Shared Settings Manager

A VSCode extension that automatically merge-adds shared team settings from .vscode/settings.shared.json into .vscode/settings.json. This allows you to keep your (non-tracked) personal settings in .vscode/settings.json where other tools naturally edit them, while still having git tracked project settings.

Features

• 🔄 Automatic Sync: Watches for changes to settings.shared.json and automatically updates settings.json
• 🔀 Deep Merge: Recursively merges nested objects while preserving your personal settings
• 🧹 Clean Merge: Removes old shared settings before applying new ones to prevent conflicts
• 📊 Status Bar: Shows sync status and last sync time
• 🚀 Zero Configuration: Works automatically when settings.shared.json exists

How It Works

1. Create a .vscode/settings.shared.json file in your workspace with project-team-wide settings
2. The extension automatically detects the file and performs an initial sync
3. Any changes to settings.shared.json trigger an automatic sync
4. Your personal settings in settings.json are preserved (unless they conflict with shared settings, and then they are clobbered, shame on you)

Sync Process

The extension follows this process:

1. Read settings.shared.json
2. Remove all keys from settings.json that exist in the shared file
3. Deep merge the shared settings into the cleaned settings.json
4. Write the updated settings.json back to disk

This ensures that:

• Shared settings always take precedence
• Old shared settings are properly removed when they're deleted from the shared file
• Personal settings that don't conflict are preserved

Example

settings.shared.json (team settings):

{
  "editor.tabSize": 2,
}

settings.json (before sync):

{
  "editor.tabSize": 4,
  "editor.fontSize": 12,
  "terminal.integrated.fontSize": 13,
  "workbench.colorTheme": "Default Dark+"
}

settings.json (after sync):

{
    // user settings
    "editor.fontSize": 12,
    "terminal.integrated.fontSize": 13,
    "workbench.colorTheme": "Default Dark+",

    // TEAM settings (from .vscode/settings.shared.json)
    "editor.tabSize": 2
}

Status Bar

The extension shows a status bar item on the right side:

• ✅ $(check) Shared Settings: Sync successful (hover to see last sync time)
• ❌ $(error) Shared Settings: Sync failed (hover to see error message)
• 🔄 $(sync) Shared Settings: Initial state

Output Channel

For detailed logging, open the "Shared Settings Manager" output channel:

• View → Output → Select "Shared Settings Manager" from dropdown

⚠️ Important: Git Configuration

You MUST add these files to your .gitignore:

# VSCode personal settings - DO NOT COMMIT
.vscode/settings.json
.vscode/settings.shared-lastsync.json

Why?

• settings.json - Contains your personal preferences (should not be shared)
• settings.shared-lastsync.json - Auto-generated tracking file (machine-specific)

What TO commit:

• ✅ .vscode/settings.shared.json - Team-wide settings (commit this!)

Example .gitignore:

# VSCode personal settings
.vscode/settings.json
.vscode/settings.shared-lastsync.json

# Keep shared settings tracked
# .vscode/settings.shared.json should be committed!

Use Cases

Team Consistency

Ensure all team members use the same:

• Code formatting settings
• Linter configurations
• Editor preferences
• File associations

Project-Specific Settings

Different projects can have different shared settings while developers maintain their personal preferences.

Onboarding

New team members automatically get the correct settings when they clone the repository.

Best Practices

1. Commit settings.shared.json to version control
2. Add settings.json to .gitignore to keep personal settings private
3. Document shared settings with comments (JSON5 format not supported, use separate docs)
4. Keep shared settings minimal - only include truly team-wide requirements

Troubleshooting

Settings not syncing

• Check the Output channel for error messages
• Verify settings.shared.json contains valid JSON
• Ensure the file is in the .vscode folder of your workspace root

Personal settings being overwritten

• This is expected behavior for keys that exist in settings.shared.json
• Move personal preferences to keys that aren't in the shared file
• Or discuss with your team about removing that setting from shared

Extension not activating

• The extension only activates when settings.shared.json exists
• Create the file to trigger activation

Requirements

• VSCode 1.85.0 or higher

Extension Settings

This extension has no configurable settings - it works automatically.

Known Limitations

• Only works with the first workspace folder in multi-root workspaces
• Does not preserve comments in JSON files (JSON limitation)
• Arrays are replaced, not merged (by design)

Release Notes

0.1.0

Initial release:

• Automatic sync of shared settings
• Deep merge support
• Status bar indicator
• File watcher for real-time updates

Contributing

Found a bug or have a feature request? Please open an issue on GitHub.

License

MIT