Command Shelf

Command Shelf is a VS Code and Cursor IDE extension that adds a sidebar for saving, grouping, and running terminal commands from the current workspace.

Commands are stored in .vscode/command-shelf.json, so they stay local to the workspace and can be checked into source control when that makes sense for a team.

Features

• Save commands with a label and command string.
• Organize commands into flat groups.
• Drag and drop commands to reorder them or move them between groups.
• Run commands directly from the tree view.
• Copy saved commands to the clipboard.
• Choose how each command runs:
  • active: send the command to the focused terminal, falling back to a shared Command Shelf terminal.
  • dedicated: reuse a terminal created specifically for that command.
• React to external edits to .vscode/command-shelf.json.

Usage

1. Open the Command Shelf view from the activity bar.
2. Select Add Command to create a saved command.
3. Enter a label, the command text, an optional group, and the terminal mode.
4. Run the command from the inline play button or the context menu.

Installation

VS Code

Install Command Shelf from the VS Code Marketplace, or install a .vsix release from GitHub.

Cursor IDE

Cursor uses the Open VSX registry instead of the VS Code Marketplace. You can install Command Shelf in any of these ways:

1. Search for Command Shelf in Cursor's Extensions view (if the extension is published to Open VSX).
2. Download a .vsix from GitHub Releases and run Extensions: Install from VSIX... from the Command Palette.
3. Drag and drop the .vsix file onto the Extensions view.

Command Shelf uses standard VS Code extension APIs and stores data in .vscode/command-shelf.json, so workspace shelves work the same in both editors.

Data File

Command Shelf stores data in .vscode/command-shelf.json using this shape:

{
  "version": 1,
  "commands": [
    {
      "id": "b8e6f80b-2f05-4af5-9db4-2fa0cfa36cfa",
      "label": "Start Dev Server",
      "command": "npm run dev",
      "group": "Development",
      "sortOrder": 0,
      "terminalMode": "active"
    }
  ],
  "groups": [
    {
      "id": "9295db6d-7f84-4e38-a45e-87fd6edacd28",
      "label": "Development",
      "sortOrder": 0
    }
  ]
}

Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• npm
• VS Code 1.85.0+ or Cursor IDE 0.40+

Setup

npm install

Commands

npm run compile
npm run watch
npm run lint

Press F5 in VS Code or Cursor to launch an Extension Development Host.

Packaging

npm run vsix

Roadmap

Potential future additions include:

• per-command working directory support
• import and export helpers
• one-off terminal-mode overrides at run time
• global command shelves across workspaces

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development workflow and contribution guidelines.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.