How to open Visual Studio Code from the command line on OSX?

The docs mention an executable called code, but I'm not sure where I can find that so I can put it on my path. The zip I downloaded from the VSCode site did not include any such executable. (I am able to run the .app just fine.)

Is this a Windows-only thing?

Solution 1:

From the Visual Studio Code Setup page:

Tip: If you want to run VS Code from the terminal by simply typing 'code', VS Code has a command, Shell Command: Install 'code' command in PATH, to add 'code' to your $PATH variable list.

After installation, launch VS Code. Now open the Command Palette (F1 or ⇧+⌘+P on Mac) and type shell command to find the Shell Command: Install 'code' command in PATH command.

After executing the command, restart the terminal for the new $PATH value to take effect. You'll be able to simply type 'code .' in any folder to start editing files in that folder.

Solution 2:

⚡️ The Easy Solution.

1. Download, install and open Visual Studio Code.
2. Open the Command Palette (⌘ + ⇧ + P on Mac) OR View ❯ Command Palette

🌟 3. Type shell command to find Shell Command: Install 'code' command in PATH command

4. Install it and you're done

📟 Here's a complimentary GIF.

After that, you can use code or code . in the terminal.

code

Peace! ✌️

If you'd like to go a little bit further and learn a couple of great tips/tricks for using the VSCode CLI, I made a YouTube video on my workflows.

Solution 3:

If you want to open a file or folder on Visual Studio Code from your terminal, iTerm, etc below are the commands which come as default when you install Visual Studio Code

To open Visual Studio Code from command line

code --

To open the entire folder/directory

code .

To open a specific file

code file_name
eg:- code index.html