Lantern - Light up your workspace

Give your VS Code workspaces unique colors with optional Philips Hue integration

Features • Installation • Usage • Additional Info • Troubleshooting

Tired of losing track of which VS Code window you're working in? Lantern helps you distinguish between multiple VS Code instances by assigning unique colors to each workspace's status bar. With the Philips Hue integration, your physical workspace reflects your digital one.

Features

• Unique workspace colors: Assign distinctive colors to each workspace's status bar, either manually or randomly using OKLCH color space for optimal visual distinction
• Philips Hue integration: Sync your workspace colors with Philips Hue smart lights
• Quick toggle: Quickly enable/disable all functionality across workspaces
• AI-powered color suggestions: Get intelligent color recommendations based on your project context and preferences using GitHub Copilot
• Peacock synchronization: Use Peacock extension instead of built-in theming

Note: AI features requires GitHub Copilot to be enabled in VS Code and your GitHub account. You can get started with GitHub Copilot for free here.

Installation

Install Lantern from the Visual Studio Code Marketplace or search for "Lantern" in the VS Code Extensions view.

Usage

1. Open a workspace in VS Code
2. Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P)
3. Run command: Lantern: Assign unique color
4. Your status bar will now display a unique color for this workspace

The color will automatically be applied whenever you open this workspace in the future.

Manual color selection

Want to choose a specific color? Use the Lantern: Assign color manually command to open a color picker and select your preferred color.

AI-powered color suggestions

Note: AI features requires GitHub Copilot to be enabled in VS Code and your GitHub account. You can get started with GitHub Copilot for free here.

Let AI help you find the perfect color for your workspace! Use the Lantern: Suggest color with AI command to get intelligent color recommendations.

The AI considers:

• Your optional inspiration or specific requirements (e.g., "calm and professional", "energetic", "matching my brand colors")
• Current workspace color (if any)
• All other workspace colors to avoid duplicates
• Project context from your README file
• VS Code design guidelines for optimal status bar colors

GitHub Copilot tools

Lantern contributes Language Model Tools that GitHub Copilot can use to interact with workspace colors:

• setLanternColor: Set workspace colors programmatically (workspace can be specified, default to current one)
• lanternContext: Get current and other workspace colors, along with current project context (extracted from README file)

Open the the GitHub Copilot chat window and select "Agent" mode to use these tools interactively. For example, you can try this prompt: Use tools to suggest a new color for my workspace.

Peacock sync

Want to use the Peacock extension for more advanced theming options while still enjoying Lantern's Philips Hue integration or AI suggestions? Enable Peacock synchronization mode:

1. Install Peacock: Install the Peacock extension from the marketplace
2. Enable Peacock sync: Run command: Lantern: Toggle Peacock sync
3. Set Peacock colors: Set colors using either Peacock or Lantern commands (the peacock.color setting will be used)

In this mode, Lantern disables its built-in theming and instead relies on the peacock.color workspace setting.

Note: Only valid HTML hex colors are supported for now, named colors will not work.

Quick toggle

Use Lantern: Toggle on/off to quickly disable/enable all Lantern functionality while preserving your color settings.

Philips Hue integration

Transform your physical workspace to match your digital one:

1. Enable integration: Run Lantern: Enable Philips Hue
2. Follow setup: Connect to your Philips Hue bridge and select lights
3. Automatic sync: Your selected lights will change color when switching between workspaces

Note: Philips Hue integration requires a Philips Hue bridge on your local network and compatible smart lights.

Additional info

Commands

Access all Lantern commands through the Command Palette or click the lantern icon in your status bar:

• Lantern: Toggle on/off - Enable/disable all Lantern functionality globally
• Lantern: Assign unique color - Generate a unique color for the current workspace
• Lantern: Assign color manually - Choose a specific color using the color picker
• Lantern: Suggest color with AI - Get AI-powered color recommendations based on project context
• Lantern: Reset workspace color - Remove color assignment for current workspace
• Lantern: Toggle Peacock mode - Enable/disable Peacock integration
• Lantern: Enable Philips Hue - Set up Philips Hue light synchronization
• Lantern: Disable Philips Hue - Turn off Philips Hue synchronization
• Lantern: Set Philips Hue intensity - Adjust brightness of your Hue lights (0-100)
• Lantern: Toggle minimal mode - Switch between full status bar and status bar item only colorization

Configuration

Lantern stores settings globally in your VS Code user settings:

{
  "lantern.enabled": true,
  "lantern.minimal": false,
  "lantern.peacockSync": false,
  "lantern.overrideDebuggingColors": false,
  "lantern.hueEnabled": false,
  "lantern.hueLightIds": [],
  "lantern.hueIntensity": 100,
  "lantern.hueDefaultColor": "#000000",
  "lantern.workspaceColor": {
    "/path/to/workspace": "#be0a0aff"
  }
}

For workspace-specific color configuration, you can also add this to your .vscode/settings.json:

{
  "lantern.color": "#be0a0aff"
}

Note: If both lantern.workspaceColor (global) and lantern.color (workspace-specific) are set, the workspace-specific setting takes priority.

Settings reference

Tip: Use #000000 as the default Hue color to turn lights off when no workspace color is assigned.

Limitations

Lantern uses the VS Code API to change the status bar background color through the workbench.colorCustomizations setting. This means the .vscode/settings.json file will be dynamically updated to set workspace-specific colors, as it's the only method available for setting individual workspace colors at the moment.

If you don't want to share your Lantern settings with others, you can add the .vscode/settings.json file to your .gitignore file.

Troubleshooting

Colors not appearing?

• Ensure lantern.enabled is set to true
• Check that you've assigned a color using Lantern: Assign random color or Lantern: Assign color manually
• Verify your VS Code theme supports status bar customization

AI color suggestions not working?

• Ensure GitHub Copilot is enabled and authenticated in VS Code
• Check that you have an active Copilot subscription
• Try the command again if the first attempt fails (AI services can occasionally be unavailable)

Philips Hue not working?

• Ensure your Hue bridge is connected to the same network as your computer
• Check that you've completed the bridge authentication process
• Verify the selected light IDs are valid and the lights are powered on

Need to reset colors?

Run Lantern: Reset workspace color to clear color settings for the current workspace, or use the quick toggle to turn off all functionality while preserving settings.

Need more customization options?

Check out the Peacock extension for more advanced workspace color management, this extension primarily focuses on minimalistic coloring and Philips Hue integration.

With Peacock mode, you can use Peacock's advanced theming while still enjoying Lantern's Hue integration and AI features.