My VSCode setup

March 15, 2024

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We spend most of our time writing or looking at code, so it's crucial to have an environment where you thrive.

Screenshot of my Visual Studio Code setup

My Visual Studio Code setup in a Next.js project

Plugins

Themes

Better default settings

These settings really help VSCode feel lighter and minimal.

settings.json

{
  // Better defaults
  "editor.copyWithSyntaxHighlighting": false,
  "editor.lightbulb.enabled": "off",
  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
  "editor.smoothScrolling": true,
  "editor.cursorSmoothCaretAnimation": "on", // most asked
  "editor.scrollbar.horizontal": "hidden",
  "editor.wordWrap": "on",
  "editor.wrappingStrategy": "advanced",
  "editor.tabSize": 2,
  "diffEditor.ignoreTrimWhitespace": false,
  "files.insertFinalNewline": true,
  "explorer.confirmDelete": false,
  "workbench.sideBar.location": "right",
  "git.enableCommitSigning": true, // always sign your commits
  
  // Reduced noise 
  "editor.hover.enabled": true,
  "workbench.tips.enabled": false,
  "git.decorations.enabled": false,
  "explorer.decorations.colors": true,
  "explorer.decorations.badges": false,
  "editor.renderLineHighlight": "none",
  "editor.occurrencesHighlight": "off",
  "editor.gotoLocation.multipleReferences": "goto",
  "editor.gotoLocation.multipleDefinitions": "goto",
  "editor.gotoLocation.multipleDeclarations": "goto",
  "editor.gotoLocation.multipleImplementations": "goto",
  "editor.gotoLocation.multipleTypeDefinitions": "goto",

  // Improved search
  "search.useIgnoreFiles": false,
  "search.exclude": {
    "**/node_modules": true,
    "**/dist": true,
    "**debug": true,
    "**/package-lock.json": true,
    "**/.next": true,
    "**/data": true,
  },

  // Code
  "editor.fontSize": 13,
  "editor.lineHeight": 1.7,
  "editor.fontFamily": "JetBrains Mono",
  "editor.fontLigatures": true,

  // Suggestions
  "editor.suggestFontSize": 12,
  "editor.suggestLineHeight": 25,
  
  // Terminal
  "terminal.integrated.lineHeight": 1.3,
  "terminal.integrated.fontSize": 13,
  
  // ... other settings
}

Modify the UI with APC

To achieve a native Apple look and feel, I use this extension to modify the UI components of VSCode.

settings.json

{
  // ... other settings
  "window.titleBarStyle": "native",
  "apc.electron": {
    "titleBarStyle": "hiddenInset",
    "titleBarOverlay": {
      "color": "#292929",
      "symbolColor": "#fff"
    },
    "trafficLightPosition": {
      "x": 8,
      "y": 9
    },
  },
  "apc.header": {
    "height": 34
  },
  "apc.parts.font.family": {
    "sidebar": "JetBrains Mono"
  },
}

Errors

I actually enjoy seeing errors now, lol.

settings.json

{
  // ... other settings
  "errorLens.enabled": true,
  "errorLens.padding": "0",
  "errorLens.gutterIconsEnabled": true,
  "errorLens.removeLinebreaks": false,
  "errorLens.scrollbarHackEnabled": true,
  "errorLens.fontWeight": "600",
  "errorLens.fontFamily": "JetBrains Mono",
}
Example error in VSCode

Error Lens in action

Theme

I change my theme so frequently that by the time you read this, I might have updated it again. As of now, I'm using Fleet Dark and Kaolin Light with minor tweaks.

settings.json

{
  // ... other settings
  "workbench.colorCustomizations": {
    "[Fleet*]": { 
      "statusBar.border": "#292929",
      "tab.inactiveBackground": "#292929",
      "editorGroupHeader.border": "#292929",
      "editorGroupHeader.tabsBackground": "#292929",
      "editorLineNumber.foreground": "#5D5D5D",
      "tab.inactiveForeground": "#D1D1D1",
      "tab.activeForeground": "#fff",
      "searchEditor.textInputBorder": "#fff",
      "tab.activeBorderTop": "#fff",
      // inlay hints
      "editorInlayHint.foreground": "#5D5D5D",
      "editorInlayHint.background": "#FFFFFF00",
      // zsh auto suggestions
      "terminal.ansiBrightBlack": "#5D5D5D"
    },
    "[Kaolin*]": { 
      "statusBar.background": "#5b3e31",
      "terminal.ansiBrightMagenta": "#956a4e",
      "terminal.ansiBrightCyan": "#4c6444",
      // inlay hints
      "editorInlayHint.background": "#FFFFFF00",
      // zsh auto suggestions
      "terminal.ansiBrightBlack": "#A0A0A0",
    }
  },
}

Note the 

*
which is a glob pattern to match all themes with the same name. If you only want to match one of the themes, specify the exact theme name instead.

Toggle ignored files in explorer

I use a keyboard shortcut to toggle visibility of .gitignore'd files in the explorer.

Showcasing hide and show .gitignored files

Show and hide files from .gitignore

settings.json

{
  // ... other settings
  "settings.cycle": [
    {
      "id": "explorer.excludeGitIgnore",
      "values": [
        {
          "explorer.excludeGitIgnore": true
        },
        {
          "explorer.excludeGitIgnore": false
        }
      ]
    },
  ],
}

To achieve this, add a keyboard shortcut to toggle this setting. The command should be 

settings.cycle.explorer.excludeGitIgnore
.

I've assigned 

⌘ + SHIFT + .
to simulate toggling hidden files on Finder.

That's it for now, I'll keep updating this document as my setup changes.

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