TaskBari

VS Code extension that loads workspace tasks into the status bar — with category grouping support.

Inspired by earlier task-button status bar extensions, TaskBari goes further by letting you collapse related tasks into group buttons. Clicking a group opens a QuickPick menu listing all tasks in that category, saving valuable status bar space.

Features

• Individual task buttons on the status bar like other extensions which inspired this one
• Group buttons that collapse multiple related tasks into a single status bar button
• QuickPick submenus that appear when you click a group button
• Configurable group labels, icons, colors, and sort priority
• Full backward compatibility with existing tasks.json configurations

Install

Install from the VS Code Marketplace, or in VS Code/Cursor press Ctrl+P and run:

ext install SkySloane.taskbari

Quick Start

Add tasks to your .vscode/tasks.json as usual. To group tasks, add a group property inside options.statusbar:

{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "Build Debug",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "make debug",
      "options": {
        "statusbar": {
          "group": "Build"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "label": "Build Release",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "make release",
      "options": {
        "statusbar": {
          "group": "Build"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "label": "Lint",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "npm run lint"
    }
  ]
}

This creates two status bar items instead of three: a "Build (2)" group button and a "Lint" individual button. Clicking "Build (2)" opens a QuickPick with "Build Debug" and "Build Release".

Group Configuration

For more control, use an object instead of a string:

{
  "label": "Build Debug",
  "type": "shell",
  "command": "make debug",
  "options": {
    "statusbar": {
      "group": {
        "id": "Build",
        "label": "Build",
        "icon": "tools",
        "color": "#22C1D6",
        "priority": 10
      }
    }
  }
}

Only the first task in a group that specifies these properties "wins" — subsequent tasks in the same group only need "group": "Build".

Per-Task Options

All standard status bar options are supported:

"options": {
  "statusbar": {
    "label": "$(beaker) Test",
    "color": "#22C1D6",
    "detail": "Run unit tests",
    "hide": false,
    "filePattern": "test_.*"
  }
}

Extension Settings

AI Agent Setup (Recommended)

This repo includes an agent-instruct.txt file that teaches AI coding agents (Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Aider, etc.) how to set up and optimize your tasks.json for TaskBari.

How to use it:

1. Copy agent-instruct.txt into your project, or reference it directly from this repo.
2. In your AI agent's chat, mention the file to give it context:
   • Cursor: Type @agent-instruct.txt in the chat prompt, then ask it to set up or improve your tasks.
   • Other agents: Paste the file contents or point the agent to it, then ask your question.
3. Example prompts:
   • "@agent-instruct.txt Please set up a tasks.json for this Node.js project with build, test, and deploy groups."
   • "@agent-instruct.txt Migrate my existing tasks.json to use TaskBari groups."
   • "@agent-instruct.txt Add a new test coverage task to the Test group."

The file contains configuration references, group rules, recommended category taxonomies for different project types, migration steps, and a full working example.

Development

npm install
npm run compile
# Press F5 in VS Code to launch Extension Development Host

Credits

Inspired by the ecosystem of VS Code task-button extensions that came before it.