Terminal Bridge

A minimal VS Code extension that surfaces the built-in Run Selected Text in Terminal action where you actually need it — in the right-click context menu and on a fast keybinding.

GitHub: SPhillips1337/VSCodeRunInTerminal

Features

• Context menu entry — Right-click any selection in the editor and choose Run in Terminal. The item only appears when text is selected, so it never clutters the menu otherwise.
• Keybinding — Alt+Shift+Enter sends the selection to the active terminal without touching the mouse.
• Both actions delegate to VS Code's native workbench.action.terminal.runSelectedText, so behaviour is identical to the built-in command — no reimplementation, no surprises.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.74.0 or later (uses the modern zero-activationEvents extension model).
• An integrated terminal open in VS Code. If no terminal exists, VS Code will open one automatically.

Project structure

RunInTerminal/
├── extension.ts          # Extension entry point
├── package.json          # Manifest and contribution points
├── tsconfig.json         # TypeScript compiler config
├── .vscode/
│   └── launch.json       # F5 debug launch config
└── out/                  # Compiled JS (generated, not committed)

Installation

Option 1 — F5 (Extension Development Host) — recommended for testing

Launches a second VS Code window with the extension live-loaded. No packaging or publishing required.

npm install
npm run compile

Then press F5 in VS Code (with this folder open) — a new Extension Development Host window opens. Test the context menu and keybinding there.

The .vscode/launch.json in this repo is pre-configured for this workflow.

Option 2 — Install as .vsix (permanent local install)

Produces a self-contained package you can install like any other extension.

npm install -g @vscode/vsce
vsce package

Then either:

• Command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) → Extensions: Install from VSIX → select the .vsix file, or
• code --install-extension terminal-bridge-0.0.1.vsix

Note: vsce package requires the "publisher" field in package.json to be set to a non-placeholder string. It does not need to match a real Marketplace account for local use.

Keybinding

To change the binding, open Keyboard Shortcuts (Ctrl+K Ctrl+S), search for terminalBridge.runInTerminal, and reassign.

Extension settings

This extension contributes no settings. It is intentionally zero-configuration.

Known limitations

• The selection is sent as-is. Markdown code-fence markers (```), shell prompt characters ($), or other decorators are not stripped automatically. Copy the raw command text rather than a rendered markdown block.
• Only the active terminal receives the text. Use VS Code's terminal switcher to target a specific session before running.