Task Explorer (Preview)

Download for VS Code

Task Explorer is a VS Code extension that surfaces your defined tasks in a dedicated sidebar view so you can browse and run them quickly.

Features

• Sidebar view showing available VS Code tasks grouped by type (npm, shell, PowerShell, etc.)
• Inline hover actions on each task: run/stop (state-aware) and edit (opens tasks.json)
• Command palette actions to refresh the list and run/stop/edit a task
• Bundled with webpack for fast activation and small packages

Getting Started

1. Install dependencies

npm install

2. Build the extension (bundled output in dist)

npm run compile

3. Launch the Extension Host (F5) using the provided launch config.

Commands & Views

• View: Task Explorer (Activity Bar)
• Commands:
  • Task Explorer: Refresh
  • Task Explorer: Run Task (shows as a run button when stopped)
  • Task Explorer: Stop Task (shows as a stop button when running)
  • Task Explorer: Edit Task (opens .vscode/tasks.json)

Testing

npm test

Runs a minimal test suite via @vscode/test-electron.

Packaging

npm run package

Produces a .vsix using the webpack bundle.

Credits

I, as many, have been using the excellent Task Explorer by Scott Meesseman but unfortunately the extension recently stopped working (independently from the switch to trial/paid version), so I decided to fill the gap with this small exercise, born more for my own convenience that I hope will also help someone else out there.