JScratch is an "In-Editor ETL Scratchpad" for Visual Studio Code. It allows you to perform quick data transformations, experiments, and pipelines without polluting your main project workspace.
Features
🧪 Virtual Workspace
Keep your project clean! JScratch operates entirely within a virtual file system (datalab://). All your inputs, scripts, and outputs are stored in a transient global storage, so you never have to worry about accidental commits of scratch files.
⚡ TypeScript Transformations
Write powerful transformation scripts using TypeScript.
Auto-Injection: Common modules like fs and path are available.
Type Safety: Full IntelliSense support for your data structures.
Execution: Scripts are executed securely using tsx.
🌳 Pipeline Visualization
Visualize your data flow in a dedicated Tree View.
Input: Start with raw data (JSON, CSV, TXT).
Transform: Apply logic.
Output: See the results immediately.
📜 Session History
Never lose an experiment.
Auto-Save: Sessions are automatically saved.
History Browser: View, restore, or delete previous sessions from the sidebar.
Persistence: Your pipelines survive VS Code restarts.
📤 Export
Happy with your transformation? Export any file from the virtual pipeline directly to your local machine with a single click.
Getting Started
Open JScratch: Click the Beaker icon in the Activity Bar.
New Session: Click the + icon or run JScratch: New Session.
Add Input: Click the "Create Input" button to create a file (e.g., data.json) and paste your raw content.
Transform: Right-click the input file in the tree and select Add Transformation.
Code: Write your logic in the generated .ts file. The input variable holds your data.
import { input } from "./data.json";
// Your logic here
const result = input.map((item) => ({ ...item, processed: true }));
// The return value becomes the content of the next file
export default result;
Run: Click the "Run" icon on the transformation node.
Export: Right-click the result and select Export File to save it to your disk.
Commands
Command
Description
JScratch: New Session
Create a new, empty scratchpad session.
JScratch: Create Input
Add a new root file to the pipeline.
JScratch: Add Transformation
Attach a processing script to a node.
JScratch: Run Transformation
Execute the script and generate output.
JScratch: Export File
Save a virtual file to your local filesystem.
JScratch: Clear History
Delete all saved sessions.
Requirements
Visual Studio Code 1.85.0 or newer.
Release Notes
0.0.1
Initial release of JScratch.
Virtual File System implementation.
Basic Pipeline and History management.
0.0.2
Moved to using tsx from user's global installation
Broken because of VSCode restrictions now - PLEASE MOVE TO 0.0.3
0.0.3
Moved to bundling ESBuild with the extension to avoid VSCode restrictions.
Improved error handling in transformation scripts.
