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Joël Deffner edited this page Sep 17, 2026 · 4 revisions

Live Webview usage guide

Live Webview reloads your extension's webviews after a successful frontend build. You keep the real Extension Development Host, the target's message handlers, and its normal commands.

It is a developer tool for webviews that you own. Install the companion, connect the helper in your target extension, and send a successful-build signal. Installing the companion alone does not attach it to existing webviews.

Start here

Task Guide
Try a working example or install the extension Getting started
Connect panels and sidebar views in your extension Integration
Set up esbuild or another build tool Build signals
Reload, pause, resume, and read status Controls
Keep application state across reloads State and reload
Diagnose missing targets or failed reloads Troubleshooting
Check registration and scheduling behavior API reference

Requirements

Use local desktop VS Code 1.74 or newer, a Node extension host, and a trusted workspace. The target must run in Development mode with the helper explicitly enabled. The companion must be available in that same host.

Download the stable VSIX and matching helper tarball from GitHub Releases. Version 1.0.0 uses the extension ID JDeffner.live-webview. The helper is not on npm. Remote hosts, browser VS Code, framework HMR, message inspection, and automatic attachment to arbitrary extensions are outside this version.

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