Chevron Lists
A VS Code extension that adds smart keyboard behaviour for nested blockquote list syntax in markdown.
Syntax
> This is a section header
>> - First item
>> - Second item
>> - Third item
Numbered lists are also supported:
> This is a section header
>> 1. First item
>> 2. Second item
>> 3. Third item
Deep nesting works at any depth:
> Section
>> - Top level item
>>> - Nested item
>>>> - Deeply nested item
Features
Smart Enter
- Enter after a
> Header → starts a >> - list item on the next line
- Enter after a
>> - Item → continues the list with another >> - prefix
- Enter on an empty
>> - line → stops the list and clears the prefix
- Enter after a
>> 1. Item → continues with >> 2. (auto-incrementing)
- Enter on an empty
>> 1. line → stops the numbered list
- All other Enter presses in markdown files behave normally
Tab / Shift+Tab — Nesting
- Tab on a
>> - line → promotes it to >>> - (deeper nesting)
- Shift+Tab on a
>>> - line → demotes it back one level
- Works at arbitrary depth (
>>, >>>, >>>>, etc.)
- Works on numbered items, picking up the correct number at the new depth
- Multi-cursor aware — Tab/Shift+Tab across multiple selected lines simultaneously (Shift+click to select a range)
- Tab only fires when no Copilot inline suggestion is visible
Snippets
Type a prefix and press your configured trigger key to insert a starter block:
| Prefix |
Expands to |
chl |
Chevron bullet list block with Tab stops |
chn |
Chevron numbered list block with Tab stops |
Configure the trigger key via chevron-lists.snippetTrigger (see Settings).
Templates
Run CL: Insert Template (Ctrl+Shift+P) to choose from 5 built-in templates:
| Template |
Description |
| Bullet List |
Standard chevron bullet list |
| Numbered List |
Chevron numbered list |
| Nested List |
Two-level nested bullet list |
| Session Notes |
RPG / meeting session notes |
| Character Sheet |
Quick character / entity profile |
Add your own via chevron-lists.templates in settings.
Navigation
- Ctrl+Alt+Down → jump to the next
> Header in the file
- Ctrl+Alt+Up → jump to the previous
> Header in the file
Section Commands
All available via Ctrl+Shift+P — type CL: to filter:
| Command |
Description |
CL: Select Section Items |
Selects all items under the nearest > Header |
CL: Delete Section |
Deletes the entire section (header + items) |
CL: Duplicate Section |
Copies the section immediately below itself |
CL: Move Section Up |
Swaps the section with the one above |
CL: Move Section Down |
Swaps the section with the one below |
Search & Filter
| Command |
Description |
CL: Search Items |
Live quick pick of all items in the current file with preview |
CL: Filter Sections |
Live quick pick of all headers in the current file |
CL: Search Items (Workspace) |
Search all chevron items across every markdown file in the workspace |
CL: Filter Sections (Workspace) |
Jump to any section in any markdown file in the workspace |
Sorting & Renumbering
| Command |
Description |
CL: Sort Items A → Z |
Sorts bullet items alphabetically |
CL: Sort Items Z → A |
Reverse alphabetical sort |
CL: Renumber Items |
Resets numbered item sequence per chevron depth |
Export
| Command |
Description |
CL: Copy Section as Markdown |
Converts section to ## heading + list, copies to clipboard |
CL: Copy Section as Plain Text |
Strips all prefixes, copies clean text to clipboard |
File Statistics
Run CL: Show File Statistics to open a webview panel showing section count, item count, word count, avg items per section, and a full section breakdown table.
Outline View
Chevron sections appear in VS Code's Outline panel and breadcrumb navigation. Each section shows its name and item count. Expanding a section shows all its items as children. Clicking any entry jumps directly to that line.
Colour Presets
Run CL: Switch Colour Preset to choose from 6 built-in colour themes:
| Preset |
Description |
default |
Amber headers, muted grey prefixes, blue numbers |
ocean |
Teal headers, slate prefixes, cyan numbers |
forest |
Green headers, dark green prefixes, lime numbers |
sunset |
Coral headers, muted orange prefixes, gold numbers |
monochrome |
Bold white headers, grey prefixes, silver numbers |
custom |
Clears all preset colours for full manual control |
Hover over any > Header line to see item count and word count for that section.
Status Bar
Bottom-right status bar shows total section and item counts for the open file, updating as you type.
Syntax Highlighting
> Header lines are coloured as section headings>> - and >> 1. prefixes styled distinctly from content- Colours driven by your active theme (or preset) automatically
Folding
Each > Header block folds via the standard VS Code fold gutter arrow.
Minimap Indicators
> Header lines appear as coloured markers in the overview ruler.
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
chevron-lists.listPrefix |
- |
Prefix character for list items. Change to * for >> *, etc. |
chevron-lists.blankLineAfterHeader |
false |
Insert a blank line between > Header and the first item on Enter |
chevron-lists.snippetTrigger |
tab |
How chl/chn snippets are triggered: tab, ctrl+enter, or none |
chevron-lists.colourPreset |
default |
Built-in colour preset: default, ocean, forest, sunset, monochrome, custom |
chevron-lists.templates |
[] |
User-defined templates for CL: Insert Template (name, description, body) |
Development
bun install # install dependencies
bun run compile # compile TypeScript
bun test # run unit tests with coverage
155 unit tests, 100% coverage of all pure logic.
Releasing a new version
.\release.ps1 -Version 2.1.0
This will: run tests, warn if no CHANGELOG entry exists, bump package.json, compile, package the .vsix, commit and push to GitHub, then open the Marketplace upload page.
Changelog
See CHANGELOG.md for full version history.
Roadmap
See ROADMAP.md for planned features.
License
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 — © Lewis Creelman. No commercial use. No derivatives.
