India'
]%%

When you type %%=v(@, you'll see: firstName, lastName, country

4. Cursor Positioning

• When typing %%=v()=%%, the cursor automatically lands inside the parentheses
• Use Tab to move to the next placeholder in snippets

5. Hover Documentation

Hover over AMPscript functions to see brief descriptions:

• v - Outputs variable value
• Lookup - Fetch data from Data Extension
• Concat - Join strings
• Now - Current date/time
• FormatDate - Format date
• AttributeValue - Subscriber attribute
• Empty - Checks if value is empty

6. Syntax Highlighting

Includes custom syntax highlighting for AMPscript in HTML files via ampscript-html.tmLanguage.json.

7. Code Snippets

Block Snippet

Type % (not %%) to get:

%[
  $1
]%%

Inline Snippet

Type %%= to get:

%%=v(${1:varName})=%%

Usage

Formatting

1. Open an HTML file containing AMPscript
2. Press Shift+Alt+F (or your configured format shortcut)
3. The extension will format both HTML and preserve AMPscript blocks

Autocomplete

1. Type inside an AMPscript block (%%[...]%% or %%=...=%%)
2. Trigger autocomplete with Ctrl+Space
3. Or wait for suggestions to appear automatically after typing trigger characters

Variable Suggestions

1. Type @ inside an AMPscript block
2. You'll see only declared variables from your code
3. Select a variable to insert it (without the @ prefix)

Requirements

• VS Code 1.70.0 or higher
• No additional dependencies required

Extension Settings

This extension contributes the following settings:

• ampscript.format: Enable/disable formatting (default: enabled)
• Currently uses VS Code's built-in HTML formatting configuration

Supported File Types

• .html files
• .htm files