Appendix
This is additional information for Visual Studio Code tasks.
Schema for tasks.json
The following interfaces define the basic schema of the tasks.json file.
Note: Some task options are contributed by VS Code extensions. You can use
tasks.jsonIntelliSense to find a complete list, using the Trigger Suggestions command (⌃Space (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Space)).
interface TaskConfiguration extends BaseTaskConfiguration {
/**
* The configuration's version number
*/
version: '2.0.0';
/**
* Windows specific task configuration
*/
windows?: BaseTaskConfiguration;
/**
* macOS specific task configuration
*/
osx?: BaseTaskConfiguration;
/**
* Linux specific task configuration
*/
linux?: BaseTaskConfiguration;
}
interface BaseTaskConfiguration {
/**
* The type of a custom task. Tasks of type "shell" are executed
* inside a shell (e.g. bash, cmd, powershell, ...)
*/
type: 'shell' | 'process';
/**
* The command to be executed. Can be an external program or a shell
* command.
*/
command: string;
/**
* Specifies whether a global command is a background task.
*/
isBackground?: boolean;
/**
* The command options used when the command is executed. Can be omitted.
*/
options?: CommandOptions;
/**
* The arguments passed to the command. Can be omitted.
*/
args?: string[];
/**
* The presentation options.
*/
presentation?: PresentationOptions;
/**
* The problem matcher to be used if a global command is executed (e.g. no tasks
* are defined). A tasks.json file can either contain a global problemMatcher
* property or a tasks property but not both.
*/
problemMatcher?: string | ProblemMatcher | (string | ProblemMatcher)[];
/**
* The configuration of the available tasks. A tasks.json file can either
* contain a global problemMatcher property or a tasks property but not both.
*/
tasks?: TaskDescription[];
}
/**
* Options to be passed to the external program or shell
*/
export interface CommandOptions {
/**
* The current working directory of the executed program or shell.
* If omitted the current workspace's root is used.
*/
cwd?: string;
/**
* The environment of the executed program or shell. If omitted
* the parent process' environment is used.
*/
env?: { [key: string]: string };
/**
* Configuration of the shell when task type is `shell`
*/
shell: {
/**
* The shell to use.
*/
executable: string;
/**
* The arguments to be passed to the shell executable to run in command mode
* (e.g ['-c'] for bash or ['/S', '/C'] for cmd.exe).
*/
args?: string[];
};
}
/**
* The description of a task.
*/
interface TaskDescription {
/**
* The task's name
*/
label: string;
/**
* The type of a custom task. Tasks of type "shell" are executed
* inside a shell (e.g. bash, cmd, powershell, ...)
*/
type: 'shell' | 'process';
/**
* The command to execute. If the type is "shell" it should be the full
* command line including any additional arguments passed to the command.
*/
command: string;
/**
* Whether the executed command is kept alive and runs in the background.
*/
isBackground?: boolean;
/**
* Additional arguments passed to the command. Should be used if type
* is "process".
*/
args?: string[];
/**
* Defines the group to which this task belongs. Also supports to mark
* a task as the default task in a group.
*/
group?: 'build' | 'test' | { kind: 'build' | 'test'; isDefault: boolean };
/**
* The presentation options.
*/
presentation?: PresentationOptions;
/**
* The problem matcher(s) to use to capture problems in the tasks
* output.
*/
problemMatcher?: string | ProblemMatcher | (string | ProblemMatcher)[];
/**
* Defines when and how a task is run.
*/
runOptions?: RunOptions;
}
interface PresentationOptions {
/**
* Controls whether the task output is reveal in the user interface.
* Defaults to `always`.
*/
reveal?: 'never' | 'silent' | 'always';
/**
* Controls whether the command associated with the task is echoed
* in the user interface. Defaults to `true`.
*/
echo?: boolean;
/**
* Controls whether the panel showing the task output is taking focus.
* Defaults to `false`.
*/
focus?: boolean;
/**
* Controls if the task panel is used for this task only (dedicated),
* shared between tasks (shared) or if a new panel is created on
* every task execution (new). Defaults to `shared`.
*/
panel?: 'shared' | 'dedicated' | 'new';
/**
* Controls whether to show the `Terminal will be reused by tasks,
* press any key to close it` message.
*/
showReuseMessage?: boolean;
/**
* Controls whether the terminal is cleared before this task is run.
* Defaults to `false`.
*/
clear?: boolean;
/**
* Controls whether the task is executed in a specific terminal
* group using split panes. Tasks in the same group (specified by a string value)
* will use split terminals to present instead of a new terminal panel.
*/
group?: string;
}
/**
* A description of a problem matcher that detects problems
* in build output.
*/
interface ProblemMatcher {
/**
* The name of a base problem matcher to use. If specified the
* base problem matcher will be used as a template and properties
* specified here will replace properties of the base problem
* matcher
*/
base?: string;
/**
* The owner of the produced VS Code problem. This is typically
* the identifier of a VS Code language service if the problems are
* to be merged with the one produced by the language service
* or 'external'. Defaults to 'external' if omitted.
*/
owner?: string;
/**
* A human-readable string describing the source of this problem.
* E.g. 'typescript' or 'super lint'.
*/
source?: string;
/**
* The severity of the VS Code problem produced by this problem matcher.
*
* Valid values are:
* "error": to produce errors.
* "warning": to produce warnings.
* "info": to produce infos.
*
* The value is used if a pattern doesn't specify a severity match group.
* Defaults to "error" if omitted.
*/
severity?: string;
/**
* Defines how filename reported in a problem pattern
* should be read. Valid values are:
* - "absolute": the filename is always treated absolute.
* - "relative": the filename is always treated relative to
* the current working directory. This is the default.
* - ["relative", "path value"]: the filename is always
* treated relative to the given path value.
* - "autodetect": the filename is treated relative to
* the current workspace directory, and if the file
* does not exist, it is treated as absolute.
* - ["autodetect", "path value"]: the filename is treated
* relative to the given path value, and if it does not
* exist, it is treated as absolute.
* - "search": performs a deep (and, possibly, heavy) file system
* search within the directories.
* - ["search", {include: ["${workspaceFolder}"]}]: performs
* a deep search among the directories given in the "include" array.
* - ["search", {include: ["${workspaceFolder}"], exclude: []}]:
* performs a deep search among the directories given in the "include"
* array, excluding those named in the "exclude" array.
*/
fileLocation?: string | string[] | ['search', { include?: string[]; exclude?: string[] }];
/**
* The name of a predefined problem pattern, the inline definition
* of a problem pattern or an array of problem patterns to match
* problems spread over multiple lines.
*/
pattern?: string | ProblemPattern | ProblemPattern[];
/**
* Additional information used to detect when a background task (like a watching task in Gulp)
* is active.
*/
background?: BackgroundMatcher;
}
/**
* A description to track the start and end of a background task.
*/
interface BackgroundMatcher {
/**
* If set to true the watcher is in active mode when the task
* starts. This is equals of issuing a line that matches the
* beginPattern.
*/
activeOnStart?: boolean;
/**
* If matched in the output the start of a background task is signaled.
*/
beginsPattern?: string;
/**
* If matched in the output the end of a background task is signaled.
*/
endsPattern?: string;
}
interface ProblemPattern {
/**
* The regular expression to find a problem in the console output of an
* executed task.
*/
regexp: string;
/**
* Whether the pattern matches a problem for the whole file or for a location
* inside a file.
*
* Defaults to "location".
*/
kind?: 'file' | 'location';
/**
* The match group index of the filename.
*/
file: number;
/**
* The match group index of the problem's location. Valid location
* patterns are: (line), (line,column) and (startLine,startColumn,endLine,endColumn).
* If omitted the line and column properties are used.
*/
location?: number;
/**
* The match group index of the problem's line in the source file.
* Can only be omitted if location is specified.
*/
line?: number;
/**
* The match group index of the problem's column in the source file.
*/
column?: number;
/**
* The match group index of the problem's end line in the source file.
*
* Defaults to undefined. No end line is captured.
*/
endLine?: number;
/**
* The match group index of the problem's end column in the source file.
*
* Defaults to undefined. No end column is captured.
*/
endColumn?: number;
/**
* The match group index of the problem's severity.
*
* Defaults to undefined. In this case the problem matcher's severity
* is used.
*/
severity?: number;
/**
* The match group index of the problem's code.
*
* Defaults to undefined. No code is captured.
*/
code?: number;
/**
* The match group index of the message. Defaults to 0.
*/
message: number;
/**
* Specifies if the last pattern in a multi line problem matcher should
* loop as long as it does match a line consequently. Only valid on the
* last problem pattern in a multi line problem matcher.
*/
loop?: boolean;
}
/**
* A description to when and how run a task.
*/
interface RunOptions {
/**
* Controls how variables are evaluated when a task is executed through
* the Rerun Last Task command.
* The default is `true`, meaning that variables will be re-evaluated when
* a task is rerun. When set to `false`, the resolved variable values from
* the previous run of the task will be used.
*/
reevaluateOnRerun?: boolean;
/**
* Specifies when a task is run.
*
* Valid values are:
* "default": The task will only be run when executed through the Run Task command.
* "folderOpen": The task will be run when the containing folder is opened.
*/
runOn?: string;
}