Env Indicator

Instantly see whether you're working on your local machine or a remote SSH host — with both a status bar label and automatic title bar coloring.

No more accidentally running commands on the wrong machine.

Features

• Auto-detects environment — Local vs Remote SSH, no configuration needed
• Title bar coloring — Automatically colors the title bar based on environment (green for local, red for SSH)
• Customizable color targets — Apply colors to title bar, activity bar, and/or status bar
• Customizable labels — Choose between HOST:, LOCAL:, or emoji prefixes
• SSH host in UPPERCASE — Visual distinction at a glance
• Click to open terminal — Opens a terminal at your workspace root
• Real-time settings — All changes apply instantly, no reload required
• Zero dependencies — Lightweight, runs entirely within VS Code

Label Examples

Installation

From VSIX (local install)

code --install-extension vscode-env-indicator-0.3.0.vsix

Or in VS Code: Ctrl+Shift+P → Extensions: Install from VSIX...

Settings

Example settings.json

{
  "envIndicator.colorEnabled": true,
  "envIndicator.localColor": "#003200",
  "envIndicator.remoteColor": "#460000",
  "envIndicator.colorTarget": ["titleBar", "activityBar"],
  "envIndicator.labelType": "Emoji",
  "envIndicator.position": "Center-Left"
}

Note: Title bar coloring requires window.titleBarStyle to be "custom" (not the OS native title bar) on macOS/Linux.

Commands

How It Works

• On local machines, the extension reads os.hostname() and displays it with your chosen label format. The title bar turns green (default).
• On Remote SSH connections, VS Code runs the extension on the remote host. The extension detects vscode.env.remoteName === 'ssh-remote' and displays the remote hostname in UPPERCASE. The title bar turns red (default).
• Color customizations are written to the workspace .vscode/settings.json. The extension only manages its own color keys and preserves any existing customizations.
• All settings react to changes immediately — no window reload needed.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.85.0 or later
• For SSH detection: Remote - SSH extension

License

MIT