Rasa Pro VS Code Extension

Enhanced development experience for Rasa and Rasa Pro projects with intelligent autocomplete, real-time validation, cross-file consistency checks, and integrated CLI commands.

✨ Features

🎯 Intelligent IntelliSense

• Context-Aware Autocomplete: Get smart suggestions for intents, entities, slots, actions, responses, and forms as you type
• YAML Schema Validation: Real-time syntax checking and schema validation for all Rasa YAML files
• Hover Documentation: View definitions and documentation by hovering over any Rasa component
• Go to Definition: Navigate instantly to intent, entity, slot, action, or response definitions

🔍 Cross-File Validation

• Undefined Reference Detection: Automatically detect undefined intents, actions, responses, slots, and forms referenced in stories/rules
• Unused Component Detection: Identify unused intents, actions, and responses in your domain
• Built-in Action Support: Recognize and validate Rasa's built-in actions (action_listen, action_restart, etc.)
• Problems Panel Integration: All validation issues appear in VS Code's Problems panel with click-to-navigate

🚀 CLI Integration

Execute Rasa commands directly from VS Code:

• Train Model: Rasa: Train Model - Train your assistant with one command
• Run Action Server: Rasa: Run Action Server - Start your custom actions server
• Interactive Shell: Rasa: Interactive Shell - Test your bot in an interactive chat
• Run Tests: Rasa: Run Tests - Execute your test conversations

All commands stream output to a dedicated "Rasa Output" channel.

📂 Project Explorer

• Component Tree View: Browse all intents, entities, slots, responses, actions, and forms in a sidebar
• Quick Navigation: Click any component to jump to its definition
• Refresh on Demand: Manual refresh button to update the tree view

📝 Smart Snippets

Pre-built templates for common Rasa patterns:

YAML Snippets:

• intent-example - Intent with training examples
• story - Story template with steps
• rule - Rule template
• response - Response with text variants
• slot-text - Text slot definition
• slot-categorical - Categorical slot definition
• form - Form with required slots

Python Snippets:

• rasa-action - Custom action class boilerplate

⚙️ Configuration

• Auto-Detection: Automatically detects Rasa projects (looks for domain.yml and config.yml)
• Split Domain Support: Works with both single domain.yml and split domain/ folder structures
• Performance Optimized: Handles enterprise projects with 100+ YAML files efficiently

📋 Requirements

• VS Code: Version 1.105.0 or higher
• Rasa: Rasa Open Source or Rasa Pro installed locally
• Python: Python 3.7+ (required by Rasa)

To install Rasa:

pip install rasa
# or for Rasa Pro
pip install rasa-pro

🚀 Getting Started

1. Install the Extension: Search for "Rasa Pro" in VS Code Extensions marketplace
2. Open a Rasa Project: Open any folder containing domain.yml and config.yml
3. Start Coding: The extension activates automatically and provides IntelliSense as you work

🎛️ Extension Settings

Configure the extension via VS Code settings (Cmd+, or Ctrl+,):

Example Configuration

{
  "rasa-pro-vscode.rasaExecutable": "/usr/local/bin/rasa",
  "rasa-pro-vscode.enableDiagnostics": true,
  "rasa-pro-vscode.maxFileSize": 2097152
}

🎨 Usage Examples

Using Autocomplete

1. Open any Rasa YAML file (stories, rules, NLU)
2. Start typing intent: and press Ctrl+Space to see available intents
3. Type action: to see all available actions
4. Type utter_ to see all response templates

Running CLI Commands

1. Open Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P or Ctrl+Shift+P)
2. Type "Rasa" to see all available commands
3. Select a command (e.g., "Rasa: Train Model")
4. View output in the "Rasa Output" channel

Using the Project Explorer

1. Click the Rasa icon in the Activity Bar (left sidebar)
2. Browse components by category (Intents, Entities, Slots, etc.)
3. Click any item to navigate to its definition
4. Use the refresh button to update after making changes

🧪 Development & Testing

Running Tests

# Run all tests
npm test

# Run tests with coverage report
npm test -- --coverage

# Run quick type-check and lint
npm run check:quick

# Run full compile and lint
npm run check

Test Coverage

The project maintains high test coverage standards:

• Target: 80% for core services, 70% overall
• Current Coverage: View detailed reports in coverage/index.html after running tests with --coverage

Development Workflow

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start watch mode (auto-compile on save)
npm run watch

# Format code with Prettier
npm run format

# Check code formatting
npm run format:check

# Run linter
npm run lint

# Auto-fix linting issues
npm run lint:fix

# Run quick checks (type-check + lint)
npm run check:quick

# Compile TypeScript
npm run compile

Code Quality

This project uses ESLint and Prettier to maintain code quality:

• ESLint: Enforces code quality rules and catches potential bugs
• Prettier: Ensures consistent code formatting
• Pre-commit checks: All code is linted and formatted before commits

See Code Quality Guide for detailed information.

Testing the Extension Locally

1. Open this project in VS Code
2. Press F5 to launch Extension Development Host
3. Open a test Rasa project (e.g., test-projects/basic-rasa-project)
4. Test features: autocomplete, validation, CLI commands, explorer view

📚 Documentation

• Configuration Guide - Detailed configuration settings documentation
• CLI Commands Guide
• Snippets Quick Reference
• Project Explorer Guide
• Cross-File Validation
• Manual Testing Guide

🐛 Known Issues

• Large YAML files (>1MB) may experience slower parsing times
• Split domain files across deeply nested directories may have reduced performance
• Rasa CLI commands require Rasa to be installed and accessible in PATH

🗺️ Roadmap

• [ ] AI-powered story suggestions
• [ ] Inline NLU testing console
• [ ] Conversation flow visualization
• [ ] Rasa X/Pro server synchronization
• [ ] Real-time model performance metrics

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read our Contributing Guidelines before submitting PRs.

Development Principles

• Maintain <1 second extension activation time
• Keep IntelliSense response <200ms
• Write tests for all new features
• Follow TypeScript strict mode
• Document complex logic with clear comments

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Rasa - Open source conversational AI framework
• VS Code Extension API - Extensibility platform

📞 Support

• 🐛 Report Issues
• 💬 Discussions
• 📧 Contact: r.passos@outlook.pt

Enjoy building amazing conversational AI with Rasa! 🚀