CmdPilot — Terminal Project Launcher for VS Code
CmdPilot is a sleek VS Code sidebar panel that lets you instantly launch sub-projects in the integrated terminal and fire off saved commands — all without leaving your keyboard flow.
✨ Features
📁 Project Launcher
Open any sub-folder of your workspace in a dedicated, named terminal with one click. CmdPilot automatically cds into the correct directory and reuses existing terminals so you never lose context.
- 📦 Detects
package.json — shows npm package name and version
- 📁 Shows all plain directories too
- 🔍 Live search to filter projects instantly
- ↺ Refresh button to re-scan after adding new folders
⚡ Command Runner
A curated list of terminal commands you can fire instantly, with color-coding by category.
- ▶ Run any command in the active terminal in one click
- ⏹ Terminate batch job — sends
Y to answer Windows batch termination prompts
- ✎ Edit commands inline with a color picker
- ✕ Delete commands you don't need
- ⠿ Drag to reorder — rearrange by dragging
- ＋ Add new commands with a label, command string, and color
- 🔍 Live search to filter commands by name or text
- 6 color categories: 🟢 green · 🔵 blue · 🟣 purple · 🟠 orange · 🔴 red · ⚫ gray
🖥 Active Terminal Indicator
The header always shows which terminal is currently active — so you know exactly where your next command will run.
🚀 Getting Started
- Install CmdPilot from the VS Code Marketplace
- Open a workspace folder that contains sub-project directories
- Click the CmdPilot icon (⌨) in the Activity Bar (left icon strip)
- Switch between the 📁 Projects and ⚡ Commands tabs
Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+D (Mac: Cmd+Shift+D) opens the panel instantly.
🗂 Use Cases
- WordPress / plugin development — open any plugin folder directly in its own terminal
- Monorepos — navigate between frontend, backend, and service directories
- Multi-service apps — keep separate named terminals for each microservice
- Frequent tasks — run build, test, lint, deploy commands with a single click
⚙️ Default Commands
| Label |
Command |
Color |
| npm start |
npm start |
🟢 green |
| npm run dev |
npm run dev |
🟢 green |
| npm run build |
npm run build |
🔵 blue |
| npm install |
npm install |
🔵 blue |
| npm test |
npm test |
🟣 purple |
| git status |
git status |
🟠 orange |
| git pull |
git pull |
🟠 orange |
| Terminate batch job |
Y |
🔴 red |
All commands are saved globally and persist across VS Code sessions and workspaces.
🔒 Privacy
CmdPilot stores your command list locally in VS Code's global state. No data is ever sent externally.
🐛 Issues & Feedback
Found a bug or have a feature request? Open an issue on the project repository.
Built for developers who live in the terminal.
