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Zephyr IDE

Developer Guide

This guide covers the development setup for the Zephyr IDE VS Code extension.

For more developer documentation, please visit the GitHub repository.

Prerequisites

Getting Started

1. Clone git repository

  • Clone this git repository in the current directory of your choice using:
git clone https://github.com/mylonics/zephyr-ide.git

2. Install package dependencies

  • Change directories to the zephyr-ide directory cloned in Step 1:
cd zephyr-ide
  • Install all the required packages locally to zephyr-ide/node_modules using:
npm install
  • (Optional) Install all the required packages globally using:
npm install -g

This eliminates the need to reinstall packages after a git clean of this directory, or any future git clone of this repository.

It is recommended that you run npm install [-g] again after switching git checkouts, as the required packages may have changed between revisions.

3. Open the Extension in VS Code

  • Run Visual Studio Code, and close any existing workspaces.
  • Select ‘File’->‘Add Folder to Workspace…’ from the top menu bar
  • Browse and select to the zephyr-ide directory that was cloned in Step 1.

4. Run and Debug in VS Code

  • Use the Explorer view to open the source file zephyr-ide/src/extension.ts
  • Run the extension and start debugging:
    • Select ‘Run’->‘Start Debugging (F5)’ from the top menu bar, or
    • Use the Run and Debug view, and click the green ‘Start Debugging (F5)’ button next to the configuration ‘Run Extension (zephyr-ide)’
  • A separate VS Code instance will launch to allow you to start debugging the Zephyr IDE extension.

Publishing

The release process has been streamlined to require only one GitHub Action to be triggered.

Release Process

  1. Trigger the Bump Version Workflow

    • Navigate to Actions → “Bump Version” in the GitHub repository
    • Click “Run workflow”
    • Select the bump type (patch, minor, or major)
    • Select the release type:
      • none - Only bump version (no release)
      • release - Create a full release to the main branch
      • prerelease - Create a pre-release to the pre-release branch

  2. Automated Steps

    • A PR is created to merge the version bump into the develop branch with auto-merge enabled (SQUASH)
    • After the PR is merged to develop, if a release type was specified:
      • The workflow automatically creates a PR from develop to main (for release) or pre-release (for prerelease)
      • Auto-merge is enabled on this PR (REBASE)
    • When the release PR is merged, the extension is automatically published to:
      • VS Code Marketplace
      • Open VSX Registry

For emergency releases or testing, you can manually publish using vsce:

Pre-release

Terminal window
vsce publish --pre-release patch

Full Release

Terminal window
vsce publish patch

Note: Manual publishing is not recommended as it bypasses the automated workflow and may lead to inconsistencies.