Anvil - Dev Environment Manager

简体中文 | English

A powerful visual configuration manager for development environments

Features • Installation • Usage • Configuration

Features

Anvil simplifies project configuration in VS Code with an intuitive visual interface.

C/C++ Project Support

• Visual Configuration UI - No more manual JSON editing. Configure your environment through a modern, user-friendly interface.

• Advanced CMake Integration

  • Automatically parses CMakeLists.txt to extract include paths, defines, and compiler options
  • Multi-target support: handles projects with multiple add_executable and add_library targets
  • Recursive variable resolution: ${PROJECT_NAME}, ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}, nested variables
  • Cross-platform path handling: Windows paths with spaces/parentheses (e.g., C:/Program Files (x86)/...)
  • Supports include_directories(), target_include_directories(), add_definitions(), target_compile_definitions()

• Multi-Target Debug Configurations - Automatically generates separate debug configurations for each executable target in your CMake project.

• Multiple Configurations - Manage different build configurations (Debug, Release, Cross-compile) in one place.

• Toolchain Management - Easy switching between IntelliSense providers (Microsoft C++ / clangd) and debuggers (GDB, LLDB, CodeLLDB, MSVC).

• clangd Support - Built-in clangd configuration with compile flags, include paths, diagnostics, ClangTidy, and inlay hints.

Python Project Support

• Virtual Environment Detection - Automatically detects venv, conda, poetry, pipenv, and pyenv environments.

• Framework Detection - Detects Flask, Django, FastAPI and generates appropriate debug configurations.

• debugpy Integration - Full support for Python debugging with debugpy.

• Code Runner Integration - Generates Code Runner settings for quick script execution.

VS Code Extension Project Support

• Auto Detection - Automatically detects VS Code extension projects (checks for @types/vscode or engines.vscode).

• One-Click Setup - Generate launch.json and tasks.json with standard configurations like "Run Extension" and "npm: watch".

Code Runner Integration

• Auto Configuration - Automatically generates Code Runner executorMap settings when saving configurations.

• Multi-Language Support - Generates correct run commands for C, C++, and Python.

• Compiler Sync - Uses configured compiler paths and language standards.

General Features

• Debug Configuration - Generate and manage launch.json and tasks.json for seamless debugging.

• File Picker - All path inputs support file picker buttons for easy browsing and selection.

• Cross-Platform - Works on Windows, Linux, and macOS.

• Multi-Language UI - Supports English and Chinese, automatically follows VS Code display language.

Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
3. Search for "Anvil"
4. Click Install

From VSIX

1. Download the .vsix file
2. In VS Code, go to Extensions
3. Click "..." menu > "Install from VSIX..."
4. Select the downloaded file

Usage

Open Configuration Panel

• Press Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P on macOS)
• Type "Anvil: Open Configuration Panel"
• Or right-click on a folder in Explorer and select "Anvil: Open Configuration Panel"

Switch Project Type

Use the dropdown at the top of the configuration panel to switch between:

• C/C++ - Shows C/C++ related configurations
• Python - Shows Python interpreter and debug configurations
• VS Code Extension - Shows VS Code extension development configurations

Import from CMake (C/C++ Projects)

1. Make sure you have run CMake configuration first:

   cmake -B build -S . -G "MinGW Makefiles" -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=ON
   

2. Click the "Import from CMake" button in Anvil

3. Your configuration will be automatically populated from CMakeCache.txt

Generate VS Code Extension Config

1. Switch project type to "VS Code Extension"
2. Click the "Generate Config" button
3. launch.json and tasks.json will be automatically generated

Configuration

Supported Settings

Generated Files

Anvil generates and manages the following configuration files:

• .vscode/c_cpp_properties.json - IntelliSense configuration (C/C++ projects)
• .vscode/launch.json - Debug configuration
• .vscode/tasks.json - Build tasks
• .vscode/settings.json - Workspace settings (VS Code extension projects)
• .clangd - clangd configuration (if using clangd)

Requirements

• VS Code 1.85.0 or higher
• For C/C++ development: C/C++ Extension or clangd
• For C/C++ debugging: C/C++ Extension, CodeLLDB, or native debugger
• For Python development: Python Extension (includes debugpy)
• For quick run: Code Runner (recommended)

Roadmap

• [x] VS Code extension project support
• [x] Python environment configuration
• [x] Code Runner integration
• [x] Multi-target CMake project support
• [x] Advanced CMake variable resolution
• [x] Cross-platform path handling
• [ ] Rust toolchain support
• [ ] Go environment support
• [ ] Project templates
• [ ] Configuration profiles export/import

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Made with ❤️ by homuraLan