Go Test Fader

Go Test Fader visually de-emphasizes Go test filenames so production files are easier to scan in VS Code. By default, every file matching **/*_test.go gets a semi-transparent foreground color in the Explorer and Open Editors views.

Features

• Fades Go test filenames without changing their contents.
• Supports customizable include and exclude globs.
• Updates immediately when extension settings change.
• Activates immediately in Go workspaces without requiring a window reload.
• Allows any VS Code theme-color token to be used.
• Supports a small optional badge and hover tooltip.
• Includes commands to toggle or refresh the decorations.

Settings

{
  "goTestFader.enabled": true,
  "goTestFader.include": ["**/*_test.go"],
  "goTestFader.exclude": ["**/vendor/**"],
  "goTestFader.matchCase": true,
  "goTestFader.foreground": "goTestFader.testFileForeground",
  "goTestFader.badge": "",
  "goTestFader.showTooltip": true
}

To choose the exact fade color and opacity, customize the contributed color in your user or workspace settings.json:

{
  "workbench.colorCustomizations": {
    "goTestFader.testFileForeground": "#80808066"
  }
}

The final two hexadecimal digits are the alpha value: lower values make the filename more transparent. You can instead set goTestFader.foreground to any existing VS Code theme-color ID, such as descriptionForeground.

Example that also fades Go fixtures and shows a badge:

{
  "goTestFader.include": [
    "**/*_test.go",
    "**/testdata/**/*.go"
  ],
  "goTestFader.exclude": [
    "**/vendor/**",
    "**/generated/**"
  ],
  "goTestFader.badge": "T"
}

Commands

• Go Test Fader: Toggle
• Go Test Fader: Refresh Decorations

Run locally

npm install
code .

Press F5 in VS Code to launch an Extension Development Host. To build an installable package:

npm run package
code --install-extension go-test-fader-0.1.2.vsix

Once the Marketplace release is available, you can also install it from VS Code by searching for Go Test Fader, or from the command line:

code --install-extension kiarashAlizadeh.go-test-fader

VS Code limitation

The supported file-decoration API applies to resource views such as Explorer and Open Editors. VS Code currently does not expose a supported extension API for independently changing editor-tab filename colors, so this extension does not recolor tabs.

Development

Run the syntax checks and unit tests with:

npm run check

Contributing

Bug reports and pull requests are welcome. Please run npm run check before opening a pull request.

License

MIT © 2026 Kiarash Alizadeh