Just Sidebar

A VS Code extension that surfaces just recipes in a persistent sidebar tree view. Click a recipe to run it in an integrated terminal.

Features

• Sidebar tree view — recipes listed under the "Just" activity bar icon
• Click to run — single click on any recipe sends the command to a terminal
• Run with Args — prompt for arguments before running parameterized recipes
• Multi-justfile workspaces — selector lets you switch between justfiles; choice persists across reloads
• Doc comments — recipe descriptions shown from # comment lines
• Nix support — optionally wraps just with nix develop --command
• File watcher — tree refreshes automatically when justfiles are saved

Requirements

• just >= 1.13 (uses --list-prefix, --list-heading, --unsorted)
• VS Code >= 1.95.0

Moving the view to the right sidebar

VS Code does not let extensions force a view into the secondary sidebar. To move Just Sidebar to the right:

1. Right-click the "J" icon in the activity bar
2. Select "Move to Secondary Side Bar"

This is a one-time action and persists across sessions.

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
justSidebar.justBinary	"just"	Path to the just binary
justSidebar.useNix	"auto"	Run inside nix develop if a flake.nix exists ("auto", "always", "never")
justSidebar.terminalReuse	true	Reuse a single "Just" terminal instead of creating a new one each time
justSidebar.searchDepth	3	Max directory depth to search for justfiles

Recipe parameters

When running a recipe that has parameters, the "Run with Args" button (pencil icon) appears in the tree. Clicking it opens an input box where you can type arguments.

Arguments are passed as a raw shell fragment — your shell parses quotes and spaces. For example, to pass a value with a space: "hello world".

Workspace Trust

In untrusted workspaces, Just Sidebar will not list or run recipes. Trust the workspace (VS Code will prompt) to enable the extension.

Nix environments

If your justfile lives next to a flake.nix, set justSidebar.useNix to "auto" (default) or "always" to prefix every recipe invocation with nix develop --command.

Diagnostics

Errors are logged to the "Just Sidebar" output channel (View > Output, select "Just Sidebar").