Save Pipeline

Run configurable sequences of VS Code commands and shell commands on file save.

Define ordered pipelines in settings.json — no keybindings, no code, no extra extensions needed.

Features

• Execute any VS Code command ID and shell command in sequence on save
• Filter by languageId and glob exclude patterns
• Built-in placeholders: ${file}, ${workspaceFolder}, ${relativeFile}, ${env.VAR} and more
• waitUntil — VS Code waits for all steps to complete before writing to disk
• Zero dependencies (pure Node.js + VS Code API)
• Output Channel logging with auto-reveal on errors
• Command validation on startup and config change

Requirements

• VS Code ^1.80.0

Configuration

Edit your settings.json:

"savePipeline.sequences": [
  {
    "languages": ["markdown"],
    "label": "Tables → Format → Check",
    "steps": [
      { "command": "md-table-buddy.formatAllTables" },
      { "command": "editor.action.formatDocument" },
      { "shell": "npx prettier --check ${file}" }
    ]
  },
  {
    "languages": ["python"],
    "exclude": ["**/archive/**"],
    "label": "Organize → Format → Lint",
    "steps": [
      { "command": "python.sortImports" },
      { "command": "editor.action.formatDocument" },
      { "shell": "ruff check ${file}" }
    ]
  },
  {
    "label": "Log every save",
    "steps": [
      { "shell": "echo [save] ${relativeFile}" }
    ]
  }
]

Step fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
command	string	①	VS Code command ID
shell	string	①	Shell command (placeholders supported)
cwd	string	×	Working directory (default: ${workspaceFolder})
timeout	number	×	Shell timeout in ms (default: 30000)
env	object	×	Extra env vars for shell step

① command / shell must specify exactly one per step.

Sequence fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
event	string	×	Trigger event. v0.1: only "onSave" (default)
languages	string[]	×	Filter by document.languageId. Empty = all files
label	string	×	Shown in Output Channel logs
exclude	string[]	×	Glob patterns to exclude files
steps	Step[]	√	Ordered steps to execute

Placeholders (shell steps)

Placeholder	Example	Replaced with
${file}	C:\project\docs\guide.md	Absolute file path
${fileBasename}	guide.md	File name + extension
${fileBasenameNoExt}	guide	File name, no extension
${fileExtname}	.md	File extension
${fileDirname}	C:\project\docs	File directory
${relativeFile}	docs\guide.md	Path relative to workspace
${workspaceFolder}	C:\project	Workspace root
${cwd}	—	VS Code process cwd
${env.VAR}	—	Environment variable

Notes

• This extension does not disable editor.formatOnSave. If both are enabled, formatting may run twice. Recommended: disable native format-on-save and add editor.action.formatDocument explicitly in your pipeline.
• Shell commands run with the same privileges as the VS Code process. The security model matches VS Code's built-in tasks.

Known Issues

• No when clause support yet (v0.2 planned)
• Command steps do not support arguments (args field planned in v0.3+)
• No data passing between steps

Release

See CHANGELOG.md for version history.