Nextflow extension for Visual Studio Code

VS Code extension for Nextflow that provides language support for scripts and config files, using the Nextflow language server.

Read the blog posts (part 1, part 2) and the docs for more information.

See also:

• VSCode Marketplace
• Open VSX Registry

Features

Nextflow language server

The extension uses the Nextflow language server to provide code intelligence:

• Syntax highlighting
• Code navigation (outline, go to definition, find references)
• Code completion
• Diagnostics (errors, warnings)
• Formatting
• Hover hints
• Rename
• DAG preview for workflows

Copilot for Nextflow

The extension includes a GitHub Copilot extension specifically trained for Nextflow development:

• Full support for Nextflow DSL2 syntax
• Context-aware assistance that understands your specific codebase
• Generates code following Nextflow best practices and patterns
• Works with any LLM you have access to (e.g. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google) through Github Copilot (Sonnet 3.5 is recommended by the Seqera team)
• Special commands:
  • /dsl2 - Convert DSL1 scripts to DSL2
  • /nf-test - Assists in generating nf-test test cases and improving test coverage

Requirements

The language server requires Java 17 or later.

Development

Clone this repository:

git clone https://github.com/nextflow-io/vscode-language-nextflow
cd vscode-language-nextflow

If you need to edit the language server, clone the repository and build it:

git clone https://github.com/nextflow-io/language-server
make server

Finally, press F5 to build the extension and launch a new VS Code window with the extension loaded.

You will be prompted to enter a path to your Nextflow workspace, which defaults to ../test-workspace relative to the project directory.

Publishing

1. Update the extension version number in package.json.
2. Update the changelog in CHANGELOG.md.
3. Run the "Publish Extension" action to publish the extension to the VSCode marketplace and Open VSX.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Feel free to fork this repository and open a pull request to propose changes.

See also:

• https://manual.macromates.com/en/language_grammars
• https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/extensions/publish-extension
• https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/extensions/yocode
• https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/extensionAPI/extension-manifest

Telemetry notice

We (Seqera) collect limited usage data through this extension to help us understand which features are most valuable and improve your overall experience.

This telemetry is opt-in and can be enabled or disabled at any time by toggling "Nextflow > Telemetry: Enabled" in your VS Code settings.

Information we collect

• Commands: We track when you invoke a command provided by this extension (e.g. openChat, writeTest, etc.), but not the contents of that command (e.g. user-supplied arguments).
• File events: We track when you open a Nextflow file, but not the file name or its contents.
• Environment info: We collect your operating system type, VS Code version, and the extension version to help diagnose issues and guide future development.

Information we do not collect

• Chat contents: We do not collect any text you enter into the chat panel.
• File contents: We do not collect any source code, file paths, or any other file contents.
• Personal info: We do not collect project names, directory paths, or any personally identifiable information.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to open an issue in our repository. We appreciate your trust and feedback!