ISON Language Support for VS Code
Syntax highlighting, snippets, and tools for ISON (Interchange Simple Object Notation) - a token-efficient data format optimized for LLMs.
Features
Syntax Highlighting
Full syntax highlighting for .ison and .isonl files:
- Block headers (
table.users, object.config)
- Type annotations (
id:int, name:string)
- References (
:1, :user:42, :OWNS:5)
- Strings, numbers, booleans, nulls
- Comments (
# comment)
Snippets
Quick templates for common patterns:
table - Create a table blockobject - Create an object blockusers - User table templateorders - Orders with referencesconfig - Configuration objectref - Simple referencerag - RAG context templatechat - Chat messages template
Commands
- ISON: Convert to JSON - Convert current ISON to JSON (side-by-side)
- ISON: Convert from JSON - Convert current JSON to ISON
- ISON: Count Tokens - Show token count with JSON comparison
- ISON: Format Document - Align columns for readability
Token Counter
Real-time token count in the status bar for ISON files. Click to see comparison with JSON equivalent.
Installation
From VSIX (Local)
cd ison-vscode
npm install
npm run compile
npm run package
code --install-extension ison-lang-1.0.0.vsix
From Marketplace
Search for "ISON" in VS Code Extensions.
Configuration
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
ison.alignColumns |
true |
Align columns when formatting |
ison.showTokenCount |
true |
Show token count in status bar |
# Users table with typed fields
table.users
id:int name:string email:string active:bool
1 Alice alice@example.com true
2 Bob bob@example.com false
# Orders with references
table.orders
id:int user_id:ref product amount:float
1 :1 Widget 29.99
2 :2 Gadget 49.99
# Configuration object
object.config
key value
debug true
version 1.0.0
table.users|id:int name:string|1 Alice
table.users|id:int name:string|2 Bob
table.orders|id:int user_id:ref product|1 :1 Widget
Why ISON?
- 30-70% fewer tokens compared to JSON
- Optimized for LLMs - structured data in minimal tokens
- Human readable - easy to write and debug
- References built-in -
:id syntax for relationships
Links
License
MIT
| |
