Tally for VS Code

Lint, format, and auto-fix Dockerfiles and Containerfiles in VS Code using tally: a BuildKit-native linter + formatter with safe auto-fixes (and optional AI-powered fixes).

What you get

Inline diagnostics powered by BuildKit checks + Hadolint-compatible rules + tally's own modernization rules.
Production-grade: 92% code coverage and 2,900+ Go tests executed in CI.
Quick Fixes and a one-shot Fix All command to apply auto-fixable improvements.
Formatter support (format on save) using the same engine as tally lint --fix.
Semantic highlighting for Dockerfile structure and embedded shell snippets via the tally LSP server.
Config-aware: respects .tally.toml / tally.toml discovery in your repo.
No daemon: runs locally without Docker Desktop or a Docker daemon.
Zero setup: Marketplace builds bundle the tally binary for your platform (you can also bring your own).

Quick start

Install the extension (wharflab.tally).
Open a Dockerfile or Containerfile.
Run Tally: Fix all auto-fixable issues to apply safe fixes.
Optional: run Tally: Configure as default formatter for Dockerfile to enable format on save.

Commands

Tally: Fix all auto-fixable issues (tally.applyAllFixes): applies safe fixes. Set tally.fixUnsafe=true to also apply unsafe fixes.
Tally: Configure as default formatter for Dockerfile (tally.configureDefaultFormatterForDockerfile): writes workspace/user settings for Dockerfile formatting on save.
Tally: Restart server (tally.restartServer)
Tally: Show output (tally.showOutput)
Tally: Show LSP trace (tally.showLspTrace)

Settings

tally.enable: enable/disable the language server.
tally.path: explicit paths to a tally executable (first existing path wins).
tally.importStrategy: where to resolve tally from (fromEnvironment or useBundled).
tally.configuration: inline configuration override (merges with .tally.toml / tally.toml).
tally.configurationPreference: how to merge editor settings with filesystem config (editorFirst, filesystemFirst, editorOnly).
tally.fixUnsafe: allow "Fix all" to apply unsafe fixes (includes AI AutoFix, if configured).
tally.trace.server: LSP protocol trace level (off, messages, verbose).

The extension enables editor.semanticHighlighting.enabled by default for the dockerfile language so the server-provided semantic tokens are shown consistently across themes.

Python projects

If you install tally into a Python virtual environment (via pip install tally), the extension can automatically discover the binary from the active environment. For the best experience, install the Python Environments extension by Microsoft. When installed, tally will be resolved from whichever environment you have selected for the current workspace, including custom-named venvs and conda environments.

Without the Python Environments extension, the extension falls back to checking the hardcoded .venv/ and venv/ directories in each workspace folder.

Recommended formatter setup (manual)

{
  "[dockerfile]": {
    "editor.defaultFormatter": "wharflab.tally",
    "editor.formatOnSave": true,
    "editor.formatOnSaveMode": "file",
    "editor.codeActionsOnSave": {
      "source.fixAll.tally": "explicit"
    }
  }
}

Learn more

Rules reference: https://github.com/wharflab/tally/blob/main/RULES.md
Configuration guide: https://github.com/wharflab/tally/blob/main/docs/guide/configuration.md
AI AutoFix (ACP): https://github.com/wharflab/tally/blob/main/docs/guide/ai-autofix-acp.md

Tally

WharfLab