VCode - Macro Playground for VS Code

VCode is a focused VS Code extension for macro automation: load, manage, and run macros directly in your editor.

Highlights

Built-in macro library shipped with the extension - useful macros with zero setup
Macro Playground for rapid experimentation
File-based macros from .vscode/macro
Quick execution on selection or whole document
Built-in commands to add, edit, delete, and refresh macros

Quick Start

Create a macro file in .vscode/macro/uppercase.js.
Paste this content:

module.exports = (context) => {
  return context.input.toUpperCase();
};

Open Command Palette and run VCode: Execute Macro.
Pick uppercase and see the selection change.

Built-in Macros

VCode ships with a library of common macros (snippets/macros in the extension), loaded automatically at startup. They appear alongside your own macros in VCode: Execute Macro and in the Macro Playground, tagged as Built-in.

Run VCode: Browse Built-in Macros to pick one by category and then choose to:

Run on selection - apply it right away
Copy to workspace - save an editable copy in .vscode/macro
Open source - read the bundled script
Copy code to clipboard

The library covers text and line operations (sort, dedupe, trim, join), encoding (URL, base64), JSON (format, minify, escape), naming (camelCase <-> snake_case), SQL (format, IN list), JavaScript helpers (try/catch, template literal, console.log), and date conversion. All built-in macros are JavaScript, so they run in-process without any interpreter.

Built-in macros are read-only. To customise one, copy it to your workspace and edit the copy.

{
  "vcode.macro.builtins.enabled": true,
  "vcode.macro.builtins.exclude": ["Format SQL", "base64-encode.js"]
}

Commands

VCode: Execute Macro
VCode: Add Macro
VCode: Edit Macro
VCode: Delete Macro
VCode: Refresh Macros
VCode: Open Macro Playground
VCode: Browse Built-in Macros
VCode: Copy Built-in Macro to Workspace
VCode: Reload Built-in Macros

Extension Settings

You can configure VCode settings in your .vscode/settings.json or User Settings.

{
  "vcode.macro.directories": [
    ".vscode/macro"
  ],
  "vcode.macro.globals": {
    "author": "Ada Lovelace",
    "apiBase": "https://example.com"
  },
  "vcode.macro.python.path": "/path/to/venv/bin/python3",
  "vcode.macro.perl.path": "/usr/bin/perl",
  "vcode.macro.builtins.enabled": true,
  "vcode.macro.builtins.exclude": []
}

Writing Macros

Macros can be written in JavaScript, Python, or Perl. JavaScript/Python macros return a string; Perl macros write the result to stdout.

Context Object:

input: Selected text, or the entire document if nothing is selected.
languageId: VS Code language ID (example: typescript).
filePath: Absolute path of the active file.
globals: Global variables from vcode.macro.globals.

JavaScript Macros

JavaScript macros should define a transform function.

function transform(input, context) {
  return input.toUpperCase();
}

Python Macros

Python macros are .py files in .vscode/macro and must define transform(input, context, *args).

def transform(input, context, *args):
    return input.upper()

Python macros run with the configured interpreter. Set vcode.macro.python.path if you need a specific virtualenv or interpreter. If unset, VCode uses the Python extension's default interpreter or falls back to python3.

Perl Macros

Perl macros are .pl files in .vscode/macro and should be standalone programs. VCode sends the selected text to stdin and reads the transformed output from stdout. Set vcode.macro.perl.path if you need a specific Perl interpreter.

Environment variables:

VCODE_LANGUAGE_ID
VCODE_FILE_PATH
VCODE_GLOBALS_JSON
VCODE_CONTEXT_JSON
VCODE_PARAMS_JSON Note: VCODE_CONTEXT_JSON includes metadata (languageId, filePath, globals). The input text is provided via stdin.

#!/usr/bin/env perl
use strict;
use warnings;

local $/;
my $input = <STDIN> // q{};
print $input;

Macro Playground

Open Macro Playground from the Command Palette to run code quickly, save new macros, and load existing ones without leaving the editor. You can choose the runtime (JavaScript, Python, or Perl) before running or saving.

Privacy

VCode runs macros locally inside the VS Code extension host and does not send code or content to external services.

Release Notes

See CHANGELOG.md for details.

License

MIT

vcode

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