task-runner
A tab in VS Code's Activity Bar that lists the tasks defined in your workspace's .vscode/tasks.json and lets you run them with one click — no Command Palette required. Aimed at developers used to IDE build/run buttons (Xcode, Android Studio) who want the same one-click workflow in VS Code.
Features
- A dedicated Activity Bar view listing tasks explicitly defined in
tasks.json, grouped into Build / Test / Other buckets (plus any custom groups you define).
- Click a task to run it immediately.
- Live status icons: spinner while running, checkmark on success, error icon on failure.
- An inline stop button to terminate a running task (e.g. a background/watch task).
- Right-click a task to reveal its entry in
tasks.json, or use the toolbar button to open the file directly.
- Multi-root workspace support: tasks are grouped by folder when more than one root is open.
- An empty-state prompt to configure a task when the workspace doesn't have any yet.
Requirements
No external dependencies or setup. The view works with any workspace that has a .vscode/tasks.json; if one doesn't exist yet, use the button shown in the empty state (or VS Code's own "Tasks: Configure Task" command) to create it.
Extension Settings
This extension contributes the following settings:
task-runner.includeAutoDetected: Also show tasks auto-detected by other providers (npm, gulp, etc.), not just tasks explicitly defined in tasks.json. Default: false.task-runner.groupBy: How tasks are grouped in the view — "group" (Build/Test/Other buckets, plus any custom groups) or "none" (flat alphabetical list). Default: "group".task-runner.showTaskType: Show each task's type (e.g. shell, npm) next to its name. Default: true.
Custom groups
Add a "task-runner.group" property under a task's options in tasks.json to put it in its own bucket instead of Build/Test/Other:
{
"label": "Deploy",
"type": "shell",
"command": "./deploy.sh",
"options": {
"task-runner.group": "Deploy"
}
}
It goes under options rather than at the top level because VS Code's tasks.json schema rejects unrecognized top-level properties (you'd get a red squiggly) but explicitly allows arbitrary ones under options. Custom buckets are sorted alphabetically after Build/Test/Other. This is a task-runner-specific property (VS Code itself ignores it, and it isn't passed to the task's environment) — it takes priority over the task's own "group" field for classification purposes, but doesn't affect VS Code's own build/test task handling (e.g. Ctrl+Shift+B).
Known Issues
None currently tracked.
Release Notes
0.0.1
Initial release: Activity Bar view of tasks.json tasks, click-to-run, live run-state icons, a stop action, tasks.json navigation commands, and configurable grouping/filtering settings.
