Email Viewer for VS Code
Note: This extension replaces the previously published joel-harkes.emlviewer. If you had the old version installed, please uninstall it and install this one instead.
View and edit .eml email files directly in VS Code — headers, HTML body, text body, and attachments — all in a single structured editor.
What are .eml files?
.eml is the standard format for email messages (RFC 5322). Every email client can export and import them. They contain the full email: headers, body (plain text and/or HTML), inline images, and file attachments — all encoded in a single text file using MIME.
Common uses for .eml files:
- Email templates — design and version-control email templates alongside your code
- Testing — inspect and modify test fixture emails for email-processing pipelines
- Archiving — browse saved email correspondence without an email client
- Debugging — examine raw email structure, headers, and encoding issues
Features
- Header editing — view and edit all email headers inline, add new ones, or delete existing ones
- HTML body preview — rendered HTML preview with inline editing support; click "Edit HTML Source" for full control in a separate editor tab
- Text body editing — editable textarea for the plain text part, auto-creates one if missing
- Attachments — card-based layout showing filename, size, and MIME type; click to download
- Theme support — adapts to your VS Code theme (light, dark, high contrast)
- Standards compliant — preserves MIME structure, encodings, and boundaries on save
Getting Started
- Install the extension from the VS Code Marketplace
- Open any
.eml file — the Email Viewer opens automatically
- Use "Open With..." to switch between the Email Viewer and the raw text editor
Known Issues
No major known issues. If you find a bug, please open an issue.
Contributing
Contributions are welcome! Here's how to get started:
git clone https://github.com/joelharkes/vscode_email_viewer.git
cd vscode_email_viewer
npm install
npm run compile
Press F5 in VS Code to launch the Extension Development Host for testing.
npm run compile # Build TypeScript
npm run lint # Run ESLint
npm run test # Run test suite
Guidelines
- Use conventional commits (
feat:, fix:, refactor:)
- TypeScript strict mode
- Test with sample
.eml files in the data/ directory
License
MIT
