How to Effectively Use Visual Studio Code as Godot's Editor

One of the annoying things I have to do when I perform a complete format of my system is make VS Code work nicely with Godot once again.

I haven't found a proper article that lists all the changes I need to make in order to have a decent developer experience, so this is going to be exactly that.

Visual Studio Code Extensions

I personally use two extensions for Godot:

• godot-tools
• Godot Files

The first one is a general extension that improves the integration between Godot and Visual Studio Code. It supports many features, from syntax highlighting to debugging and autocompletions.

Godot Files mostly improves syntax-coloring for files supported by Godot, such as .gdshaders. As of right now, I'm still testing it, but I'd recommend you give it a try.

Run the following two commands in VSCode's command palette (Ctrl + P) in order to install them:

ext install geequlim.godot-tools

ext install alfish.godot-files

Change the following godot-tools settings:

• Editor Path: Godot3: insert the path to the Godot 3 executable if you use Godot 3
• Editor Path: Godot4: insert the path to the Godot 4 executable if you use Godot 4

Godot Editor Settings

Inside Godot open Editor > Editor Settings and change the following ones:

• Network:
  • Language Server:
    • Show Native Symbols in Editor: On
    • Use Thread: On
• Text Editor:
  • Completion:
    • Idle Parse Delay: 0.1
    • Code Completion Delay: 0.01
    • Add Type Hints: On
  • External:
    • Use External Editor: On
    • Exec Path: the path to the VSCode's executable (hint: if you're on linux you can find it by using whereis code in terminal)
    • Exec Flag: {project} --goto {file}:{line}:{col}
  • Behaviour:
    • Auto Reload Scripts on External Change: On

Static Typing

I think static typing is great, and I try to use it as much as possible, even when languages don't support it or barely do. GDScript is not an exception to this rule.

Inside Godot open Project > Project Settings and change the following ones, be sure you have 'Advanced Settings' on:

• Debug > GDScript:
  • Unassigned Variable: Error
  • Untyped Declaration: Error
  • Unsafe Property Access: Error
  • Unsafe Method Access: Error
  • Unsafe Cast: Warn
  • Unsafe Call Argument: Error
  • Narrowing Conversion: Ignore

Sources

I didn't come up with most of these changes, so here's a list of links I reference a lot:

• Godot Official Documentation about static typing
• This article by Allen Pestaluky about Godot Static Typing
• The official documentation of godot-tools
• This reddit post