Play Game Boy Advance games without leaving your editor. GBA Emulator brings a lightweight, in-editor handheld experience to VS Code with quick ROM loading, save support, and a compact Activity Bar entry designed for everyday use.
Built on the gbajs core by Jeffrey Pfau (endrift).
Features
Embedded GBA emulator in the VS Code Activity Bar
Fast ROM loading from your local filesystem
Pause, resume, reset, and stop controls
Screenshots directly from the running game
Save states with import and export support
Standard .sav import and export for compatibility with other tools
Automatic internal saving between VS Code sessions
Optional workspace .sav output for easier file-based backup
Adjustable emulator volume
Keyboard-first gameplay
Multilingual interface support
How to Use
Install the extension from the VS Code marketplace
Click the GBA icon in the Activity Bar
Load a ROM file and start playing
Use the toolbar controls or Command Palette to manage your game
Click the game canvas and use your keyboard to play
Keyboard Controls
Key
GBA Action
Arrow keys
D-Pad
Z
A
X
B
A
L
S
R
Enter
Start
Backslash
Select
Available Commands
All commands are available from the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P):
Command
Description
GBA: Load ROM
Open a file picker to select a ROM
GBA: Pause
Pause the running emulator
GBA: Resume
Resume gameplay
GBA: Reset
Restart the current session
GBA: Stop
Stop the emulator
GBA: Screenshot
Capture the current frame
GBA: Save State
Save a full emulator snapshot
GBA: Load State
Restore the most recent internal snapshot
GBA: Export State
Export a snapshot as .gbastate
GBA: Import State
Import a .gbastate snapshot
GBA: Export Save (.sav)
Export the current battery save
GBA: Import Save (.sav)
Import a battery save
Settings
Setting
Type
Default
Description
gbaEmulator.volume
number
50
Default emulator volume (0-100)
gbaEmulator.saveToFile
boolean
false
Automatically save progress as a .sav file in the workspace
gbaEmulator.debug
boolean
false
Enable detailed console logs for troubleshooting
Contributing
Want to contribute? Check out the CONTRIBUTING.md file for development guidelines, architecture details, and build instructions.
