Ark — Disaster recovery for developers

Back before you knew it was gone.

Ark is a disaster recovery tool for VS Code. Backup your extensions and settings to a private GitHub Gist so you can recover your complete development environment in seconds—after a wipe, reset, or move to a new machine.

Why Ark?

Losing your VS Code setup is frustrating. You don't just lose extensions; you lose your entire workflow, key bindings, language configurations, and years of tweaks. Hours pass before everything feels right again.

Ark puts you back in control. Your backup is always there, private, and just one click away.

Features

Smart Backup

Automatically backs up all installed extensions and your settings
Triggers on extension changes or settings updates (with smart 30-second debounce to avoid thrashing)
Silent auto-backups keep your setup fresh

Security First

GitHub Personal Access Token stored securely using VS Code's SecretStorage API
Backups stored as private GitHub Gists (no data leaves GitHub)
Sensitive settings automatically stripped (tokens, passwords, API keys, etc.)

One-Click Restore
Reinstalls all extensions and restores settings on new machines
Automatic detection of fresh/wiped machines with prompt to restore
Cross-platform support with platform-specific extension warnings (WSL, Remote, etc.)
Settings conflict resolution with preview before overwrite

Beautiful Sidebar

View backup status at a glance
See extension counts and last backup time
One-click actions for backup, restore, and token management

In Action

View real-time backup status, extension counts, and manage your backups from the elegant sidebar.

Ark sidebar

Selective Restore & Backup History

Choose exactly which extensions and settings to restore, or browse your entire backup history to restore from any point in time.

Live Demo

Watch Ark in action with auto-backups, visual feedback, and one-click restore:

Ark demo

Requirements

VS Code 1.80.0 or higher
GitHub Account with a Personal Access Token (PAT) with gist scope

Quick Start

1. Create GitHub Personal Access Token

Go to GitHub Settings → Developer settings → Personal access tokens
Click "Generate new token (classic)"
Name it something like "Ark - VS Code Backup"
Select gist scope only
Click "Generate token" and copy it (you won't see it again)

2. Configure Ark

Open Command Palette: Cmd+Shift+P (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows/Linux)
Run: Ark: Set GitHub token
Paste your token and press Enter

3. Create Your First Backup

Open Command Palette
Run: Ark: Backup now
Done! Your extensions and settings are now backed up

Commands

Command	Keyboard Shortcut	Description
Ark: Backup now	—	Create or update your backup immediately
Ark: Restore from backup	—	Restore all extensions and settings from your backup
Ark: Set GitHub token	—	Set or update your GitHub Personal Access Token

How It Works

Backup

When you run a backup, Ark:

Reads all installed non-built-in extensions
Reads your VS Code settings
Removes sensitive data (tokens, passwords, API keys)
Creates or updates a private GitHub Gist with the backup

Restore

When you restore, Ark:

Fetches your backup from GitHub
Detects any platform differences (Mac/Windows/Linux)
Warns about platform-specific extensions (WSL, Remote)
Shows a preview of settings changes
Requires confirmation before applying changes
Installs missing extensions
Applies settings and prompts you to reload

Auto-Detection

Fresh or wiped machine detected? Ark automatically prompts you to restore if:

Fewer than 3 non-built-in extensions are installed
A backup exists in your GitHub account

Security & Privacy

Your data is yours:

Tokens are stored securely using VS Code's built-in SecretStorage
Backups are always private GitHub Gists
Sensitive settings are automatically removed

Automatically stripped settings:

token, key, secret, password
apikey, api_key, credential
auth, bearer, jwt

What Gets Backed Up

{
  "_meta": {
    "generatedBy": "Ark",
    "builtBy": "Evans Elabo",
    "tagLine": "Back before you knew it was gone."
  },
  "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "timestamp": "2026-03-27T10:00:00.000Z",
  "extensions": [
    { "id": "esbenp.prettier-vscode", "version": "10.1.0" },
    { "id": "dbaeumer.vscode-eslint", "version": "2.4.4" }
  ],
  "settings": {
    "editor": { "fontSize": 14, "formatOnSave": true },
    "workbench": { "colorTheme": "One Dark Pro" }
  },
  "machineInfo": {
    "os": "macOS",
    "vscodeVersion": "1.87.0"
  }
}

Keyboard Shortcuts

You can bind your own shortcuts to Ark commands in VS Code:

Open Command Palette: Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P
Run: Preferences: Open Keyboard Shortcuts (JSON)

Add:

{
  "key": "cmd+shift+b",
  "command": "ark.backup"
},
{
  "key": "cmd+shift+r",
  "command": "ark.restore"
}

Troubleshooting

"Invalid GitHub token"

Ensure your token has the gist scope
Check that you copied the entire token (no extra spaces)
Generate a new token if needed

"Restore failed" / "Gist not found"

Verify your GitHub token is still valid
Check that your Gist wasn't deleted on GitHub
Try creating a new backup to establish a fresh Gist ID

Extensions won't install

Some extensions require VS Code restart to appear
Check extension-specific permissions (Remote, WSL, etc.)
Try installing the extension manually to troubleshoot

Contributing

Found a bug? Have a feature idea?

License

Ark — Disaster recovery for developers. Built with ❤️ for the times when everything goes wrong.

Ark - Disaster Recovery for Developers

Evans Elabo