Node Modules Links
Jump from dependency names in package.json to their installed packages in node_modules, with familiar IDE-style navigation inside the standard Visual Studio Code editor.
{
"dependencies": {
"react": "^19.0.0",
"@types/node": "^24.0.0"
},
"devDependencies": {
"typescript": "^5.9.0"
}
}
Hold Ctrl (Windows/Linux) or Cmd (macOS) and click a package name, such as react. The extension opens the installed package's package.json and reveals its folder in the Explorer when the folder is inside your workspace.
Features
- Native clickable dependency names, with a descriptive hover tooltip.
- Support for
dependencies, devDependencies, peerDependencies, and optionalDependencies.
- Scoped packages such as
@types/node and npm aliases using their installed alias names.
- Closest-package resolution: local
node_modules first, then parent directories for hoisted monorepo dependencies.
- npm, pnpm, and Yarn installations that provide
node_modules, including symlinked packages.
- JSON and JSON with Comments (
jsonc), including trailing commas.
- Resolution on every click, so installing or removing packages does not require reloading the extension.
- Windows, macOS, Linux, and remote workspaces (SSH, WSL, and Dev Containers).
Requirements and Usage
- Use Visual Studio Code 1.85.0 or newer.
- Install your project's dependencies with its package manager.
- Open a file named
package.json in JSON or JSON with Comments language mode.
- Ctrl+click / Cmd+click a dependency key.
VS Code must have editor.links enabled (the default). The click modifier follows VS Code's link gesture settings; when editor.multiCursorModifier is ctrlCmd, use Alt+click instead.
{
"editor.links": true
}
Local Development
Use Node.js 24 or newer for the build tools. Open this extension's folder in VS Code, then run:
npm ci
npm run check
Press F5 to launch the Extension Development Host. Open a project with installed dependencies and try its package.json.
Build and Install a VSIX
npm run package
code --install-extension node-modules-links-0.1.0.vsix
Alternatively, use Extensions: Install from VSIX... in the Command Palette. Reload the VS Code window if prompted.
See PUBLISHING.md for Marketplace release steps.
Limitations
- Yarn Plug'n'Play without
node_modules, browser-only VS Code, and virtual workspaces are unsupported.
- Links are provided for dependency names even before installation. Clicking a missing dependency displays an explanatory message.
overrides, resolutions, bundled-dependency arrays, and version strings are not linked.- The link opens the installed manifest directly, even if the package's
exports hides it. A package without package.json is revealed in the Explorer when inside the workspace.
- Hoisted packages outside the opened workspace can be opened in the editor, but cannot be revealed in that workspace's Explorer. Open the monorepo root to reveal them.
- VS Code controls link styling and the click gesture. This extension has no custom editor or settings.
Privacy
The extension reads installed package metadata and navigates within VS Code. It does not modify documents, install dependencies, execute package code, make network requests, or collect telemetry.
Support and License
See SUPPORT.md. Licensed under MIT.
