VS Code Plugin for Macro Deck

Control Visual Studio Code from Macro Deck 3: run any editor command or workspace task from a button, and show the active file, Git branch, problem counts and debug state on your deck.

How it works

VS Code has no API that another process can call, so the integration has two halves:

Macro Deck ──protocol──▶ DodecaDev.VsCode (macro-deck-plugin/) └─ BridgeServer: WebSocket on 127.0.0.1:51741/macro-deck-bridge ▲ ▲ Macro Deck Bridge extension, one per VS Code window (vscode-extension/)

The repository holds both, side by side:

Folder What Built with macro-deck-plugin/ The Macro Deck plugin (.NET 10): solution, src/, tests/ dotnet, macrodeck-plugin vscode-extension/ The Macro Deck Bridge extension (TypeScript) npm, vsce .github/workflows/ release.yml publishes the plugin to the Macro Deck Store; vscode-extension.yml builds the .vsix and attaches it to the same release GitHub Actions

macro-deck-plugin/src/DodecaDev.VsCode: the Macro Deck plugin. It hosts a small loopback WebSocket hub and sends actions to the window each button targets (see Which window a button controls). vscode-extension/: the companion VS Code extension. Every window connects to the hub, pushes its state (debounced), forwards events, and runs the commands and tasks it is asked to. extensionKind: ["ui"] keeps it on the machine Macro Deck runs on, even in WSL, SSH or container windows.

Pairing. The extension generates a token (shared by all windows of a VS Code profile, kept in VS Code's secret storage). The user copies it with Macro Deck: Copy Pairing Token and pastes it into the plugin's setup. Neither side ever sends the token: each proves it holds it with an HMAC over the other's nonce (macro-deck-plugin/src/DodecaDev.VsCode/Bridge/BridgeAuth.cs, vscode-extension/src/auth.ts), the plugin first, so a window never obeys a process that merely took the port. Connections with an Origin header (browsers) are refused.

What it offers

Kind Id Notes Action run-command Any command id, with optional JSON arguments; dropdown lists the window's commands Action run-task Any task from the workspace (tasks.json, npm scripts, ...) Action select-window Pin or unpin the current window, switch to the next one, or pin a workspace. Its Macro Deck button shows Pinned or Following; in VS Code, the pinned window's status bar item shows a pin Variables vscodeworkspace, vscodeactivefile, vscodelanguage, vscodegitbranch, vscodeerrors, vscodewarnings, vscodeunsavedfiles, vscodedebugging About the default window, the one buttons set to Active window control Variables vscodeconnected, vscodewindowcount, vscodetargetpinned, vscodebridgestatus About the bridge: whether a window is connected, how many, whether one is pinned, and whether the plugin is listening Events file-saved, debug-started, debug-stopped, task-finished From any window Issue port-in-use Opens setup to choose another port

Which window a button controls

Every action has an optional Window field. In order:

A workspace chosen on the button (picked from the open windows, or typed by name): that project, wherever you are working. All windows sends to every window. The pinned window, when one is pinned: with Macro Deck: Control This Window, a click on the status bar item, or the Select VS Code window action. Pins remember the workspace, so they survive a window reload, and stay dormant while that workspace is closed. The focused window, else the one used most recently.

The status bar marks the default window, the one buttons set to Active window control: a pin icon when it is pinned, a plain plug when it follows focus, and a dimmed plug in every other window (whose tooltip names the default). Buttons bound to a workspace or to All windows ignore the default.

Building and testing both halves

From the repository root:

(cd macro-deck-plugin && dotnet build && dotnet test) # plugin (cd vscode-extension && npm install && npm test) # extension (Node) (cd macro-deck-plugin && dotnet test --filter TestCategory=Interop) # real TS client against the real C# server (cd vscode-extension && npx vsce package --out ../artifacts/) # .vsix to install in VS Code (cd macro-deck-plugin/src/DodecaDev.VsCode && macrodeck-plugin build --output ../../../artifacts) # .macroDeckPlugin

The interop test needs npm test to have run once, so vscode-extension/out/ exists.

The two halves share a wire protocol (ProtocolVersion / PROTOCOLVERSION); change both together, and keep the HMAC test vector in BridgeAuthTests and vscode-extension/test/bridge.test.js in step.

Releasing

Publishing a GitHub release (tag v1.2.3) does both halves at once: the plugin goes to the Creator Portal for review, and the matching macro-deck-bridge-1.2.3.vsix is attached to the release.

Icon

macro-deck-plugin/src/DodecaDev.VsCode/Assets/icon.svg is the source. vscode-extension/images/icon.png is a 256 px render of it, because the VS Code Marketplace rejects SVG icons: re-render it when the SVG changes. The icon is a macro pad whose keys are what the plugin does, deliberately without the VS Code or Macro Deck logos, which are their owners' trademarks.

License

MIT, see LICENSE.