Built-in Commands

This document lists a subset of Visual Studio Code commands that you might use with vscode.commands.executeCommand API.

Read the Commands Guide for how to use the commands API.

The following is a sample of how to open a new folder in VS Code:

  1. let uri = Uri.file('/some/path/to/folder');
  2. let success = await commands.executeCommand('vscode.openFolder', uri);

Commands

vscode.executeWorkspaceSymbolProvider - Execute all workspace symbol providers.

  • query - Search string
  • (returns) - A promise that resolves to an array of SymbolInformation and DocumentSymbol instances.

vscode.executeDefinitionProvider - Execute all definition providers.

  • uri - Uri of a text document
  • position - Position of a symbol
  • (returns) - A promise that resolves to an array of Location or LocationLink instances.

vscode.executeDeclarationProvider - Execute all declaration providers.

  • uri - Uri of a text document
  • position - Position of a symbol
  • (returns) - A promise that resolves to an array of Location or LocationLink instances.

vscode.executeTypeDefinitionProvider - Execute all type definition providers.

  • uri - Uri of a text document
  • position - Position of a symbol
  • (returns) - A promise that resolves to an array of Location or LocationLink instances.

vscode.executeImplementationProvider - Execute all implementation providers.

  • uri - Uri of a text document
  • position - Position of a symbol
  • (returns) - A promise that resolves to an array of Location or LocationLink instances.

vscode.executeHoverProvider - Execute all hover providers.

  • uri - Uri of a text document
  • position - Position of a symbol
  • (returns) - A promise that resolves to an array of Hover instances.

vscode.executeDocumentHighlights - Execute document highlight provider.

  • uri - Uri of a text document
  • position - Position in a text document
  • (returns) - A promise that resolves to an array of DocumentHighlight instances.

vscode.executeReferenceProvider - Execute reference provider.

  • uri - Uri of a text document
  • position - Position in a text document
  • (returns) - A promise that resolves to an array of Location instances.

vscode.executeDocumentRenameProvider - Execute rename provider.

  • uri - Uri of a text document
  • position - Position in a text document
  • newName - The new symbol name
  • (returns) - A promise that resolves to a WorkspaceEdit.

vscode.executeSignatureHelpProvider - Execute signature help provider.

  • uri - Uri of a text document
  • position - Position in a text document
  • triggerCharacter - (optional) Trigger signature help when the user types the character, like , or (
  • (returns) - A promise that resolves to SignatureHelp.

vscode.executeDocumentSymbolProvider - Execute document symbol provider.

  • uri - Uri of a text document
  • (returns) - A promise that resolves to an array of SymbolInformation and DocumentSymbol instances.

vscode.executeCompletionItemProvider - Execute completion item provider.

  • uri - Uri of a text document
  • position - Position in a text document
  • triggerCharacter - (optional) Trigger completion when the user types the character, like , or (
  • itemResolveCount - (optional) Number of completions to resolve (too large numbers slow down completions)
  • (returns) - A promise that resolves to a CompletionList instance.

vscode.executeCodeActionProvider - Execute code action provider.

  • uri - Uri of a text document
  • range - Range in a text document
  • (returns) - A promise that resolves to an array of Command instances.

vscode.executeCodeLensProvider - Execute CodeLens provider.

  • uri - Uri of a text document
  • itemResolveCount - (optional) Number of lenses that should be resolved and returned. Will only return resolved lenses, will impact performance)
  • (returns) - A promise that resolves to an array of CodeLens instances.

vscode.executeFormatDocumentProvider - Execute document format provider.

  • uri - Uri of a text document
  • options - Formatting options
  • (returns) - A promise that resolves to an array of TextEdits.

vscode.executeFormatRangeProvider - Execute range format provider.

  • uri - Uri of a text document
  • range - Range in a text document
  • options - Formatting options
  • (returns) - A promise that resolves to an array of TextEdits.

vscode.executeFormatOnTypeProvider - Execute document format provider.

  • uri - Uri of a text document
  • position - Position in a text document
  • ch - Character that got typed
  • options - Formatting options
  • (returns) - A promise that resolves to an array of TextEdits.

vscode.executeLinkProvider - Execute document link provider.

  • uri - Uri of a text document
  • (returns) - A promise that resolves to an array of DocumentLink instances.

vscode.executeDocumentColorProvider - Execute document color provider.

  • uri - Uri of a text document
  • (returns) - A promise that resolves to an array of ColorInformation objects.

vscode.executeColorPresentationProvider - Execute color presentation provider.

  • color - The color to show and insert
  • context - Context object with uri and range
  • (returns) - A promise that resolves to an array of ColorPresentation objects.

vscode.openFolder - Open a folder or workspace in the current window or new window depending on the newWindow argument.

  • uri - (optional) Uri of the folder or workspace file to open. If not provided, a native dialog will ask the user for the folder
  • newWindow - (optional) Whether to open the folder/workspace in a new window or the same. Defaults to opening in the same window.

Note that opening in the same window will shutdown the current extension host process and start a new one on the given folder/workspace unless the newWindow parameter is set to true.

vscode.diff - Opens the provided resources in the diff editor to compare their contents.

  • left - Left-hand side resource of the diff editor
  • right - Right-hand side resource of the diff editor
  • title - (optional) Human readable title for the diff editor
  • options - (optional) Editor options, see vscode.TextDocumentShowOptions

vscode.open - Opens the provided resource in the editor.

  • resource - Resource to open
  • columnOrOptions - (optional) Either the column in which to open or editor options, see vscode.TextDocumentShowOptions

Can be a text or binary file, or a http(s) url. If you need more control over the options for opening a text file, use vscode.window.showTextDocument instead.

vscode.removeFromRecentlyOpened - Removes an entry with the given path from the recently opened list.

  • path - Path to remove from recently opened.

vscode.setEditorLayout - Sets the editor layout.

  • layout - The editor layout to set.

The layout is described as object with an initial (optional) orientation (0 = horizontal, 1 = vertical) and an array of editor groups within. Each editor group can have a size and another array of editor groups that will be laid out orthogonal to the orientation. If editor group sizes are provided, their sum must be 1 to be applied per row or column. Example for a 2x2 grid: { orientation: 0, groups: [{ groups: [{}, {}], size: 0.5 }, { groups: [{}, {}], size: 0.5 }] }

cursorMove - Move cursor to a logical position in the view

  • Cursor move argument object

    Property-value pairs that can be passed through this argument:

    • ‘to’: A mandatory logical position value providing where to move the cursor.

      1. 'left', 'right', 'up', 'down'
      2. 'wrappedLineStart', 'wrappedLineEnd', 'wrappedLineColumnCenter'
      3. 'wrappedLineFirstNonWhitespaceCharacter', 'wrappedLineLastNonWhitespaceCharacter'
      4. 'viewPortTop', 'viewPortCenter', 'viewPortBottom', 'viewPortIfOutside'

    • ‘by’: Unit to move. Default is computed based on ‘to’ value.

      1. 'line', 'wrappedLine', 'character', 'halfLine'

    • ‘value’: Number of units to move. Default is ‘1’.

    • ‘select’: If ‘true’ makes the selection. Default is ‘false’.

editorScroll - Scroll editor in the given direction

  • Editor scroll argument object

    Property-value pairs that can be passed through this argument:

    • ‘to’: A mandatory direction value.

      1. 'up', 'down'

    • ‘by’: Unit to move. Default is computed based on ‘to’ value.

      1. 'line', 'wrappedLine', 'page', 'halfPage'

    • ‘value’: Number of units to move. Default is ‘1’.

    • ‘revealCursor’: If ‘true’ reveals the cursor if it is outside view port.

revealLine - Reveal the given line at the given logical position

  • Reveal line argument object

    Property-value pairs that can be passed through this argument:

    • ‘lineNumber’: A mandatory line number value.

    • ‘at’: Logical position at which line has to be revealed .

      1. 'top', 'center', 'bottom'

editor.unfold - Unfold the content in the editor

  • Unfold editor argument

    Property-value pairs that can be passed through this argument:

    • ‘levels’: Number of levels to unfold. If not set, defaults to 1.
    • ‘direction’: If ‘up’, unfold given number of levels up otherwise unfolds down.
    • ‘selectionLines’: The start lines (0-based) of the editor selections to apply the unfold action to. If not set, the active selection(s) will be used.

editor.fold - Fold the content in the editor

  • Fold editor argument

    Property-value pairs that can be passed through this argument:

    • ‘levels’: Number of levels to fold. Defaults to 1.
    • ‘direction’: If ‘up’, folds given number of levels up otherwise folds down.
    • ‘selectionLines’: The start lines (0-based) of the editor selections to apply the fold action to. If not set, the active selection(s) will be used.

editor.action.showReferences - Show references at a position in a file

  • uri - The text document in which to show references
  • position - The position at which to show
  • locations - An array of locations.

moveActiveEditor - Move the active editor by tabs or groups

  • Active editor move argument

    Argument Properties:

    • ‘to’: String value providing where to move.
    • ‘by’: String value providing the unit for move (by tab or by group).
    • ‘value’: Number value providing how many positions or an absolute position to move.

Simple commands

Simple commands that do not require parameters can be found in the Keyboard Shortcuts list in the default keybindings.json file. The unbound commands are listed in a comment block at the bottom of the file.

To review keybindings.json:

Windows, Linux: File > Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts > keybindings.json link

macOS: Code > Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts > keybindings.json link