A VSCode extension for keepalived.conf — syntax highlighting, validation, completion, hover, go-to-definition, quick-fix, snippets, and formatting.
Works on every platform without a keepalived install (self-contained validation engine).
Features
| Feature |
Description |
| Syntax highlighting |
Blocks, directives, strings, variables, comments (both # and !) |
| Validation |
4 layers: syntax (braces / unknown directives / nesting) / type (range · enum · IP · port) / semantic (reference integrity · duplicates) / multi-file include |
| Completion |
Directives, child blocks, and enum values for the current block |
| Hover |
Directive description, type, range, allowed values, default, source, build option, man link |
| Go to Definition |
Jump from a reference (track_script chk) to its definition (vrrp_script chk) — F12 |
| Outline |
Navigate block structure via breadcrumbs, outline, and Ctrl+Shift+O |
| Include navigation |
Click an include path to jump to the target file (DocumentLink) |
| Quick-fix |
"Did you mean …?" corrections for enum typos and unknown directives |
| Commands |
Show Schema Version / Validate Active File / Format Document (Command Palette) |
| Snippets |
Skeletons for vrrp_instance, virtual_server, vrrp_script, and more |
| Formatter |
Brace-depth reindentation (preserves comments and blank lines). Format-on-save supported |
Reliability first
False positives erode trust. Only certain problems are flagged as errors; anything
uncertain is a warning/info, and the unknown stays silent ($VAR, @conditional,
and ~SEQ values are exempt from validation). Checks prone to false positives while
editing — missing-required and unused-symbol — are off by default (enable them via
settings below).
Quick-fix follows the same principle: it only suggests close, typo-level candidates
and never pushes distant guesses.
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
keepalived.validation.enable |
true |
Toggle all diagnostics on/off |
keepalived.validation.reportMissingRequired |
false |
Report missing required directives (off by default to avoid mid-edit false positives) |
keepalived.validation.reportUnused |
false |
Report defined-but-unreferenced symbols (off by default — unreferenced is legal) |
keepalived.validation.maxFileSize |
1048576 |
Skip validation for files larger than this many bytes (editor responsiveness). 0 means unlimited |
How it works
- Keywords, types, and ranges are extracted from the keepalived 2.3.4 source and
frozen into a single schema (
schema/keepalived-spec.merged.json).
- The validation logic lives in a pure
core module with no VSCode dependency, so
it can be reused behind an LSP adapter later.
See docs/ (planning / architecture / ADR) for the detailed design.
Known limitations
- The schema is a hand-seeded snapshot of keepalived 2.3.4. Common blocks are
fully validated (
complete); rarer blocks silently accept unknown directives to
avoid false positives (expanding gradually — ADR-0009).
- Conditional-compilation directives (
_WITH_SNMP_, _WITH_BFD_, etc.) exist or not
depending on the build — they are not diagnosed.
- Go-to-definition is currently single-file. Cross-file jumps via
include are future work.
Development
npm install
npm run build # schema merge → grammar gen → typecheck → bundle
npm test # core unit tests (node:test + tsx)
npm run package # .vsix packaging
License
GPL-2.0-or-later. keepalived source is used for fact extraction and logic reference,
so the same license applies. See NOTICE for copyright attribution.
