JavaFX Support

July 10, 2026 · View on GitHub

A VS Code extension for JavaFX development with FXML support.

Features

  • 🎨 FXML Syntax Highlighting - Full syntax highlighting for .fxml files
  • 🏗️ FXML Language Mode - To open .fxml file in Scene Builder, select 'Open in Scene Builder' from the context menu
  • 🔧 Scene Builder Integration - Configure Scene Builder path and open FXML files directly in Scene Builder
  • 📐 Formatter - You can use an XML formatter specifically designed for FXML
  • ✏️ Linked Editing - Renaming an opening FXML tag also updates the matching closing tag
  • 🚨 FXML Diagnostics - Surface missing controller classes and duplicate fx:id values directly in the Problems panel
  • 💡 FXML Quick Fixes - Use the lightbulb on missing fx:id fields and missing onAction handlers to generate matching @FXML controller members
  • 🔗 FXML → Controller & Resource Navigation - Ctrl+Click on fx:controller, onAction, fx:id, @image.png, or @style.css in FXML to jump to the corresponding controller code or referenced resource file
  • 🔗 Controller → FXML Navigation - Ctrl+Click on @FXML annotated variables or methods in the Controller class to jump to the corresponding location in the FXML file
  • 🔎 Find All References - Press Shift+F12 on an FXML fx:id to find $fxId usages in the current FXML file together with the matching controller field declaration
  • 🔍 Workspace Symbols - Press Ctrl+T / Cmd+T to search fx:id values and matching @FXML field names across the workspace
  • 💡 FXML Hover - Optionally show controller field and event handler comments on hover
  • 🎨 JavaFX CSS IntelliSense - Get -fx- property completions, enum-like value suggestions, and hover details inside .css files and FXML style attributes, plus styleClass navigation/references/completion across workspace CSS files
  • 🌐 Internationalization - English, Chinese, Japanese language support

Usage

FXML Syntax Highlighting

Open any .fxml file and it will automatically use the FXML language mode with syntax highlighting.

Open in Scene Builder

  1. Open an .fxml file in VS Code
  2. Right-click in the editor or file explorer
  3. Select "Open in Scene Builder"

FXML Formatting

  1. Open an .fxml file
  2. Use Shift+Alt+F (or your configured format shortcut) to format the document

Linked Editing

  • Rename an opening tag such as <Label> and VS Code will keep the matching closing tag </Label> in sync while you type
  • Linked editing is enabled by default for FXML files

Code Navigation

FXML → Controller:

  • Ctrl+Click on fx:controller="com.example.MyController" to open the controller class
  • Ctrl+Click on fx:id="myButton" to jump to the @FXML annotated field
  • Ctrl+Click on onAction="#handleClick" to jump to the @FXML annotated method
  • Ctrl+Click on image="@images/logo.png" or stylesheets="@styles/main.css" to open the referenced resource file relative to the current FXML file
  • Ctrl+Click on styleClass="primary-button" to jump to matching .primary-button selectors in workspace CSS files
  • Press Shift+F12 on fx:id="myButton" to list $myButton usages in the current FXML document and the matching controller field declaration

Controller → FXML:

  • Ctrl+Click on an @FXML annotated field to jump to the fx:id in the FXML file
  • Ctrl+Click on an @FXML annotated method to jump to the event handler in the FXML file

CSS → FXML:

  • Press Shift+F12 on a CSS selector such as .primary-button to list matching styleClass usages in workspace FXML files
  • Press Ctrl+T (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+T (macOS)
  • Search for an FXML fx:id or a matching Java @FXML field name to jump to it from anywhere in the workspace

FXML Hover

  • Hovering fx:controller="com.example.MyController" shows the matching controller class comment
  • Hovering fx:id="myButton" shows the matching controller field comment, including inherited members
  • Hovering onAction="#handleClick" shows the matching controller method comment, including inherited members
  • Hover is disabled by default and can be enabled with a configurable delay

FXML Diagnostics

  • Missing fx:controller classes are reported as errors
  • fx:id values without matching controller fields are reported as warnings
  • Missing controller event handlers such as #handleClick are reported as errors
  • Duplicate fx:id values in the same FXML file are reported as errors

FXML Quick Fixes

  • Use Ctrl+. / Cmd+. on a missing fx:id warning to generate @FXML private <Type> <fxId>; in the controller
  • Use Ctrl+. / Cmd+. on a missing onAction handler error to generate @FXML private void <handler>(ActionEvent event) {} in the controller

JavaFX CSS IntelliSense

  • Type -fx- in a .css file or an FXML style attribute to see JavaFX-specific CSS properties such as -fx-background-color, -fx-font-size, and -fx-text-fill
  • Type inside an FXML styleClass="" attribute to complete CSS class names discovered from workspace .css files
  • After properties such as -fx-alignment:, completion suggests common enum-like values such as CENTER and TOP_LEFT
  • Selecting a JavaFX CSS value inserts one space after : and appends ;
  • Hover a JavaFX CSS property to see its syntax, default value, and where it applies

Configuration

SettingDescriptionDefault
tlcsdm.javafxSupport.sceneBuilderPathPath to Scene Builder executable"" (auto-detect)
tlcsdm.javafxSupport.hover.enabledEnable FXML hover information for controller comments referenced by fx:controller, fx:id, and event handlersfalse
tlcsdm.javafxSupport.outline.showFxIdShow fx:id details in the FXML Outline viewtrue
tlcsdm.javafxSupport.outline.showTextShow text details in the FXML Outline viewtrue
tlcsdm.javafxSupport.hover.delayDelay in milliseconds before showing FXML hover information300

Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

  1. Open VS Code
  2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
  3. Search for "Tlcsdm JavaFX Support"
  4. Click Install

From VSIX File

  1. Download the latest .vsix file from Releases
  2. Open VS Code
  3. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
  4. Click the ... menu and select "Install from VSIX..."
  5. Select the downloaded .vsix file

From Jenkins

Download from Jenkins

Development

Prerequisites

  • Node.js 22.x or later
  • npm

Build

# Install dependencies
npm install
# Compile
npm run compile
# Watch mode (for development)
npm run watch
# Lint
npm run lint
# Note: with TypeScript 7.x, lint temporarily checks JS tooling files with ESLint. `src/` TypeScript files are type-checked (not fully linted) via `tsc --noEmit` until typescript-eslint adds TS7 support.
# Test
npm run test
# Package extension
npx @vscode/vsce package

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.