VG Depslink is an extension tool developed for Visual Studio Code, aiming to improve developers' efficiency in handling multi-language project dependencies. By automatically identifying package information in dependency files, it provides quick dependency links and hover detail prompts, helping developers obtain key dependency information without manual navigation.
Core Features
1. Multi-language Dependency Link Support
Supports dependency files of mainstream programming languages, automatically generating clickable links to corresponding package management repositories for dependencies (flow diagram shown below):
flowchart TD
subgraph "VS Code Extension: vg-vsc-depslink"
A["Extension Entry Point\nsrc/extension.ts"]
subgraph "Core Provider System"
B["Document Link Providers\nGenerate clickable links"]
C["Hover Providers\nPackage information display"]
end
subgraph "Language-Specific Implementations"
D["NpmDependencyLinkProvider"]
E["PubDependencyLinkProvider"]
F["GradleDependencyLinkProvider"]
G["PodfileDependencyLinkProvider"]
H["GoDependencyLinkProvider"]
I["CargoDependencyLinker"]
J["NpmPackageDescriptor"]
K["PubPackageDescriptor"]
L["GradlePackageDescriptor"]
M["PodfilePackageDescriptor"]
N["GoModPackageDescriptor"]
O["CargoPackageDescriptor"]
end
end
subgraph "External Registries"
P["npmjs.com"]
Q["pub.dev"]
R["Maven Central"]
S["cocoapods.org"]
T["pkg.go.dev"]
U["crates.io"]
end
A --> B
A --> C
B --> D
B --> E
B --> F
B --> G
B --> H
B --> I
C --> J
C --> K
C --> L
C --> M
C --> N
C --> O
J --> P
K --> Q
L --> R
M --> S
N --> T
O --> U
npm: Identifies dependencies in package.json and links to npmjs.com
Dart/Flutter: Identifies dependencies in pubspec.yaml and links to pub.dev
Gradle: Identifies dependencies in build.gradle and links to Maven Central
CocoaPods: Identifies dependencies in Podfile and links to cocoapods.org
Go: Identifies dependencies in go.mod and links to pkg.go.dev
Rust: Identifies dependencies in Cargo.toml and links to crates.io
2. Hover Detail Prompts
sequenceDiagram
participant User
participant Extension
participant Cache Layer
participant Package Registry API
User->>Extension: "Hover over dependency"
Extension->>Extension: "Parse dependency information"
Extension->>Cache Layer: "Check cache for package metadata"
alt Cache Hit
Cache Layer-->>Extension: "Return cached metadata"
else Cache Miss
Extension->>Package Registry API: "Fetch package information"
Package Registry API-->>Extension: "Return package metadata"
Extension->>Cache Layer: "Store in cache with TTL"
end
Extension->>Extension: "Format hover information"
Extension-->>User: "Display package details"
User->>Extension: "Click dependency link"
Extension->>Extension: "Generate registry URL"
Extension-->>User: "Open package page in browser"
When hovering over a dependency, the following key information is displayed (obtained by calling the corresponding repository API):
Comparison between installed version and latest version (marked if an update is available)
Package description and license information
Repository link (prioritizing the project's own repository address)
3. Configurability and Extensibility
Cache Optimization: Supports custom cache time (default 5 minutes) to reduce repeated API requests
Private Repository Mapping: Supports configuring private repository URL templates (e.g., private repositories for Go modules) to adapt to enterprise internal environments
Multi-source Support: By extending the BasePackageDescriptor and BaseDependencyLinkProvider base classes, it can quickly add support for other package managers
Technical Features
Multi-language Adaptation: Accurately identifies dependency declarations in different formats (e.g., Gradle's short format implementation 'group:name:version' and long format implementation(group: 'group', name: 'name') ) through regular expression matching and syntax analysis
Error Tolerance: Automatically degrades when API requests fail (e.g., Go modules fall back to GitHub repository search) to ensure basic information availability
Performance Optimization: Caches package information via the @cacheable decorator to reduce network request frequency
Application Scenarios
Cross-language project development (e.g., full-stack projects involving frontend, mobile, and backend simultaneously)
Dependency version management (quickly check the latest version to avoid manual queries)
Private repository collaboration (achieve fast navigation for internal dependencies through configuration mapping)
This extension is open-source on GitHub, supports free use, and is suitable for developers and teams requiring efficient multi-language dependency management.
