Auto Terminal

Auto Terminal is an extension that allows you to run sets of terminal commands in bulk. This is useful for quickly setting up terminals, running commands, navigating directories, and more.

Usage

1. Open your workspace in VS Code.
2. Create a terminal.config.json file in the root of your workspace.
3. Open the command palette. (macOS/Linux: Cmd + Shift + P, Windows: Ctrl + Shift + P)
4. Type Auto Terminal: Action and select an action.
5. Auto Terminal will read your terminal configurations and run the commands.

Terminal Configuration

You can define your terminal configurations in a terminal.config.json file in the root of your workspace.

Create a terminal.config.json file from template using command Auto Terminal: Template

Example:

{
  // action name
  "setup": [
    {
      "tab": "frontend", // tab name
      "commands": ["cd Frontend", "npm i", "clear", "code app/page.tsx"], // array of commands
      "description": "Install npm packages" // optional description
    },
    {
      "tab": "backend",
      "commands": [
        "cd Backend",
        "source venv/bin/activate",
        "pip install -r requirements.txt",
        "clear"
      ],
      "description": "Install requirements.txt"
    }
  ],
  // If Auto Terminal: Run Open Commands On Startup setting is true, "open" commands will run on workspace launch
  "open": [
    {
      "tab": "git",
      "commands": ["git branch"],
      "description": "Display the current branch"
    },
    {
      "tab": "frontend",
      "commands": ["cd Frontend"],
      "description": "Open a terminal for frontend"
    },
    {
      "tab": "backend",
      "commands": ["cd Backend", "source venv/bin/activate"],
      "description": "Open a terminal for backend"
    }
  ],
  "start": [
    {
      "tab": "frontend",
      "commands": ["clear", "npm run dev"],
      "description": "Run the frontend"
    },
    {
      "tab": "backend",
      "commands": ["clear", "python manage.py runserver"],
      "description": "Run the backend"
    }
  ]
}

Terminal Configuration Templates

Add a template terminal.config.json file to your workspace:

1. Open the command palette. (macOS/Linux: Cmd + Shift + P, Windows: Ctrl + Shift + P)
2. Type Auto Terminal: Template and select a template option.

Add re-usable custom templates:

1. Open your User settings (Code/File > Settings/Preferences > Settings).
2. Search for Auto Terminal: Custom Templates.
3. Add a new key-value pair to the customTemplates object, where the key is the template name and the value is the template itself.

"autoTerminal.customTemplates": {
    "custom template name": {
      "actionName": [
        {
          "tab": "",
          "commands": [],
          "description": ""
        }
      ],
      "actionName2": [
        {
          "tab": "",
          "commands": [],
          "description": ""
        }
      ]
    }
  }

4. The custom template will now be an option when running command Auto Terminal: Template

Auto Run Commands on Startup

When the Auto Terminal: Run Open Commands On Startup setting is enabled any commands specified under the "open" action in your terminal.config.json file will be automatically executed when you open your workspace.

To enable:

1. Open your workspace settings (Code/File > Settings/Preferences > Settings).
2. Search for Auto Terminal: Run Open Commands On Startup.
3. Check the box to enable the setting.

Special Commands

Auto Terminal provides special commands that can be utilized to perform specific actions beyond standard text input. These always begin with "*".

! Best used on their own

Command	Description	Usage
*stop	Stops a running process.	"commands": ["*stop"]
*close	Closes the terminal.	"commands": ["*close"]

Tips:

• If an existing "tab" cannot be found a new terminal will be created.
• Press Ctrl+Shift+P and type Auto Terminal: Show usage guide to view an overview of your terminal.config.json commands