Launchpad

Run all your project services with a single button—no more opening 10 terminals and starting each service by hand. Think Procfile (Rails/Heroku style) inside VS Code, with Foreman-style aggregated output in one terminal.

One terminal. One Ctrl+C. No tab hunting.

Quick Start (30 seconds)

1. In your project root, create a Procfile:

   web: npm run dev
   api: npm run start
   

2. Click ▶ Launchpad in the status bar (bottom right).
   Done.

Why not docker-compose?

• No containers
• Uses your local dev env
• Runs inside VS Code
• Zero setup

Features

• Start All – Reads a Procfile or launchpad.json in your workspace root and starts every process in a single terminal (most tools spawn many; Launchpad aggregates). Output is prefixed with [process_name] so you can follow all services in one place.
• Stop All – Stops every process and closes the Launchpad terminal. You can also press Ctrl+C in the terminal or close the terminal tab to stop everything.
• Interactive – You can type in the terminal; input is sent to the first process (e.g. for a REPL). Ctrl+C always kills all processes.
• Status bar button – A Launchpad button in the status bar (bottom right): click ▶ Launchpad to start all processes, or ⏹ Launchpad to stop. No need to open the Command Palette.
• Command Palette – You can also run Launchpad: Start All or Launchpad: Stop All via Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P.
• Colors – Child processes are run with FORCE_COLOR=1 and TERM=xterm-256color so CLIs that support it keep ANSI color output.

Config formats

Procfile (Heroku-style)

In the root of your workspace, create a Procfile:

web: npm run dev
api: npm run start:api
worker: bundle exec sidekiq
redis: redis-server

Each line is name: command. Comments start with #.

launchpad.json (for monorepos)

For per-process working directories or env vars, use launchpad.json:

{
  "processes": [
    { "name": "web", "command": "npm run dev" },
    { "name": "api", "command": "npm run start:api", "cwd": "./apps/api" },
    { "name": "worker", "command": "bundle exec sidekiq", "env": { "RAILS_ENV": "development" } }
  ]
}

• name – Label shown in the aggregated output (e.g. [web], [api]).
• command – Command to run (e.g. npm run dev).
• cwd – Optional working directory (relative to workspace root).
• env – Optional env vars for that process.

If both Procfile and launchpad.json exist, launchpad.json is used.

Usage

1. Open your project folder in VS Code.
2. Add a Procfile or launchpad.json in the workspace root (or run Start All and choose “Create Procfile” / “Create launchpad.json” when prompted).
3. Click ▶ Launchpad in the status bar (bottom right), or run Launchpad: Start All from the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P → type “Launchpad” or “Start All”).
4. All output appears in one Launchpad terminal with prefixed lines (e.g. [web], [api]), e.g.:

   [web] starting: npm run dev
   [web] Server listening on 3000
   [api] starting: npm run start:api
   [api] API ready
   

5. To stop everything: click ⏹ Launchpad in the status bar, run Launchpad: Stop All from the Command Palette, press Ctrl+C in the terminal, or close the Launchpad terminal tab.

Requirements

• VS Code or Cursor ^1.105.0
• A workspace folder open (single or multi-root; in multi-root, the first folder or one that contains a config is used).

Contributing / Development

1. Build and run

   • Open the Launchpad repo in VS Code.
   • Run npm run compile (or rely on the pre-launch task).
   • Press F5 or choose Run > Start Debugging to open an Extension Development Host window with the extension loaded.

2. Confirm the extension is loaded (in the new window)

   • In the Extension Development Host window (the one that opened when you pressed F5), make sure you’re not still in the original editor window.
   • Open Extensions (Cmd+Shift+X). In the search box, type Launchpad. You should see Launchpad with a Development badge (it’s loaded from your repo).
   • If you don’t see it: in the window where you pressed F5, the root folder must be the Launchpad repo (File → Open Folder → select the launchpad folder), then press F5 again.
   • To check for load errors: in the Extension Development Host window, Help → Toggle Developer Tools → Console. Look for red errors when the window loads; any error there can prevent the extension from activating.

3. Try it in the new window

   • In the Extension Development Host window, open a folder (e.g. any project, or the Launchpad repo itself).
   • Add a Procfile in that folder’s root, for example:

     web: echo "web started" && sleep 60
     api: echo "api started" && sleep 60
     

   • Run Launchpad: Start All via the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P → type “Launchpad” or “Start All”).
   • You should see one Launchpad terminal with prefixed lines from both processes.
   • Run Launchpad: Stop All or press Ctrl+C in that terminal to stop everything.

4. Automated tests (optional)

   • From the repo root: npm test (runs the extension test suite, if configured).

Release Notes

0.0.1

• Procfile and launchpad.json support; Foreman-style aggregated output in one terminal.
• Status bar button (▶ / ⏹ Launchpad) and Command Palette commands; Ctrl+C or closing the terminal stops all processes.
• Line-buffered output so logs don’t break mid-line; [name] tags with no extra padding.
• Color output enabled via FORCE_COLOR=1 and TERM=xterm-256color for child processes.