Visual Studio Code (VSCode)

Overview

This topic explains how to use the LaunchDarkly VSCode extension to interact with feature flags from within Visual Studio Code (VSCode).

With the extension, you have the ability to:

• Use a set of @LaunchDarkly commands in GitHub Copilot to interact with your flags
• Display a tooltip with feature flag details when you hover over a feature flag key in your source code
• Autocomplete feature flag keys
• Open feature flags in LaunchDarkly (default keybinding: ctrl+alt+g/⌘+alt+g)
• View a list of feature flags and their settings in the Explorer view
• Flag actions: Toggle flags on or off, add flag targeting rules, update a flag's state, set default on and default off variations, and more
• Enable codelens for flags in your source code
• Click links to go directly into the LaunchDarkly UI

Prerequisites

To complete this procedure, you must have the following prerequisites:

• The VSCode extension from the Visual Studio Marketplace.
• A personal or service API access token. To learn more, read API access tokens.

Set up the VSCode extension

To set up the VSCode extension, you must complete the following steps:

1. Give your API access token the required permissions:

• You can create a custom role with appropriate permissions, then add the custom role to a personal or service access token, or
• you can add the built-in Writer role to your personal access token.

2. Configure the VSCode extension with the API access token.

Create a custom role and add it to an API access token

To give your API access token the required permissions, one option is to create a custom role and add that role to the API access token.

Add the built-in Writer role to your personal access token

To give your API access token the required permissions, another option is to add the built-in Writer role to your access token.

Configure the VSCode extension

After you install the LaunchDarkly extension, VSCode prompts you to sign in to your LaunchDarkly account:

1. Select the LaunchDarkly instance. Most members should select Commercial, but FedRAMP members should select Federal.
2. Provide an access token for your LaunchDarkly account. This access token must have sufficient permission as described above.

After you complete step 2, continue configuring the extension. If the configuration menu does not appear, run the command: LaunchDarkly: Configure settings.

3. Select your corresponding LaunchDarkly project.
4. Select your corresponding LaunchDarkly environment.
5. Select whether you want the extension to work with all VSCode workspaces or just the current workspace.

You can reconfigure the extension at any time by running the "LaunchDarkly: Configure settings" command from the command palette (ctrl+shift+p/⌘+shift+p).

LaunchDarkly extension for GitHub Copilot

If you use GitHub Copilot and install the LaunchDarkly VSCode extension, you can use a set of @LaunchDarkly commands in GitHub Copilot to interact with your flags.

To enable @LaunchDarkly commands in GitHub Copilot, confirm that you are using the latest version of VSCode and that you are using the GitHub Copilot Chat extension for VSCode.

In your GitHub Copilot prompt, you can use the following @LaunchDarkly commands:

Flag Actions command

Use the LaunchDarkly: Flag Actions command to bring up a menu of options that you can choose from to interact with your feature flags.

Dashboard Shortcuts command

Use the LaunchDarkly: Dashboard Shortcuts command to open a list of your shortcuts for the configured project.

Code references in the VSCode extension

The LaunchDarkly VSCode extension supports code references. If you use code references, configuring aliases makes the informational hover available wherever an alias appears in your code. Aliases appear under the flag entry in the Explorer view. To learn more, read Find flag aliases.

Flag searches across the workspace also include flag references.

Quick targeting in the VSCode extension

The LaunchDarkly VSCode extension supports quick targeting. This is useful if you use a consistent targeting context key or rule when coding with feature flags.

It will look for a yaml file, rules.yaml, located in the .launchdarkly subdirectory of your home directory. The full path is: ~/.launchdarkly/rules.yaml.

Here's an example:

Targets

You can define targets with the following attributes:

• Name: A descriptive name for the target.
• ContextKind (Optional): The kind of context for account-related targeting, for example, account. If not provided, defaults to user.
• Values: An array of specific keys or identifiers for targeting.

Rules

Rules are conditions set for targeting. Each rule has:

• Name: A descriptive name for the rule.
• Clauses: Conditions under which this rule applies. Each clause can specify:
  • ContextKind: The context kind, such as user, to which the clause applies.
  • Attribute: The specific attribute within the context to evaluate, such as organization.
  • Operation (op): Defines the operation to apply for the clause's condition. Supported operations include: in, endsWith, startsWith, matches, contains, lessThan, semVerEqual, semVerLessThan, semVerGreaterThan, before, and after.
  • Negate: A boolean indicating if the condition should be inverted. If true, the rule applies when the condition is not met.
  • Values: An array of values to compare the attribute against based on the operation.

Telemetry

LaunchDarkly collects information about your use of this extension in accordance with the LaunchDarkly privacy policy.

You can opt out at any time in the extension settings by navigating to LaunchDarkly > Enable Telemetry and unchecking the box. We also respect the VSCode Telemetry setting.