RST Visual Editor

Edit rendered reStructuredText in VS Code. Click a paragraph, heading, list item, or code block and change the original .rst or .rest document directly.

Extension ID: leejaehot.rst-visual-editor.

Features

• Document layout with distinct heading levels and light, dark, and high contrast themes.
• Language labels, tinted code blocks, and syntax colors for Python, shell, JSON, and JavaScript.
• Bold, emphasis, and inline code controls.
• Save and undo through VS Code's text document model, using the same RST file.
• Protected source mappings: complex directives, tables, and ambiguous blocks remain available through RST Visual Editor: Open RST Source.

Requirements

Use desktop VS Code 1.82 or newer. The extension includes Pyodide 0.27.7 and Docutils 0.21.2, so the default renderer needs no separate Python installation or pip install.

This extension runs in the local UI extension host. With Remote SSH, WSL, or a development container, install it on the client; no installation on the remote server is needed. Browser-only VS Code is unsupported.

Getting started

1. Open a .rst or .rest file and choose RST Visual Editor if prompted.
2. Click rendered text or code to edit it. Use the toolbar for inline formatting.
3. Save with Ctrl+S on Windows/Linux or Cmd+S on macOS. Use the corresponding VS Code undo/redo shortcuts to undo or redo edits.

For an existing source tab, use Reopen Editor With… → RST Visual Editor or run RST Visual Editor: Open Visual Editor from the Command Palette. Select it as the default editor if you want future RST files to open visually.

If you installed the earlier workspace-tools.rst-visual-editor development build, uninstall that build before enabling this extension. The two packages share the editor and command IDs to preserve existing settings.

Leave RST Visual: Python Path (rstVisual.pythonPath) empty to use the bundled WebAssembly runtime. You can optionally set it to a local Python 3.9+ executable instead. This override is specific to each machine and is excluded from Settings Sync; Python is never installed automatically.

Rendering and privacy

Rendering uses bundled Docutils. Sphinx-specific constructs may need source editing; the editor does not build a complete Sphinx project. It does not execute doctests or code examples, expand included files, or enable raw HTML. It performs no telemetry or network requests. Document text stays in the local rendering process and is not uploaded to a rendering service.

Complex RST remains protected rather than being silently rewritten. Use the source editor for structures that are not editable in the visual view.

한국어 사용법

.rst 파일을 열고 RST Visual Editor를 선택하면 렌더된 화면에서 문단·제목·목록·코드를 직접 편집할 수 있습니다. 저장은 기존 RST 파일에 적용됩니다. 복잡한 지시문이나 표는 RST 원문에서 편집하세요.

내장 WebAssembly 런타임을 사용하므로 기본 설정에서는 Python을 별도로 설치할 필요가 없습니다. Remote SSH에서도 현재 PC에 확장을 설치하면 됩니다. 선택적으로 현재 PC의 Python 3.9 이상을 사용하려면 rstVisual.pythonPath를 지정하세요. 이 경로는 PC별 설정이며 동기화되지 않습니다.

License

The extension is MIT licensed. Bundled dependencies retain their original notices and license terms, included with the extension in vendor/ and node_modules/pyodide/.