TFVC Support
A Team Foundation Version Control (TFVC) source control provider for Visual Studio Code. It brings TFVC pending changes, check-in, history, branch merging, and conflict resolution into VS Code's native Source Control UI — no need to shell out to tf.exe by hand or keep Visual Studio open just to check in.
Works with both server workspaces and local workspaces, against Azure DevOps Server, Azure DevOps Services, and older Team Foundation Server installations.
Features
- Pending changes in the native Source Control view — include/exclude individual files or all at once, discard changes, and check in with a commit message.
- Candidate change detection (local workspaces) — surfaces local edits that haven't been explicitly
tf edit-ed yet, alongside regular pending changes.
- Auto checkout on edit (server workspaces) — automatically checks out a read-only tracked file the moment you save it, so you don't hit a read-only error mid-edit.
- Diff viewer — compare any pending change against the latest server version using VS Code's built-in diff editor.
- Source Control Explorer — browse the full server folder/branch tree from the activity bar, independent of what's mapped locally.
- History — view changeset history for the active file or any item in the explorer, with a changeset details view (comment, owner, date, and changed items).
- Branch merge & conflict resolution — start a merge between branches from the Source Control Explorer and resolve conflicts from a dedicated Merge Conflicts view.
- Auto-discovery of
tf.exe — locates the TF command-line client via vswhere.exe and PATH, or you can point at it explicitly.
Requirements
- Windows, with the TF command-line client (
tf.exe) available. This ships with Visual Studio's Team Explorer/TFVC individual component — install it via the Visual Studio Installer if tf.exe isn't already on your machine.
- A folder open in VS Code that's already mapped to a TFVC workspace (created via Visual Studio or
tf workfold).
Getting Started
- Install the extension and open a folder that's part of a TFVC workspace mapping.
- The extension locates
tf.exe automatically. If it can't find it, set tfvc.location to the full path (see Configuration).
- The TFVC icon appears in the Source Control view, and a TFVC entry appears in the activity bar with the Source Control Explorer and Merge Conflicts views.
Usage
Check in changes
Edit tracked files as usual — edits are picked up automatically. Use the Source Control view to include/exclude changes, write a comment, and check in.
Browse the server tree
Open the TFVC activity bar view to browse the full server folder/branch structure, independent of your local mapping.
View history
Right-click a tracked file and choose TFVC: View History, or run it from the Command Palette on the active file. Select a changeset to see its full details.
Merge and resolve conflicts
Right-click a branch in the Source Control Explorer and choose TFVC: Merge... to merge from a source branch into your local one. Any conflicts land in the Merge Conflicts view for resolution.
Diff a pending change
Click a pending change to open a diff against the latest server version.
Configuration
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
tfvc.enabled |
true |
Enable the TFVC source control provider. |
tfvc.location |
"" |
Absolute path to tf.exe. When empty, it's located via vswhere.exe and then PATH. |
tfvc.autoRefresh |
true |
Automatically refresh pending changes when files change on disk. |
tfvc.showCandidateChanges |
true |
Detect and show local edits that haven't been explicitly pended yet (local workspaces only). |
tfvc.refreshDebounce |
1500 |
Milliseconds to wait after file activity before refreshing pending changes. |
tfvc.autoCheckoutOnEdit |
"ask" |
Server workspaces only: "ask", "always", or "never" — whether to auto check out a read-only tracked file on save. |
Known Limitations
- Requires Windows and a local
tf.exe install — there is no cross-platform or REST-API-only mode.
- Workspaces are untrusted-unsupported: the extension shells out to
tf.exe, so it only activates in trusted workspaces.
License
MIT
