VSCode Settings Switcher

Define groups of settings to be easily switched and managed. These may be defined in either global User Settings or your current Workspace settings.

This extension was largely based on the ericbiewener's extension VScode Settings on Fire.

Command

Provides a Switch Settings command that can be used to switch between groups of settings.

Configuration Example

The following example shows 2 groups of settings to switch:

"settingsSwitcher.lists": {
    "Vertical rulers": {
        "Ruler 80": {
            "description": "Cyan ruler line at column 80",
            "editor.rulers": [{"column": 79, "color": "#4f717a" }]
        },
        "Ruler 85": {
            "description": "Yellow ruler line at column 85",
            "editor.rulers": [ { "column": 84, "color": "#615f44" }]
        },
        "Ruler 95": {
            "description": "Blue ruler line at column 95",
            "editor.rulers": [ { "column": 94, "color": "#00028a" }]
        },
    },
    "Fonts and theme": {
        "Big font dark":{
            "editor.fontSize": 18,
            "workbench.colorTheme": "Default Dark+"
        },
        "Small font light":{
            "editor.fontSize": 10,
            "workbench.colorTheme": "Default Light+"
        },
        "Big font light":{
            "editor.fontSize": 18,
            "workbench.colorTheme": "Default Light+"
        },
        "Medium font dark":{
            "editor.fontSize": 12,
            "workbench.colorTheme": "Default Dark+"
        },
    }
},

By running the command Switch Settings, the two groups of settings "Vertical rulers" and "Fonts and theme" will appear as a list in your command palette. So, first you select which group of settings you want to switch.

If already set, the current configuration will appear with small font, indicating the current state. The "Ruler 85" and "Big font dark" that you see in the screenshot above indicates the current state of the setting. Before ever choosing a setting, the current state will be empty.

Next, a second list will appear indicating the available settings to switch in the chosen group. A small "description" property may be provided in each configured setting and, if so, the description will appear with small font in this second list.

You can specify any amount of settings inside each group definitions. These settings will simply be written to your top-level settings object. For instance: the showed example has a group of settings "Fonts and theme" and each definition inside it changes the fontSize and the colorTheme together at the same time.

Descriptions

You may include the "description" key property in each setting definition to provide more clarity around what switching the setting will do. The following example uses a setting from the Python extension for Visual Studio Code

"settingsSwitcher.lists": {
    "Arguments to run python in terminal": {
        "Normal mode": {
            "description": "No args, just run `python script.py`",
            "python.terminal.launchArgs": [""]
        },
        "Interactive mode": {
            "description": "Keep the opened terminal, run `python -i script.py`",
            "python.terminal.launchArgs": [ "-i" ]
        },
        "IPython interactive mode": {
            "description": "Run `python -m IPython -i script.py`",
            "python.terminal.launchArgs": [ "-m", "IPython", "-i" ]
        },
    },
},

If no "description" is provided, it will appear as empty, like in the first example, with the group of settings "Fonts and theme".

Extension Settings

This extension adds VS Code setting "settingsSwitcher.lists", which may have any amount of groups of settings, each group may have any amount of definitions and each definition may have a description and any amount of settings. So, there are 3 levels of keys:

"settingsSwitcher.lists": {
    "First group of settings": {
        "First definition": {
            "description": "...", // optional
            [vscode settings ...] // Any amount of VSCode settings
        },
        "Second definition": {
            "description": "...", // optional
            [vscode settings ...] // Any amount of VSCode settings
        },
        "Third definition": {
            "description": "...", // optional
            [vscode settings ...] // Any amount of VSCode settings
        },
    "Second group of settings": {
        "First definition": {
            "description": "...", // optional
            [vscode settings ...] // Any amount of VSCode settings
        },
        "Second definition": {
            "description": "...", // optional
            [vscode settings ...] // Any amount of VSCode settings
        },
        ...
    },
    ...
},

Merging vs Overwriting Settings

Settings that are objects will be merged into existing settings, while any other type of value will simply overwrite the previous setting. For example, the Tests settings below will merge the values in files.exclude with whatever the current setting is for that key.

"settingsSwitcher.lists": {
    "Tests": {
        "Include tests": {
            "files.exclude": {
                "**/__tests__": false,
                "**/__mocks__": false,
                "**/__fixtures__": false,
                "**/*.spec.js": false,
            }
        },
        "Exclude tests": {
            "files.exclude": {
                "**/__tests__": true,
                "**/__mocks__": true,
                "**/__fixtures__": true,
                "**/*.spec.js": true,
            }
        }
    }
}

User Settings vs Workspace settings.

You can switch between groups of settings in either global User Settings or your current Workspace settings. But, to do so, the setting "settingsSwitcher.lists" with the groups of settings to switch must be defined in the corresponding settings.json file (either global or local)

Credits

The code of this extension was largely based on the ericbiewener's extension VScode Settings on Fire.