How to Contribute
There are many ways to contribute to the Code project: logging bugs, submitting pull requests, reporting issues, and creating suggestions.
After cloning and building the repo, check out the issues list. Issues labeled effort easy are good candidates to pick up if you are in the code for the first time.
If you want to understand how Code works or want to debug an issue, you'll want to get the source, build it, and run the tool locally.
You'll need Node.JS, at least v5.10.
Code includes node module dependencies that require native compilation. To ensure the compilation is picking up the right version of header files from the Electron Shell, we have our own script to run the installation via npm.
For native compilation, you will need Python (version v2.7 recommended, v3.x.x is not supported), as well as a C/C++ compiler tool chain.
Windows
- In addition to Python v2.7, make sure you have a PYTHON environment variable set to
drive:\path\to\python.exe, not to a folder - Visual Studio 2013 for Windows Desktop or Visual Studio 2015, make sure to select the option to install all C++ tools and the Windows SDK
OS X
- Command line developer tools
- Python should be installed already
-
XCode and the Command Line Tools (XCode -> Preferences -> Downloads), which will install
gccand the related toolchain containingmake
Linux
- Python v2.7
make- A proper C/C++11 compiler tool chain, for example GCC
-
native-keymap needs
libx11-dev, run:sudo apt-get install libx11-dev - Building deb and rpm packages requires
fakeroot, run:sudo apt-get install fakeroot
After you have these tools installed, run the following commands to check out Code and install dependencies:
OS X
git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vscode
cd vscode
./scripts/npm.sh installWindows
git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vscode
cd vscode
scripts\npm installLinux
git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vscode
cd vscode
./scripts/npm.sh install --arch=x64
# for 32bit Linux
#./scripts/npm.sh install --arch=ia32Note: For more information on how to install NPM modules globally on UNIX systems without resorting to sudo, refer to this guide .
From a terminal, where you have cloned the vscode repository, execute the following command to run the TypeScript incremental builder:
npm run watchIt will do an initial full build and then watch for file changes, compiling those changes incrementally, enabling a fast, iterative coding experience.
Tip! Linux users may hit a ENOSPC error when running npm run watch, to get around this follow instructions in the Linux FAQ.
Tip! Open VS Code on the folder where you have cloned the vscode repository and press CMD+SHIFT+B (CTRL+SHIFT+B on Windows, Linux) to start the builder. To view the build output open the Output stream by pressing CMD+SHIFT+U.
Errors and warnings will show in the console while developing Code. If you use VS Code to develop Code, errors and warnings are shown in the status bar at the bottom left of the editor. You can view the error list using View | Errors and Warnings or pressing CMD+P and then !.
Tip! You don't need to stop and restart the development version of Code after each change. You can just execute Reload Window from the command palette. We like to assign the keyboard shortcut CMD+R (CTRL+R on Windows, Linux) to this command.
To test the changes you launch a development version of VS Code on the workspace vscode, which you are currently editing.
OS X and Linux
./scripts/code.shWindows
.\scripts\code.batYou can identify the development version of Code by the Electron icon in the Dock or Taskbar.
Tip! If you receive an error stating that the app is not a valid Electron app, it probably means you didn't run npm run watch first.
Code has a multi-process architecture and your code is executed in different processes.
The render process runs the UI code inside the Shell window. To debug code running in the render you can either use VS Code or the Chrome Developer Tools.
- Install the Debugger for Chrome extension. This extension will let you attach to and debug client side code running in Chrome.
- Launch the development version of Code with the following command line option:
OSX and Linux
./scripts/code.sh --remote-debugging-port=9222Windows
scripts\code --remote-debugging-port=9222- Choose the
Attach to VSCodelaunch configuration from the launch dropdown in the Debug viewlet and pressF5.
- Run the
Developer: Toggle Developer Toolscommand from the Command Palette in your development instance of Code to launch the Chrome tools. - It's also possible to debug the released versions of Code, since the sources link to sourcemaps hosted online.
The extension host process runs code implemented by a plugin. To debug extensions (including those packaged with Code) which run in the extension host process, you can use VS Code itself. Switch to the Debug viewlet, choose the Attach to Extension Host configuration, and press F5.
Press CMD+SHIFT+T (CTRL+SHIFT+T on Windows) to start the unit tests or run the tests directly from a terminal by running ./scripts/test.sh from the vscode folder (scripts\test on Windows). The test README has complete details on how to run and debug tests, as well as how to produce coverage reports.
We use tslint for linting our sources. You can run tslint across the sources by calling gulp tslint from a terminal or command prompt. You can also run gulp tslint as a Code task by pressing CMD+P (CTRL+P on Windows) and entering task tslint. Warnings from tslint show up in the Errors and Warnings quick box and you can navigate to them from inside Code.
To lint the source as you make changes you can install the tslint extension.
Even if you have push rights on the Microsoft/vscode repository, you should create a personal fork and create feature branches there when you need them. This keeps the main repository clean and your personal workflow cruft out of sight.
Before we can accept a pull request from you, you'll need to sign a Contributor License Agreement (CLA). It is an automated process and you only need to do it once. The project README.md details how to clone, build, run, debug and test Code. To enable us to quickly review and accept your pull requests, always create one pull request per issue. Never merge multiple requests in one. Be sure to follow our Coding Guidelines and keep code changes as small as possible. Avoid pure formatting changes to code that has not been modified otherwise. And, if possible, cover your changes with tests.
Check out the issues list. Issues labeled effort easy are good candidates to pick up if you are in the code for the first time.
We're also interested in your feedback for the future of Code. You can submit a suggestion or feature request through the issue tracker. To make this process more effective, we're asking that these include more information to help define them more clearly.
In order to keep the conversation clear and transparent, please limit discussion to English and keep things on topic with the issue. Be considerate to others and try to be courteous and professional at all times.