File Reference
Copy deterministic AI-ready file references from the active VS Code editor in one keypress.
What it does
VS Code can copy a file path, and some extensions can copy a path plus line numbers, but they often vary by platform, output style, or editor state. File Reference is intentionally narrow: it copies one predictable plain-text format for prompting AI tools.
It always produces POSIX-style slash paths with normalized path:line or path:start-end output for the active saved local file.
- Absolute command:
/full/path/to/file.ts:42
- Relative command:
src/file.ts:42
- Multi-line selection:
src/file.ts:42-57
Commands
| Command ID |
Command Palette title |
fileReference.copyAbsoluteReference |
File Reference: Copy Absolute Path with Line |
fileReference.copyRelativeReference |
File Reference: Copy Relative Path with Line |
Default shortcuts
| Platform |
Absolute |
Relative |
| macOS |
Alt+Shift+C |
Alt+C |
| Windows / Linux |
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+C |
Ctrl+Alt+C |
These defaults match the shipped package.json manifest contributions.
Supported editor state
This extension only supports saved local files. Unsupported states fail clearly with No saved local text file is active instead of copying something ambiguous.
Development
npm install
npm run build
npm run test
Release workflow
- Pull requests are validated by
.github/workflows/release-validation.yml.
- Pushes to
main run .github/workflows/release.yml, where semantic-release calculates the next SemVer from commit messages and updates package.json, package-lock.json, and CHANGELOG.md. The workflow then packages one versioned VSIX and publishes that same file to both VS Code Marketplace and Open VSX.
- Required repository secrets:
VSCE_PAT for VS Code Marketplace and OVSX_PAT for Open VSX. GITHUB_TOKEN comes from GitHub Actions automatically.
Commit rules
- Use Conventional Commits on the commits that land on
main.
fix: triggers a patch release.feat: triggers a minor release.- Add
! to the type or include a BREAKING CHANGE: footer to trigger a major release.
docs:, chore:, test:, and refactor: do not publish a release unless they also mark a breaking change.- If you use squash merges, the squash commit title must follow the same format because semantic-release reads the final commits on
main.
See docs/release-checklist.md for maintainer setup, secret names, and cross-platform verification guidance.
