# IDEs

Wails aims to provide a great development experience. To that aim, we now support generating IDE specific configuration
to provide smoother project setup.

Currently, we support [Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/) but aim to support other IDEs such as Goland.

## Visual Studio Code

```mdx-code-block
<p className="text--center">
  <img
    src={require("@site/static/img/vscode.webp").default}
    style={{ width: "75%" }}
  />
</p>
```

When generating a project using the `-ide vscode` flags, IDE files will be created alongside the other project files.
These files are placed into the `.vscode` directory and provide the correct configuration for debugging your application.

The 2 files generated are `tasks.json` and `launch.json`. Below are the files generated for the default vanilla project:

```json title="tasks.json"
{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "build",
      "type": "shell",
      "options": {
        "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}"
      },
      "command": "go",
      "args": [
        "build",
        "-tags",
        "dev",
        "-gcflags",
        "all=-N -l",
        "-o",
        "build/bin/myproject.exe"
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```

```json title="launch.json"
{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "name": "Wails: Debug myproject",
      "type": "go",
      "request": "launch",
      "mode": "exec",
      "program": "${workspaceFolder}/build/bin/myproject.exe",
      "preLaunchTask": "build",
      "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
      "env": {}
    }
  ]
}
```

### Configuring the install and build steps

The `tasks.json` file is simple for the default project as there is no `npm install` or `npm run build` step needed.
For projects that have a frontend build step, such as the svelte template, we would need to edit `tasks.json` to
add the install and build steps:

```json title="tasks.json"
{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "npm install",
      "type": "npm",
      "script": "install",
      "options": {
        "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}/frontend"
      },
      "presentation": {
        "clear": true,
        "panel": "shared",
        "showReuseMessage": false
      },
      "problemMatcher": []
    },
    {
      "label": "npm run build",
      "type": "npm",
      "script": "build",
      "options": {
        "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}/frontend"
      },
      "presentation": {
        "clear": true,
        "panel": "shared",
        "showReuseMessage": false
      },
      "problemMatcher": []
    },
    {
      "label": "build",
      "type": "shell",
      "options": {
        "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}"
      },
      "command": "go",
      "args": [
        "build",
        "-tags",
        "dev",
        "-gcflags",
        "all=-N -l",
        "-o",
        "build/bin/vscode.exe"
      ],
      "dependsOn": ["npm install", "npm run build"]
    }
  ]
}
```

:::info Future Enhancement

In the future, we hope to generate a `tasks.json` that includes the install and build steps automatically.

:::
