Move the window controls in VSCode on Linux to the left

This script moves the window controls (close, minimize, and maximize buttons) to the left.

• Shape was created in a similar form to the Whitesur theme.
• Active windows use red, yellow, and green controls.
• Hovering an active control reveals its centered action glyph.
• Inactive windows use muted gray controls.
• apply creates byte-for-byte backups before changing VS Code files; restore puts back the backup for the currently installed VS Code version.

Caution

This is a binary-bundle patch for VS Code 1.130.x on Linux. Do not run it against another version. VS Code updates can overwrite the patched files; rerun apply only after verifying that the script supports the new version.

Requirements

Use the Microsoft VS Code Linux package installed at /usr/share/code and the distribution-provided Node.js interpreter at /usr/bin/node. For safety, this version patches only that standard system location.

If /usr/bin/node is missing, install your distribution's Node.js package first. On Debian or Ubuntu:

sudo apt install nodejs

Set these user settings before applying the patch:

{
  "window.titleBarStyle": "custom",
  "window.controlsStyle": "custom"
}

Apply

Clone this repository and run:

sudo /usr/bin/node "$PWD/script.js" apply

The script validates that resources/app/package.json reports a 1.130.x version, then changes only these two bundle files and creates adjacent backup files:

• resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.js
• resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.css

Restart VS Code completely after applying the patch.

Restore

Restore the exact files saved before the first apply:

sudo /usr/bin/node "$PWD/script.js" restore

Dry run

Check what the script would do without writing files:

/usr/bin/node script.js apply --dry-run

Notes

This version replaces the earlier vscode-custom-css approach, which was tied to VS Code 1.97.2 and older DOM structure. It does not modify GNOME settings, Electron window creation, or any VS Code user files beyond the two titlebar settings shown above.