Console.log Janitor

A lightweight, production-ready VS Code extension that automatically detects development console.log statements in JavaScript and TypeScript files and lets you safely remove them using native VS Code diagnostics, Quick Fixes, and reviewable bulk actions.

Why Console.log Janitor?

During active development and debugging, developers frequently insert console.log statements to inspect variables, function arguments, and program flow. Before pushing code to production, these statements must be identified and removed to:

• Keep production browser console and terminal logs clean and readable.
• Prevent accidental disclosure of sensitive internal data, tokens, or user details.
• Avoid unnecessary performance overhead from serialized console output.

The Old Workflow vs. The Janitor Workflow

• Before: Manually run global text searches for console.log, wade through comments, strings, and variable names, click through each file, and manually select and delete lines.
• With Console.log Janitor: As you write or open code, statements are highlighted with a native VS Code diagnostic squiggle. Hover to inspect, and click the lightbulb (Quick Fix) or press Ctrl+. / Cmd+. to remove statements individually or in bulk with preview confirmation.

Core Features

1. Automatic Detection Workflow

Console.log Janitor automatically scans eligible files:

• When an eligible file is opened
• As you type (with configurable debouncing so editing stays responsive)
• When a file is saved

The extension runs completely in the background without requiring manual intervention.

2. Native Diagnostics & Helpful Hovers

• Detected console.log calls are marked with a non-intrusive diagnostic:

  console.log detected — remove before production.

• Hovering over the statement explains why it was flagged and points directly to available Quick Fix actions.
• Configurable severity: Information (default), Warning, Error, or Hint.

3. Native Lightbulb Code Actions (Quick Fix)

Press Cmd+. (macOS) or Ctrl+. (Windows/Linux) on any highlighted statement to open the contextual Quick Fix menu:

1. Remove console.log (Preferred): Safely removes the full console.log statement.
   • Standalone line: Entire line and indentation are removed, leaving no blank line.
   • Concise arrow function: () => console.log("x") is safely replaced with {} (or {};), maintaining valid syntax and preventing runtime syntax errors.
   • Unbraced control flow: Solitary body under if, else, while, for, or do is safely replaced with {} to prevent control-flow shifting and semantic bugs.
   • Inline code: Surrounding code and indentation are preserved intact.
   • Conservative refusal: If the surrounding syntactic context cannot be proven safe, automatic transformation is refused rather than guessed.
2. Ignore this console.log: Inserts a // console-log-janitor-ignore comment directly above the statement.
3. Disable Console.log Janitor for this file: Inserts // console-log-janitor-disable at the top of the file (preserving shebang #!), suppressing all diagnostics and cleanup for the file.
4. Remove all N console.log statements in this file: Contextually available when multiple findings exist in the file (deduplicated when only 1 finding exists). Displays statement counts and requests confirmation before applying edits.
5. Remove all console.log statements in the workspace: Scans eligible workspace files and opens a review dialog displaying statement counts, affected file counts, and statement previews before applying edits.

4. Reviewable Bulk Cleanup & Pre-Validation

Bulk cleanup (both current-file and workspace-wide) provides a safe, reviewable workflow:

• Review Confirmation: Displays total statement counts, affected file counts, and concise previews of affected code before any changes are made.
• Pre-Validation: All edit ranges and boundaries are pre-validated to ensure target slices match and edit ranges are strictly disjoint.
• Cancel Protection: Dismissing the prompt or selecting Cancel applies zero edits and leaves all files untouched. If edit validation fails, zero edits are applied.
• Disjoint Edit Reconciliation: Multi-statement removals in the same file are reconciled so edits never overlap, ensuring clean application.

5. Actionable Status Bar Hub

A compact indicator in the status bar displays the count of detected console.log calls in the active file:

$(output) 3 console.log

Clicking the status bar item opens an instant action hub (zero disk scan delay):

• Remove all N console.log statements in this file (contextual, shown when findings exist)
• Remove all console.log statements in workspace
• Re-scan current file
• Clear diagnostics
• Open Settings

6. Manual Commands (Command Palette)

All actions are accessible via the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P):

• Console.log Janitor: Scan Current File — Manually re-scans the active document.
• Console.log Janitor: Scan Workspace — Scans all eligible JS/TS files in the workspace with progress feedback.
• Console.log Janitor: Remove console.log Statements from Current File — Removes all unsuppressed statements in the active editor with review confirmation.
• Console.log Janitor: Remove console.log Statements from Workspace — Removes all unsuppressed statements across the workspace with review confirmation.
• Console.log Janitor: Clear Diagnostics — Clears all diagnostics.

Supported Languages

Console.log Janitor specifically supports:

• JavaScript (.js, .mjs, .cjs)
• TypeScript (.ts, .mts, .cts)
• JSX (.jsx)
• TSX (.tsx)

Syntax & False-Positive Prevention

Console.log Janitor uses a token-aware scanner designed to detect valid console.log statements while strictly avoiding false positives:

What is Detected

• Standard calls: console.log("hello");
• Variable arguments: console.log(myVar);
• Multiple arguments: console.log("user:", user, { active: true });
• Optional chaining: console?.log("optional call");
• Multiline statements spanning several lines
• Statements with or without semicolons

What is NOT Flagged

• Comments containing text: // console.log("debug") or /* console.log */
• String literals: "Use console.log here" or 'console.log'
• Template literal strings without interpolation: `console.log output`
• Variable names: const myConsoleLog = 1; or const consoleLog = 2;
• Identifiers starting with console: consoleLogger.info(...)
• Properties on other objects: myService.console.log(...)
• Unrelated methods: console.error(...), console.warn(...), console.info(...)
• JSX text content between tags: <div>console.log("text")</div>
• Calls suppressed with // console-log-janitor-ignore
• Files disabled with // console-log-janitor-disable or /* console-log-janitor-disable */

Automatic Workspace Exclusions

Workspace scanning and bulk cleanup automatically exclude:

• TypeScript declaration files (*.d.ts)
• Minified scripts (*.min.js, *.min.ts, *.min.jsx, *.min.tsx)
• Bundled files (*.bundle.js, *.bundle.ts, *.bundle.jsx, *.bundle.tsx)
• Test coverage directories (coverage/**)
• Standard build and package folders: node_modules, .git, dist, out, build

Configuration

Customize behavior in VS Code Settings (settings.json):

Privacy & Security

Console.log Janitor is designed for privacy-conscious developers and enterprise environments:

• Local Execution: Runs entirely within your local VS Code process.
• Zero Network Requests: Makes no network, HTTP, or remote API calls.
• Zero Telemetry: Collects no usage data, logs, or analytics.
• Zero External Services: No third-party servers or AI APIs are contacted.
• Zero Shell Execution: Does not spawn sub-shells or execute CLI binaries.
• Zero Automatic Modifications: Never modifies files without explicit user action (e.g. selecting a Quick Fix or invoking a cleanup command).

Installation

From VSIX

1. Download the console-log-janitor-1.1.0.vsix package.
2. Open VS Code.
3. Open the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X).
4. Click the ... (Views and More Actions) menu in the top right of the Extensions panel.
5. Select Install from VSIX... and choose the downloaded file.

Alternatively, install from the terminal:

code --install-extension console-log-janitor-1.1.0.vsix

Development & Testing

To build and run tests locally:

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run automated tests (Vitest)
npm run test

# Run TypeScript type check
npm run typecheck

# Build production bundle (esbuild)
npm run build

# Package VSIX
npm run package

Known Limitations

• Scope: Focuses exclusively on console.log statements. It intentionally does not flag console.error, console.warn, console.info, or custom logging libraries (e.g. Winston, Pino).
• Conservative Safety Refusal: When removing statements from unbraced control structures or concise arrow functions, the remover requires proven syntactic contexts. If the context is ambiguous, automatic transformation is refused to preserve code semantics.
• Language Scope: Only JavaScript, TypeScript, JSX, and TSX files are scanned. Other languages (Python, Go, Java, PHP, etc.) are out of scope.

Links & Repository

• Repository: https://github.com/AJ-Kaarthick/console-log-janitor
• Issue Tracker: https://github.com/AJ-Kaarthick/console-log-janitor/issues

License

MIT License © 2026 ajkaarthick