TextMate for Visual Studio Code

April 14, 2026 · View on GitHub

This extension aims at recreating the TextMate experience in Visual Studio Code.

Features

TextMate Commands

Execute arbitrary scripts with configurable input/output handling via keyboard shortcuts. Define commands directly in your keybindings.json with full control over execution context.

Usage

Add keybindings to your keybindings.json:

{
  "key": "ctrl+alt+cmd+t",
  "command": "vscode-textmate.command",
  "when": "editorTextFocus",
  "args": {
    "script": "#!/usr/bin/env bash\n\nopen \"$TM_PROJECT_DIRECTORY\" -a Terminal.app",
    "save": "currentDocument",
    "input": "none",
    "output": "discard"
  }
}

Arguments

script (string): Shell script to execute (supports shebang)
save: Document saving - "none" | "currentDocument" | "allDocuments"
input: Input source - "selection" | "document" | "line" | "word" | "character" | "scope" | "none"
output: Output handling - "replaceInput" | "replaceSelection" | "replaceDocument" | "insertText" | "insertAsSnippet" | "newDocument" | "showAsHTML" | "showAsTooltip" | "discard"
outputFormat: Output format - "text" | "snippet" | "HTML"
caretPlacement: Caret positioning - "afterOutput" | "selectOutput" | "characterInterpolation" | "lineInterpolation" | "Heuristic"

Environment Variables

Scripts receive TextMate-style environment variables:

TM_SELECTED_TEXT - Currently selected text
TM_CURRENT_LINE - Current line content
TM_CURRENT_WORD - Current word at cursor
TM_FILENAME - Current file name
TM_FILEPATH - Current file path
TM_DIRECTORY - Current file directory
TM_PROJECT_DIRECTORY - Workspace root directory
TM_LINE_INDEX - Current line (0-based)
TM_LINE_NUMBER - Current line (1-based)
TM_COLUMN_NUMBER - Current column (1-based)

Examples

Text transformation:

{
  "key": "ctrl+u",
  "command": "vscode-textmate.command",
  "when": "editorTextFocus",
  "args": {
    "script": "tr '[:lower:]' '[:upper:]'",
    "input": "selection",
    "output": "replaceInput"
  }
}

Insert timestamp:

{
  "key": "ctrl+alt+d",
  "command": "vscode-textmate.command",
  "when": "editorTextFocus",
  "args": {
    "script": "date +%Y-%m-%d",
    "input": "none",
    "output": "insertText"
  }
}

Sort lines:

{
  "key": "ctrl+alt+s",
  "command": "vscode-textmate.command",
  "when": "editorTextFocus",
  "args": {
    "script": "sort",
    "input": "selection",
    "output": "replaceInput"
  }
}

Keybindings

A good amount of keybindings have been ported from TextMate.

`closeOtherEditors`, `closeEditorInAllGroups`

Fix the default VSCode behavior of asking to save unsaved files when closing editors. These commands will close specified editors except any "dirty" or "pinned" editor.

Name	Command	Keybinding
Close Other Editors	`closeOtherEditors`	`⌃⌘W`
Close Editor in All Groups	`closeEditorInAllGroups`	`⌃⌥⌘W`

`openProject`

Open a project in a new window, selecting from subfolders of the folders listed in the projectFolders setting.

Quick file opener that replaces VS Code's default "Open Quickly…" command with TextMate's behavior. Press ⌘T to open a searchable list of all files in the workspace, filtered intelligently to exclude common build artifacts and dependencies. Uses the same selection interface as other TextMate commands for a consistent experience.

`selectFromList` (internal)

Provides a flexible UI for selecting items from a list. Shows a webview-based selection interface that allows for multi-selection from a provided array of items. Can be used by other extensions as a nearly drop-in replacement for showQuickPick.

Command Usage

picks = await vscode.commands.executeCommand(
  "vscode-textmate.showSelectFromList",
  items,
  options
)

Parameters

items (array, required): Array of items to select from. Items can be:
- Strings: "Item 1"
- Numbers/Booleans: 42, true
- Objects: { label: "Custom Item", description: "Optional description" }
options (object, optional): Configuration options
- title (string): Title displayed in the selection interface (default: "Select From List")
- renderAs (string): Where to show the interface:
  - "sidebar": Shows in dedicated sidebar view
  - "panel": Opens in webview panel
  - Defaults to user's vscode-textmate.selectFromList.renderAs setting

Examples

// Simple string selection
const picks = await vscode.commands.executeCommand(
  "vscode-textmate.showSelectFromList",
  ["Option 1", "Option 2", "Option 3"],
  { title: "Choose Options" }
)

// Mixed item types with custom rendering
const picks = await vscode.commands.executeCommand(
  "vscode-textmate.showSelectFromList",
  [
    "Simple string",
    { label: "Complex Item", description: "With description" },
    42,
    true
  ],
  {
    title: "Mixed Selection",
    renderAs: "panel"
  }
)

File Operations

Name	Command	Keybinding
Open Quickly	`openQuickly`	`⌘T`

Find

Replaces VS Code's find keybindings with TextMate-style behavior.

Name	Keybinding
Find in Files	`⇧⌘F`
In-editor Find	`⌘F`
Next Search Result	`⌘G`
Previous Search Result	`⇧⌘G`

You can navigate between brackets and blocks using ctrl with up and down, adding shift to also update the selection. Word movement (alt+left/right) follows TextMate semantics.

Name	Command	Keybinding
Jump to Selection	`jumpToSelection`	`⌘J`
Move Word Left	`moveWordLeft`	`⌥←`
Move Word Right	`moveWordRight`	`⌥→`
Select Word Left	`moveWordLeftAndModifySelection`	`⌥⇧←`
Select Word Right	`moveWordRightAndModifySelection`	`⌥⇧→`
Move to beginning of Block	`moveToBeginningOfBlock`	`⌃⭡`
Move to end of Block	`moveToEndOfBlock`	`⌃⭣`
Select to beginning of Block	`moveToBeginningOfBlockAndModifySelection`	`⌃⇧⭡`
Select to end of Block	`moveToEndOfBlockAndModifySelection`	`⌃⇧⭣`
Move to beginning of Column	`moveToBeginningOfColumn`	`⌥⭡`
Move to end of Column	`moveToEndOfColumn`	`⌥⭣`
Select to beginning of Column	`moveToBeginningOfColumnAndModifySelection`	`⌥⇧⭡`
Select to end of Column	`moveToEndOfColumnAndModifySelection`	`⌥⇧⭣`

Editing

Name	Command	Keybinding
Join Lines	`joinLines`	`⌃⇧J`
Toggle Case	`toggleCase`	`⌃⇧-`
Transpose	`transposeWords`	`⌃T`
Copy to Find Pasteboard	`copyToFindPasteboard`	`⌘E`

Folding

Toggle folding at a specific depth with ⌥⌘0–⌥⌘7.

Name	Command	Keybinding
Toggle Fold at Depth 0	`foldAtDepth`	`⌥⌘0`
Toggle Fold at Depth 1	`foldAtDepth`	`⌥⌘1`
Toggle Fold at Depth 2	`foldAtDepth`	`⌥⌘2`
Toggle Fold at Depth 3	`foldAtDepth`	`⌥⌘3`
Toggle Fold at Depth 4	`foldAtDepth`	`⌥⌘4`
Toggle Fold at Depth 5	`foldAtDepth`	`⌥⌘5`
Toggle Fold at Depth 6	`foldAtDepth`	`⌥⌘6`
Toggle Fold at Depth 7	`foldAtDepth`	`⌥⌘7`

All commands are under the vscode-textmate namespace, e.g. vscode-textmate.moveToEndOfColumn.

Migration Notes

Window title (up to v0.27.1)

Prior to v0.28.0, this extension managed the window title by directly writing to the window.title workspace setting, injecting the current SCM branch via a custom ${scmBranch} variable and polling for changes every few seconds.

This approach is no longer needed — VS Code 1.35+ includes ${activeRepositoryBranchName} as a native window.title variable. If you were using the old vscode-textmate.windowTitle setting, you can remove it and configure window.title directly in your settings.

Before (in .vscode/settings.json):

{
  "vscode-textmate.windowTitle": "${scmBranch} — ${rootName}"
}

After (in settings.json):

{
  "window.title": "${activeRepositoryBranchName} — ${rootName}"
}

Troubleshooting

VS Code plays a sound with some keybindings: https://superuser.com/a/1530872

License

MIT

Icon by Marc Oliver Orth

TextMate for Visual Studio Code

Features

TextMate Commands

Usage

Arguments

Environment Variables

Examples

Keybindings

`closeOtherEditors`, `closeEditorInAllGroups`

`openProject`

`openQuickly`

`selectFromList` (internal)

Command Usage

Parameters

Examples

File Operations

Find

Navigation

Editing

Folding

Migration Notes

Window title (up to v0.27.1)

Troubleshooting

License