Run JavaScript in Visual Studio Code

Is there a way to execute JavaScript and display the results using Visual Studio Code?

For example, a script file containing:

console.log('hello world');

I assume that Node.js would be needed but can’t work out how to do it?

By Visual Studio Code I mean the new Code Editor from Microsoft – Not code written using Visual Studio.

Answer

This solution intends to run currently open file in node and show output in VSCode.

I had the same question and found newly introduced tasks useful for this specific use case. It is a little hassle, but here is what I did:

Create a .vscode directory in the root of you project and create a tasks.json file in it. Add this task definition to the file:

{
    "version": "0.1.0",
    "command": "node",
    "isShellCommand": true,
    "args": [
        "--harmony"
    ],

    "tasks": [
        {
            "taskName": "runFile",
            "suppressTaskName": true,
            "showOutput": "always",
            "problemMatcher": "$jshint",
            "args": ["${file}"]
        }
    ]
}

Then you can: press F1 > type `run task` > enter > select `runFile` > enter to run your task, but I found it easier to add a custom key binding for opening tasks lists.

To add the key binding, in VSCode UI menu, go ‘Code’ > ‘Preferences’ > ‘Keyboard Shortcuts’. Add this to your keyboard shortcuts:

{
    "key": "cmd+r",
    "command": "workbench.action.tasks.runTask"
}

Of course you can select whatever you want as key combination.

UPDATE:

Assuming you are running the JavaScript code to test it, you could mark your task as a test task by setting its isTestCommand property to true and then you can bind a key to the workbench.action.tasks.test command for a single-action invocation.

In other words, your tasks.json file would now contain:

{
    "version": "0.1.0",
    "command": "node",
    "isShellCommand": true,
    "args": [
        "--harmony"
    ],

    "tasks": [
        {
            "taskName": "runFile",
            "isTestCommand": true,
            "suppressTaskName": true,
            "showOutput": "always",
            "problemMatcher": "$jshint",
            "args": ["${file}"]
        }
    ]
}

…and your keybindings.json file would now contain:

{
    "key": "cmd+r",
    "command": "workbench.action.tasks.test"
}