Knot

Language support for Twine / SugarCube 2 development in VS Code. Works with .tw and .twee files.

This is an early preview. Some features are incomplete or may have rough edges — see Current Limitations below. Full Documentation

See the complete feature documentation for every feature, comparison with alternatives, configuration reference, and tips.

What It Does

Diagnostics — Warns about unknown macros, broken passage links, type mismatches in comparisons, and duplicate passage names across your project. Not every SugarCube pattern is detected yet.

Go to Definition (F12) — Jump to passage declarations, <<widget>> definitions, Macro.add() calls in script passages, and variable assignments. Works across files.

Find All References — Find where a passage is linked, where a story variable ($var) is used, or where a custom macro is called.

Rename (F2) — Rename passages and story variables. Updates references across all files in the workspace.

Autocomplete — Completions for:

Built-in SugarCube macros (with snippet bodies for block macros)
Passage names inside <<goto "">>, <<link "">>, etc.
Story variables ($var) and their properties (e.g. $player.stats.)
Custom widgets and macros
Close-tag suggestions (<</) for currently open block macros

Hover — Hover over a macro to see its description. Hover over $var to see its inferred type and where it was defined. Hover over a passage link to see incoming reference counts.

Type Inference — Tracks types assigned to story variables via <<set>>. When you write <<set $player = {name: "Alex", hp: 100}>>, the extension remembers the shape so property completions on $player. work later. This is best-effort — complex expressions, mutations through <<run>>, and dynamically constructed objects may not be tracked accurately.

Semantic Highlighting — Macros, passages, variables, and SugarCube operators get distinct colors beyond what the TextMate grammar provides.

Outline & Workspace Symbols — Passages, widgets, and variable assignments appear in the Outline panel. Ctrl+T searches across all files.

Code Actions — "Create missing passage" quick fix when you reference a passage that doesn't exist yet.

Tweego Integration — Build, watch, and test your project via the Tweego CLI. Configurable output path, module directories, format override, and extra arguments.

Commands

Command	Shortcut	What it does
Go to Passage	`Ctrl+Alt+P`	Quick-pick to any passage
Build	`Ctrl+Alt+B`	Run tweego to compile
Build (Test Mode)	—	Build with test configuration
Start/Stop Watch	—	Auto-rebuild on file changes
Verify Tweego	—	Check if tweego is found and working
List Story Formats	—	Show available formats
Refresh All Documents	—	Re-index the workspace
Restart Language Server	—	Restart the server
Show Output	—	Open the log output channel
Open Settings	—	Open knot settings
Open Menu	—	Unified command palette

Quick Start

Open a folder with .tw or .twee files
The extension activates automatically
The status bar shows indexing progress — click it for logs

Example

:: StoryInit
<<set $player = {
  name: "Alex",
  stats: { hp: 100, mp: 50 }
}>>

:: Start
Welcome, <<print $player.name>>!
<<if $player.stats.hp gt 80>>
  You feel healthy.
<</if>>
[[Go exploring->Forest]]

:: Forest
The trees close in around you.
[[Return->Start]]

Configuration

All settings are under knot.:

Tweego

Setting	Default	Description
`knot.tweego.path`	`"tweego"`	Path to the tweego executable
`knot.tweego.outputFile`	`"dist/index.html"`	Compiled HTML output path (relative to workspace)
`knot.tweego.formatOverride`	`""`	Override the story format from StoryData
`knot.tweego.modulePaths`	`[]`	Module directories (`-m`) bundled into `<head>`
`knot.tweego.headFile`	`""`	File appended to `<head>` (`--head`)
`knot.tweego.noTrim`	`false`	Disable whitespace trimming (`--no-trim`)
`knot.tweego.logFiles`	`false`	Log processed files (`--log-files`)
`knot.tweego.extraArgs`	`""`	Extra CLI arguments (e.g. `--twee2-compat`)

Project

Setting	Default	Description
`knot.project.storyFilesDirectory`	`"src"`	Source directory passed to tweego
`knot.project.storyFormatsDirectory`	`".storyformats"`	Story format packages (added to `TWEEGO_PATH`)
`knot.project.include`	`[]`	Directories to include in indexing (empty = all)
`knot.project.exclude`	`[]`	Glob patterns to exclude from indexing

Current Limitations

SugarCube 2 only. Harlowe, Chapbox, and other story formats are not supported. The format adapter system exists for future expansion, but no other adapters are implemented yet.
Type inference is best-effort. It tracks <<set $var to ...>> and <<set $var = ...>> assignments. Variables mutated through <<run>>, JavaScript, or indirect assignment may lose their inferred type. There is no type annotation syntax — types are inferred from assignment patterns only.
No story map or graph view. There is no visual passage-link graph. The Outline panel and Go to Passage command are the current navigation options.
No debugger. There is no interactive debugging support for SugarCube stories.
No lint configuration. All diagnostics are always-on. There is no way to suppress specific warnings or configure severity levels.
Incremental parsing is passage-granular, not character-granular. After an edit, the affected passage is re-parsed, then the whole workspace is reanalyzed. This is fast for small-to-medium projects but may lag on very large workspaces.

Supported File Types

.tw
.twee

Compatible with Twine 2 editor exports and tweego CLI projects using SugarCube 2 syntax.

Development

npm install
npm --prefix client install
npm --prefix server install

npm run build          # build client + server
npm test               # run server tests
npm run package:vsix   # build + package as .vsix

License

MIT

Knot — Twine/SugarCube Language Support

Stormbyte