Regex Anchor
Create cross-file workspace anchor links from any regex pattern.
⚠️ Warning: This extension is currently in experimental stage. The API and configuration format may change without notice in future versions.
Features
- Allows text in files to function as links to corresponding locations in other files, based on patterns defined in
settings.json.
- Link destinations are automatically indexed for easy navigation.
- Hover over links to see preview of destination content.
- Display inline preview directly in the editor alongside the link.
How to Use
Add a setting like the following to your settings.json:
{
"regexAnchor.rules": [
{
"from": [
{
"includes": "doc/*.md",
"patterns": "([0-9a-f]{8}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{12})"
}
],
"to": [
{
"includes": "src/*.yaml",
"patterns": "id: ([0-9a-f]{8}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{12})",
"preview": {
"linesBefore": 0,
"linesAfter": 3,
"hover": true,
"editor": "name: (.*?)$"
}
}
]
}
]
}
In the example above, UUID-formatted text in doc/*.md will become a link to the corresponding id: <uuid> line in src/*.yaml files.
Ctrl+click on the link to navigate to the corresponding line in the destination file.
Hovering over the link will show a preview of the destination (when hover is true).
If editor regex pattern is specified, matching content will be displayed inline next to the link.
Configuration Options
Preview Settings
linesBefore: Number of lines to show before the target line (default: 2)linesAfter: Number of lines to show after the target line (default: 2)hover: Whether to enable hover preview (default: true)editor: Regex pattern to extract specific content for inline display in editor (optional)
Example with inline display
When editor is set to "name: (.*?)$", it will extract the name value from YAML files and display it inline:
# src/users.yaml
id: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000
name: John Doe
email: john@example.com
In your markdown file, the UUID will appear with inline text: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 → John Doe
Example
- Clicking a UUID like
550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 in a doc/sample.md file
- Will navigate to the line
id: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 in src/config.yaml.
Commands
Regex Anchor: Refresh Link Index: Manually refreshes the link index.
- Press F5 to open a new VS Code window and run the extension in debug mode.
- Run
npm run package to build the VSIX package.
| |
