Lists Java processes via 'jps -v'. Detects Tomcat processes and shows their CATALINA_BASE folder and HTTP port. Lets you stop any process from a tree view.
Installation
Launch VS Code Quick Open (Ctrl+P), paste the following command, and press enter.
A VS Code extension for Windows that lists all running Java processes via jps -v,
and for Tomcat processes specifically shows the CATALINA_BASE folder and
HTTP port. You can stop any process directly from the tree view.
Features
Tree view ("Java Processes" in the Activity Bar) listing every process from jps -v.
Tomcat processes (main class Bootstrap) are auto-detected and show:
Folder name (from -Dcatalina.base, e.g. tomcat-8080)
HTTP port (read from that folder's conf/server.xml, ignoring the AJP connector
and ignoring the JPDA debug port from -agentlib:jdwp=...,address=NNNN)
Stop Process — runs taskkill /PID <pid> /F after a confirmation prompt.
Open Tomcat Folder — reveals CATALINA_BASE in Windows Explorer.
Copy PID / Copy Full Command Line to clipboard.
Manual refresh button, or optional auto-refresh on an interval.
Hover tooltip shows full command line and resolved details.
Requirements
A JDK's bin folder (containing jps.exe) must be on PATH, or set
jpsViewer.jpsPath in Settings to the full path, e.g.:
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-17\bin\jps.exe
Windows (uses taskkill to stop processes).
Settings
Setting
Default
Description
jpsViewer.jpsPath
jps
Path to the jps executable
jpsViewer.autoRefreshInterval
0
Seconds between auto-refreshes; 0 disables
Running / Developing
npm install
npm run compile
Then press F5 in VS Code (with this folder open) to launch an Extension
Development Host with the extension loaded.
Packaging a .vsix to install
npm install -g @vscode/vsce
vsce package
This produces jps-tomcat-viewer-0.0.1.vsix. Install it via:
or through the Extensions view's "Install from VSIX..." command.
Notes / limitations
Tomcat's HTTP port is not in jps -v output directly — the value after
-agentlib:jdwp=...address=NNNN is the remote-debug port, not the HTTP port.
This extension reads the real port from conf/server.xml in CATALINA_BASE
(falling back to CATALINA_HOME if needed).
If CATALINA_BASE/CATALINA_HOME paths contain spaces, the simple -D...=
parsing here (which splits on whitespace) may not extract them correctly,
since JVM args generally aren't quoted in jps -v output. This is uncommon
for Tomcat installs but worth knowing.
Stopping a process is a hard taskkill /F (equivalent to killing the JVM).
Tomcat won't get a chance to run shutdown hooks. A graceful catalina.bat stop option could be added later if needed.
