cursor-link-patterns

A Cursor / VS Code extension that turns text into clickable links based on regex patterns — in both the editor and the integrated terminal.

Features

• Define regex rules that make matching text clickable anywhere in the editor
• Same rules also intercept matching text in the integrated terminal
• Supports capture group substitution ($0, $1, …) for dynamic URLs
• Rules can be scoped to specific editor languages
• Live reload — config changes apply instantly without restarting

Requirements

• VS Code or Cursor 1.58.0 or newer — the terminal link provider API was finalized in 1.58
• Node.js 20 or newer to build. @vscode/vsce 3.x declares engines: { node: ">= 20" }; on Node 18 packaging dies with ReferenceError: File is not defined from its bundled undici. npm only warns about the mismatch instead of blocking, so the failure surfaces at run time.

Installation

From VSIX

git clone https://github.com/mc-nv/cursor-link-patterns
cd cursor-link-patterns
npm install
npm run compile
npx @vscode/vsce package

Then in Cursor or VS Code:

1. Open the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P)
2. Run Extensions: Install from VSIX...
3. Select the generated cursor-link-patterns-*.vsix file

Or from the command line:

code --install-extension cursor-link-patterns-*.vsix

Cursor ships its own code shim. If Cursor is installed, which code may resolve to …/.cursor-server/bin/…/bin/remote-cli/code, and the extension will land in Cursor rather than VS Code. Check first, and over SSH or in a devcontainer install from the remote side — the extension host runs there, so a local install is never loaded.

Manual installation in Cursor

Cursor is not served by the Visual Studio Marketplace — it resolves extensions through its own gallery (marketplace.cursorapi.com), so a VSIX built locally has to be side-loaded.

Local Cursor

cursor --install-extension cursor-link-patterns-*.vsix --force

--force is required when reinstalling a version that is already present; without it the CLI reports the extension as already installed and exits.

Remote Cursor (SSH / devcontainer / WSL)

The cursor and code commands on PATH inside a remote session are thin shims that need a live window. To install headlessly, call the server binary directly on the remote host:

~/.cursor-server/bin/linux-x64/<commit-hash>/bin/cursor-server \
  --install-extension cursor-link-patterns-*.vsix --force

Substitute the single directory under ~/.cursor-server/bin/linux-x64/. Extensions land in ~/.cursor-server/extensions/.

Verifying

cursor --list-extensions --show-versions | grep cursor-link-patterns

~/.cursor-server/extensions/extensions.json records what is actually registered — an entry with "source": "vsix" was side-loaded, "gallery" came from the registry. A stale version directory may linger next to the new one after an upgrade; only the manifest entry matters, and Cursor removes the leftover on its next start.

Reload the window (Developer: Reload Window) to activate a freshly installed version.

Development mode

npm install
npm run compile

Open the project folder in Cursor and press F5 to launch an Extension Development Host.

Configuration

Add rules to your user, workspace, or .code-workspace settings:

"cursorLinkPatterns.rules": [
  {
    "linkPattern": "TRI-(\\d+)",
    "linkTarget": "https://linear.app/issue/TRI-$1",
    "languages": ["*"]
  }
]

Rule properties

Property	Required	Description
linkPattern	Yes*	Regular expression to match. Can also be an array of patterns that share the same linkTarget
linkPatterns	Yes*	Array of regex patterns sharing the same linkTarget. Merged with linkPattern if both are set
linkTarget	Yes	URL template — $0 full match, $1 first capture group, etc. Use \$ for a literal $
linkPatternFlags	No	Regex flags e.g. "i" for case-insensitive. g is always added automatically
languages	No	Editor language IDs to apply the rule to. Defaults to ["*"] (all). Has no effect on terminal links

* At least one of linkPattern or linkPatterns must be set.

Examples

Linear / Jira tickets

{
  "linkPattern": "TRI-(\\d+)",
  "linkTarget": "https://linear.app/issue/TRI-$1"
}

GitHub PRs

{
  "linkPattern": "PR#(\\d+)",
  "linkTarget": "https://github.com/my-org/my-repo/pull/$1"
}

Only in markdown files

{
  "linkPattern": "DOCS-(\\d+)",
  "linkTarget": "https://confluence.example.com/pages/$1",
  "languages": ["markdown"]
}

Multiple patterns sharing one target

{
  "linkPatterns": [
    "TRI-(\\d+)",
    "ENG-(\\d+)",
    "OPS-(\\d+)"
  ],
  "linkTarget": "https://linear.app/issue/$0"
}

Workspace settings

Rules can be added per workspace in a .code-workspace file:

{
  "folders": [...],
  "settings": {
    "cursorLinkPatterns.rules": [
      {
        "linkPattern": "TRI-(\\d+)",
        "linkTarget": "https://linear.app/issue/TRI-$1"
      }
    ]
  }
}

A .code-workspace only applies when you open the file itself, via File → Open Workspace from File… — the title bar then reads "… (Workspace)". Open the same directory as a plain folder and the file is inert: both its settings and its extensions.recommendations are ignored, and rules must live in .vscode/settings.json instead.

Note that extensions.recommendations never installs anything on its own — it only surfaces a prompt. The extension still has to be installed.

License

MIT