SuperCollider Language Server for Visual Studio Code

⚠ Note: This extension is still in development and is not yet stable.

A Visual Studio Code extension providing language support for SuperCollider, an audio synthesis and algorithmic composition platform.

Features

• Code Execution: Execute SuperCollider code directly from VS Code.

  • Execute current line or selected code (Ctrl+Enter)
  • Evaluate code blocks (enclosed in parentheses)
  • Boot/Reboot/Kill Server commands
  • Stop all sounds (Ctrl+.)

• Syntax Highlighting (.scd and .sc files):

  • Comments, strings, characters, symbols
  • Numbers, classes, keywords, operators, environment variables

• Code Completion:

  • Keywords, built-in classes, and common methods

• Editor Features:

  • Auto-closing brackets/quotes, block commenting, code folding

Requirements

The SuperCollider environment must be installed.

• macOS/Linux: sclang should be in your PATH.
• Windows: sclang.exe should be available.
• WSL: The extension automatically handles the sclang alias issue by falling back to sclang.exe, or you can configure the path manually.

Extension Settings

• supercollider.sclangPath: Path to the sclang executable (default: sclang).

Keybindings

Installation

1. Clone this repository
2. Run npm install in the root folder
3. Open VS Code on this folder
4. Press Ctrl+Shift+B to compile
5. Press F5 to launch the Extension Development Host

Usage

Open VS Code (On macOS make sure that microphone permissions are set for VS Code). Create or open a .scd or .sc file and start writing SuperCollider code:

// Simple sine wave
{
    var freq = 440;
    SinOsc.ar(freq, 0, 0.1)
}.play;

// Pattern example
Pbind(
    \instrument, \default,
    \degree, Pseq([0, 2, 4, 5, 7], inf),
    \dur, 0.25
).play;

Development

Project Structure

├── client/          # Language client (VSCode extension)
│   └── src/
│       └── extension.ts
├── server/          # Language server
│   └── src/
│       ├── server.ts
│       ├── languageModes.ts
│       └── modes/
│           └── scdMode.ts
├── syntaxes/        # TextMate grammar
│   └── scd.tmLanguage.json
└── package.json

Building

npm install
npm run compile

Debugging

1. Open in VS Code
2. Press F5 to launch Extension Development Host
3. Use "Attach to Server" debug configuration to debug the language server

Publishing

This section covers how to compile the extension into a .vsix package and publish it to both the Visual Studio Code Marketplace and Open VSX Registry (used by VSCodium, Gitpod, and other editors).

Prerequisites

Make sure all dependencies are installed, including the publishing tools:

npm install

This project uses @vscode/vsce for the VS Code Marketplace and ovsx for Open VSX — both are already listed as dev dependencies.

Step 1 — Compile the Extension

Always start with a clean compile before packaging. This ensures the output in client/out/ and server/out/ reflects the latest source:

npm run compile

If you want to verify there are no linting errors at the same time:

npm run lint
npm run compile

Step 2 — Package the Extension

The package script cleans the server output folder and creates a .vsix archive:

npm run package

This runs vsce package internally and produces a file like:

supercollider-vscode-1.0.2.vsix

You can install this file locally to test it before publishing:

code --install-extension supercollider-vscode-1.0.2.vsix

Step 3 — Publish to the VS Code Marketplace

3.1 — Create a Publisher Account

1. Sign in to https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/manage with your Microsoft account.
2. Click Create Publisher if you don't have one yet.
3. Make sure the publisher field in package.json matches your publisher ID exactly.

3.2 — Generate a Personal Access Token (PAT)

1. Go to https://dev.azure.com and sign in.
2. Click your profile picture → Personal access tokens.
3. Click New Token and configure it:
   • Name: anything descriptive, e.g. vsce-publish
   • Organization: select All accessible organizations
   • Expiration: choose a date that suits your workflow
   • Scopes: select Custom defined, then tick Marketplace → Manage
4. Click Create and copy the token — you will not see it again.

3.3 — Log in with vsce

npx vsce login <your-publisher-id>

When prompted, paste your Personal Access Token. The credentials are stored locally so you only need to do this once per machine.

3.4 — Publish

npx vsce publish

To publish a specific version bump in one step (updates package.json automatically):

npx vsce publish patch   # e.g. 1.0.2 → 1.0.3
npx vsce publish minor   # e.g. 1.0.2 → 1.1.0
npx vsce publish major   # e.g. 1.0.2 → 2.0.0

Or publish an already-packaged .vsix directly:

npx vsce publish --packagePath supercollider-vscode-1.0.2.vsix

The extension will appear on the Marketplace at: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=rogervila.supercollider-vscode

Step 4 — Publish to Open VSX

Open VSX is a vendor-neutral extension registry used by VSCodium, Eclipse Theia, Gitpod, and other VS Code-compatible editors.

4.1 — Create an Open VSX Account

1. Go to https://open-vsx.org and sign in with your GitHub account.
2. Click your avatar → Settings → Access Tokens.
3. Generate a new token and copy it.

4.2 — Publish with ovsx

Use the .vsix file you built in Step 2:

npx ovsx publish supercollider-vscode-1.0.2.vsix --pat <your-open-vsx-token>

Or pass the token via an environment variable to avoid exposing it in your shell history:

export OVSX_PAT=<your-open-vsx-token>
npx ovsx publish supercollider-vscode-1.0.2.vsix

The extension will appear on Open VSX at: https://open-vsx.org/extension/rogervila/supercollider-vscode

Full Release Checklist

Use this checklist every time you cut a new release:

• [ ] Update the version in package.json (or let vsce publish patch/minor/major do it)
• [ ] Update CHANGELOG.md with the new version and a summary of changes
• [ ] Run npm run lint — fix any errors
• [ ] Run npm run compile — ensure a clean build
• [ ] Run npm run package — verify the .vsix is created without errors
• [ ] Install and smoke-test the .vsix locally: code --install-extension *.vsix
• [ ] Publish to VS Code Marketplace: npx vsce publish
• [ ] Publish to Open VSX: npx ovsx publish *.vsix
• [ ] Tag the release in git: git tag v1.0.x && git push --tags

License

MIT

Author

Roger Vilà

Built with AI