Never miss a failed build again.
Error Bell is a VS Code extension that listens to every terminal command you run and plays a sound the moment one exits with an error — so you can stay focused on your work instead of babysitting the terminal.
- VS Code
1.120.0or newer - Shell integration active in your terminal (enabled by default in VS Code for PowerShell, bash, zsh, and fish — see Shell Integration docs if you use Git Bash, WSL, or a custom shell)
- Windows: built-in (uses PowerShell + Windows Media Player)
- macOS: built-in (uses
afplay) - Linux:
paplay(PulseAudio) ormpg123orffplay— at least one must be installed
Error Bell hooks into VS Code's terminal shell execution events. Every time a command finishes, it checks the exit code:
- Non-zero exit code → plays your configured error sound
- Exit code 0 → plays your configured success sound (optional)
- Quiet hours active → stays silent regardless of exit code
- Cooldown not elapsed → skips the sound to prevent spam
- Ignored exit codes (e.g.
130for Ctrl+C) → always silent
A status bar item in the bottom-right corner shows the current state at a glance and can be clicked to toggle the extension on or off.
When you open a terminal that doesn't have shell integration active, Error Bell will offer a setup guide so you can enable it — because without shell integration, exit codes cannot be detected.
Open Error Bell Settings from the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P → Error Bell: Settings) to configure everything through a clean UI. All settings are also available in VS Code's standard Settings editor.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Enable Error Bell | Master on/off switch for all sounds |
| Explicit Sounds (18+) | Unlocks adult/explicit sound categories in the sound pickers. Requires age confirmation. |
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Sound | The sound to play on failure. Options: System Sound, Random, Selective Random, any built-in meme sound, or a custom file. |
| Volume | Playback volume from 0% (muted) to 100%. |
| Cooldown | Minimum seconds that must pass between error sounds. Set to 0 for no limit. |
| Ignored Exit Codes | Comma-separated list of exit codes that never trigger a sound (default: 130 for Ctrl+C). |
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Sound | Optional sound to play when a command exits successfully. Set to Disabled to turn it off, or choose System Sound, Random, Selective Random, or a custom file. |
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Hours | A time range (24h format) during which all sounds are silenced. Supports overnight ranges, e.g. 22:00 to 08:00. Leave blank to disable. |
- Random — picks from all available sounds in that category on every trigger
- Selective Random — you choose a pool of sounds; Error Bell picks randomly from your pool
- Custom sounds — browse for any audio file (MP3, WAV, OGG, FLAC, M4A, AAC, WMA, AIFF, OPUS); name it and it appears in the picker with a delete button
- Preview — hover over any sound in the picker for 300 ms to preview it before committing
The Terminal Support button in Settings shows which currently open terminals have shell integration active and which do not, so you know exactly where error detection will work.
Thank you for using Error Bell! This extension was built out of a genuine need — running long builds and missing failures is frustrating, and a simple sound solves that entirely. I hope it saves you as much time as it saves me.
Have an idea, found a bug, or want a new sound category? I'd love to hear from you:
All feedback is welcome — feature requests, UX improvements, platform-specific issues, or just a note to say it worked for you.
If this extension saves you time, please consider leaving a ⭐ review on the Marketplace — it helps others discover it and keeps the project going. Thank you!