CmdPilot — Terminal Project Launcher for VS Code
CmdPilot is a VS Code sidebar extension that lets you instantly open sub-projects in dedicated terminals and fire saved commands — all with one click.
✨ Features
🌳 Explorer
The default tab when the sidebar opens. Combines project launching, file browsing, and workspace navigation in one place.
Root Workspace Card
- Displays the root workspace folder with a dedicated Open Terminal button
- Opens a named terminal at the workspace root and switches to the Terminal tab
Sub Projects
- Lists all direct sub-folders of your open workspace (collapsible section)
- 📦 Detects
package.json — shows package name and version
- Click any project card (or its Open button) to open it in its own named terminal, auto
cd-ed
- Reuses existing terminal if already open for that project
- 🔍 Live filter box to search folders by name
- ↺ Refresh button to re-scan the workspace
- Skips hidden folders and
node_modules automatically
Workspace Files
- Browses all files and folders in your workspace as an expandable tree (collapsible section)
- Click a folder to expand/collapse it inline
- Click any file to open it in the editor
- Folders show a Terminal button on hover — click to open a terminal there (toggleable via Settings)
- Live filter to search files and folders by name
Explorer Settings
- Terminal Hover toggle — show or hide the Terminal button on folder hover; persists across sessions
⚡ Commands
One-click command runner for your active terminal.
- Run any saved command in the active terminal with a single click
- ⏹ Terminate — sends
Ctrl+C then Y, stops Windows batch jobs properly
- Multi-line commands are joined with
&& and run as a single string (stops on failure)
- ✎ Edit commands inline — label, command string, and color
- ⧉ Duplicate any command
- ✕ Delete commands
- ⠿ Drag to reorder
- ＋ Add new commands — 8 color presets + any
#rrggbb hex value + native color picker
- 🔍 Live search to filter your command list
🖥 Terminal
Manage all open VS Code terminals from the sidebar.
- See every open terminal in one list with an active badge on the current one
- Click any terminal row to switch focus to it
- ✕ Close any terminal you no longer need
- ＋ New Terminal button at the bottom
- Active terminal name is always shown in the header pill with a live blinking dot; clicking it jumps to this tab
🚀 Installation
From Marketplace
Search CmdPilot in the VS Code Extensions panel and click Install.
From VSIX (local)
code --install-extension cmdpilot-2.1.0.vsix
Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+D / Cmd+Shift+D
🗂 Default Commands
| Label |
Command |
Color |
| npm install + build |
npm install && npm run build |
#58a6ff |
| npm start |
npm start |
#3fb950 |
| npm run dev |
npm run dev |
#3fb950 |
| npm run build |
npm run build |
#58a6ff |
| npm test |
npm test |
#bc8cff |
| git status |
git status |
#e3b341 |
| git pull |
git pull |
#e3b341 |
| Terminate process |
Ctrl+C → Y |
#f85149 |
Commands persist globally across all workspaces and sessions. A Terminate command is always guaranteed to exist — if missing, it is re-added automatically.
🔒 Privacy
CmdPilot stores your command list and explorer settings locally in VS Code's global state. No data is ever sent externally.
Built for developers who live in the terminal.
MIT © Tanjir Hasan
