Code Pins by ozkary.com

Do you get lost jumping between code segments across multiple open tabs in VS Code? Stop losing your place and streamline your navigation with Code Pins. Just like dropping pins on a Google Map, Code Pins enables you to visually map out every code segment impacted by a feature change. Simply add your pins, trigger a sibling search, and instantly view every related code block organized right inside your native search panel. Optimize your productivity and never lose your context again.

💡 Author's Note

I built this tool because I got tired of dropping scattered TODO and REVIEW tags into large codebases, only to waste time manually configuring global search queries just to trace how a single feature change flowed across multiple files. This extension formalizes the exact code-mapping methodology I use daily. I hope it saves you as much context-switching fatigue as it does for me!

— Óscar D. García (ozkary.com)

Features

• Contextual Right-Click Insertion: Quickly drop configurable tag items with unified Unicode emoji syntax into your files based on language comment tokens (e.g. //, #, <!-- -->).
• Line-Safe Insertion: Pins are automatically placed as a brand-new line directly above your cursor, preserving your original code completely intact.
• Workspace-Wide Sibling Search: Jump right back into relevant tracks using VS Code's global search engine via a single right-click on any active pin.
• ISO Timestamps: Seamlessly mark current pathways using TODAY tags tracking YYYY-MM-DD.
• Dynamic Context Menus: Commands like Remove Pin, Replace Pin, and Search Sibling Pins are contextual and only show up in the editor right-click menu when your cursor is positioned on a valid pin.

Screenshots

1. Intuitive Context Menu Integration

Right-click anywhere within your active file to instantly insert, remove, or replace code pins. The menu dynamically adjusts based on whether your cursor is sitting on an active pin tag.

2. Standardized Comment Pins in Action

Pins are dynamically placed on a new line directly above your target selection. They automatically use the native comment tokens for your specific programming language, complete with expressive Unicode icons and clean layout formatting.

3. Workspace-Wide Sibling Search

Selecting "Search Sibling Pins" programmatically populates and launches VS Code's global search engine. It aggregates every identical pin instance across your workspace files instantly, making complex code review tracking seamless.

Configurable Categories

Configuration

You can customize the tags, icons, tooltips, and timestamp behaviors in your VS Code settings. Add or edit entries in settings.json:

"codePins.tags": [
  { "name": "TODO", "icon": "📌", "tooltip": "Pending work area", "includeTimestamp": false },
  { "name": "CRITICAL", "icon": "🚨", "tooltip": "Important business rule", "includeTimestamp": false },
  { "name": "TIP", "icon": "💡", "tooltip": "Code pattern bookmark for reuse", "includeTimestamp": false },
  { "name": "TODAY", "icon": "📍", "tooltip": "Current review track", "includeTimestamp": true },
  { "name": "DEPRECATED", "icon": "⚠️", "tooltip": "Marked for removal", "includeTimestamp": false }
]

License

This extension is licensed under the MIT License. Created by Óscar D. García - ozkary. ozkary.com