Snippet

Snippet turns repetitive terminal snippets into polished, parameterizable automations that you can store, share, and run inside Visual Studio Code.

Why Snippet?

• Author actions visually – Build and edit scripts in a purpose-built webview powered by the Monaco editor
• Inject context automatically – Use tokens such as ${workspaceFolder}, ${file}, ${clipboardText}, and more without wiring any plumbing yourself.
• Run and debug instantly – Test from the editor, stream output inline, or execute in an isolated terminal. Every run is logged to the Snippet output channel for easy diagnostics.
• Secure by default – Store API tokens and other secrets via VS Code SecretStorage, never in plain text. Reference them just like any other environment variable.
• Chain complex flows – Pipe stdout from one action into the next with simple chaining rules. Stop on failure to keep pipelines safe.
• Ship everywhere – Choose Bash, PowerShell, Node.js, or Python scripts and Snippet will handle cross-platform quirks for you.

Features

• Action editor with form-based metadata, tag management, working-directory pickers, and inline validation.
• Environment variable designer with secret toggles and automatic key generation.
• Parameter builder that prompts users at runtime and exposes values via ${paramName} or PARAM_NAME.
• One-click testing that executes actions in a sandbox with your current editor context.
• Output routing to disposable terminals or the dedicated Snippet output channel.
• Execution logs showing command, arguments, interesting environment keys, and exit codes.
• Action chaining with optional output aliasing for lightweight automations.
• Import/export support for sharing actions across teams.

Getting Started

1. Install Snippet from the VS Code Marketplace.
2. Open the Snippet view from the Activity Bar.
3. Click New Action to launch the editor.
4. Fill in the action details and script body.
5. Add environment variables, mark secrets, and create parameters as needed.
6. Hit Test Action to dry-run with your current workspace context.
7. Click Save Action once everything looks good.

Actions appear in the Snippet view, the command palette (Snippet: Run Action...), and relevant editor/explorer context menus.

Runtime Context

Snippet automatically passes these predefined variables:

• workspaceFolder – absolute path of the active workspace root (falls back to the first folder if none is focused).
• file – full path of the active editor document, if one is open.
• relativeFile – current file path relative to workspaceFolder.
• selectedText – highlighted text in the active editor (empty when nothing is selected).
• clipboardText – snapshot of the system clipboard captured at action start.
• lineNumber – 1-based line number of the cursor in the active editor.

During execution Snippet also injects SNIPPET_ACTION_ID, SNIPPET_WORKING_DIRECTORY, and PARAM_<NAME> environment variables. Use them to understand execution state or chain actions together.

Commands

The extension contributes the following commands:

• Snippet: New Action – open the action editor for a fresh action.
• Snippet: Edit Action – edit the currently selected action from the tree.
• Snippet: Run Action... – pick and run an action from a quick pick list.
• Snippet: Export Actions – save all actions to a JSON bundle.
• Snippet: Import Actions – load actions from a bundle.
• Snippet: Refresh Actions – force a reload from disk.

Requirements

• Visual Studio Code 1.84.0 or newer
• Node.js, Python, Bash, or PowerShell available on your PATH depending on the scripts you run
• macOS, Windows, or Linux

Snippet automatically detects virtual environments for Python and handles Windows path normalization when running Bash or Node.js scripts.

Tips

• Use ${paramName} tokens in scripts to reference parameters defined in the editor.
• Toggle Send output to Snippet output channel for deterministic logging.
• When chaining actions, set Pass output as to map stdout into the next action's parameters (newline trimmed).
• Secrets marked for removal (set to delete in the editor) must be re-supplied before testing or saving.

Troubleshooting

• Missing interpreter – Ensure the relevant runtime (Node.js, Python, Bash, PowerShell) is installed and reachable on PATH.
• Script path issues on Windows – Snippet rewrites paths for WSL and Git Bash automatically; if you are using a custom shell, verify it supports standard POSIX-style paths.
• Permission errors – Temporary scripts are created in the system temp folder with execute permission. Antivirus tools that block temp execution can interfere with runs.
• Secrets not found – Update the secret value from the action editor when prompted; Snippet stores secrets via SecretStorage and never writes them to disk.

Still stuck? Open the output channel named Snippet and copy the latest log lines when filing an issue.

Contributing

Bug reports, feature requests, and pull requests are welcome. Please open an issue with reproduction steps or reach out through the repository discussions.

License

Released under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

Happy automating! If Snippet saves you time, please leave a review on the Marketplace.