DevUtils for VS Code (by Techwasti)

A developer toolbox directly inside Visual Studio Code. Offline-first, privacy-focused, zero external network dependency utility suite for everyday developer tasks.

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🚀 Features

DevUtils brings common developer utilities directly into VS Code via both an Interactive Webview Dashboard, Command Palette / Context Menu, and Keyboard Shortcuts:

1. Encoders & Decoders

   • Base64 (Text & UTF-8 safe)
   • URL Encode / Decode
   • HTML Entities Encode / Decode
   • Hex Converter (Text <-> Hex)
   • JWT Decoder & Inspector (Header, Payload Claims, Expiry verification)

2. Formatters & Beautifiers

   • JSON Formatter & Minifier with syntax validation
   • JSON Stringify & Escape / Parse Stringified JSON (handles escaped JSON string payloads)
   • YAML Formatter & Prettifier
   • YAML ⇄ JSON Bidirectional Converter
   • YAML ⇄ Java .properties Bidirectional Converter
   • XML Formatter & Minifier
   • SQL Query Formatter (keywords uppercase, clauses formatted)
   • CSV ⇄ JSON bidirectional converter

3. Data Manipulation & Transformation

   • JSON Flatten & Unflatten (hierarchical nested objects ⇄ single-level dotted keys)
   • Delimiter Switcher (converts between CSV, TSV / Excel tab, Pipe |, and Semicolon ;)
   • JSON Query, Filter & Projection (supports condition filtering like price > 50 and projections like [*].name)

4. Difference Checker & Comparison

   • Text Diff Checker (line-by-line colored diff with addition/deletion counts)
   • JSON Diff Checker (normalizes & formats before computing diffs)
   • YAML Diff Checker (normalizes & formats before computing diffs)
   • VS Code Native Diff Editor Integration (DevUtils: Diff: Open VS Code Diff Viewer)

5. Generators & Identifiers

   • UUID / GUID Generator (RFC 4122 v4)
   • Nanoid Generator
   • Cryptographic Hash & Checksum (SHA-256, MD5, SHA-1)
   • Lorem Ipsum Generator (paragraphs & sentences)

6. Time & Date Tools

   • Unix Epoch Timestamp <-> Human Readable Date / ISO 8601
   • Insert Current Epoch (seconds & milliseconds)

7. Text & Line Utilities

   • Case Converters (camelCase, snake_case, kebab-case, PascalCase, CONSTANT_CASE, Title Case)
   • Line Sorter (A-Z, Z-A)
   • Deduplicate Lines
   • Text Statistics (Characters, Words, Lines, Byte size)

8. API & Code Generation Tools

   • cURL to Code Converter (JavaScript fetch & Python requests)
   • JSON to TypeScript Interface Generator
   • Cron Expression Explainer & Humanizer

9. QA & Tester Utilities

   • Mock Test Data Generator (Users, Products, Orders in JSON or CSV)
   • Regular Expression Tester & Explainer with captured groups and pattern presets
   • HTTP Status Code & API Header Reference with QA verification test checklists

10. Color & Web Helpers

• HEX <-> RGB Converter with live color swatch preview

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⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

Utility	Windows / Linux Shortcut	macOS Shortcut	Context
Open DevUtils Dashboard	Ctrl + Alt + D	Cmd + Alt + D	Global
Base64 Encode	Ctrl + Alt + B then E	Cmd + Alt + B then E	Active Selection
Base64 Decode	Ctrl + Alt + B then D	Cmd + Alt + B then D	Active Selection
JSON Format / Prettify	Ctrl + Alt + J then F	Cmd + Alt + J then F	Editor
JSON Minify	Ctrl + Alt + J then M	Cmd + Alt + J then M	Editor
JWT Token Inspector	Ctrl + Alt + J then W	Cmd + Alt + J then W	Global
Generate UUID v4	Ctrl + Alt + U	Cmd + Alt + U	Editor cursor
Insert Current Epoch	Ctrl + Alt + T	Cmd + Alt + T	Editor cursor
Sort Lines A-Z	Ctrl + Alt + S	Cmd + Alt + S	Active Selection

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🛠️ How to Use & Practical Examples

DevUtils is designed to work seamlessly without leaving your workflow:

3 Quick Ways to Use Any Tool:

1. Command Palette: Press Ctrl + Shift + P (or Cmd + Shift + P) and type DevUtils: to pick any tool.
2. Right-Click Context Menu: Select text, right-click, and choose DevUtils Toolbox.
3. Interactive Dashboard: Press Ctrl + Alt + D (or Cmd + Alt + D) to open the tabbed UI with live preview and "Load Sample" buttons.

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💡 Real-World Examples

1. SQL Query Formatter (DevUtils: SQL: Format Query)

• Before (messy single-line query):

  select u.id, u.name, o.total from users u left join orders o on u.id = o.user_id where u.active = 1 and o.status = "complete" order by o.total desc limit 10

• After running DevUtils:

  SELECT u.id, u.name, o.total
  FROM users u
    LEFT JOIN orders o ON u.id = o.user_id
  WHERE u.active = 1
    AND o.status = "complete"
  ORDER BY o.total DESC
  LIMIT 10

2. CSV to JSON Converter (DevUtils: CSV: Convert CSV to JSON)

• Before (CSV table):

  id,product,price,in_stock
  1,VS Code Extension,0.00,true
  2,Offline Toolbox,0.00,true

• After running DevUtils:

  [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "product": "VS Code Extension",
      "price": 0,
      "in_stock": true
    },
    {
      "id": 2,
      "product": "Offline Toolbox",
      "price": 0,
      "in_stock": true
    }
  ]

3. JSON Prettifier & Minifier (DevUtils: JSON: Format / Prettify)

• Before (Unformatted JSON string):

  {"name":"Techwasti","tools":["Base64","JSON","SQL","JWT"],"active":true}

• After running DevUtils Format (Ctrl + Alt + J then F):

  {
    "name": "Techwasti",
    "tools": [
      "Base64",
      "JSON",
      "SQL",
      "JWT"
    ],
    "active": true
  }

4. JSON Stringify & Parse Escaped JSON (DevUtils: JSON: Stringify & Escape / DevUtils: JSON: Parse Stringified / Escaped JSON)

• Use Case: Quickly escape JSON objects into a single escaped string suitable for API payloads, environment variables, or databases; or unescape ugly escaped JSON strings ("{\"user\":\"alice\",\"role\":\"admin\"}") back into clean, formatted JSON with one click.

5. YAML ⇄ Properties Converter (DevUtils: YAML: Convert YAML to Properties / Properties to YAML)

• YAML:

  server:
    port: 8080
    host: localhost
  spring:
    datasource:
      url: jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/db

• Converted Properties:

  server.port=8080
  server.host=localhost
  spring.datasource.url=jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/db

6. JWT Inspector (DevUtils: JWT: Inspect & Decode Token)

• Run command and paste any Bearer JWT token. DevUtils instantly decodes the Header and Payload claims into a new formatted JSON editor preview, and alerts you whether the token is currently Valid or Expired.

7. Case Converters (DevUtils: Case: Convert to camelCase / snake_case / kebab-case)

• Select user registration service and convert instantly:
  • camelCase: userRegistrationService
  • CONSTANT_CASE: USER_REGISTRATION_SERVICE
  • kebab-case: user-registration-service
  • PascalCase: UserRegistrationService

8. Convert cURL to Fetch / Python (DevUtils: cURL: Convert to JavaScript Fetch)

• Convert any raw curl command into production-ready JavaScript fetch(...) or Python requests.post(...) without any external tools.

9. JSON to TypeScript Interfaces (DevUtils: JSON: Generate TypeScript Interfaces)

• Select or open any JSON response and generate typed interfaces with recursive child types and clean exports.

10. Cron Expression Humanizer (DevUtils: Cron: Humanize & Explain Expression)

• Turns */15 9-17 * * 1-5 into "Every 15 minutes, between hours 9-17, Monday through Friday".

11. Difference Checker (Dashboard & Native Diff Viewer)

• Webview Dashboard Diff: Compare two pieces of text, JSON documents, or YAML configurations directly side-by-side with color highlighting (diff-added and diff-removed) and summary addition/deletion statistics.
• Native VS Code Diff Viewer (DevUtils: Diff: Open VS Code Diff Viewer): Launches VS Code's rich native diff editor comparison tabs for two input texts with custom language modes (e.g. json, yaml, javascript, or plaintext).

12. Mock Test Data Generator (DevUtils: QA: Generate Mock Data)

• Generate realistic mock datasets for testing in JSON Array or CSV format. Choose from schemas:
  • Users: Realistic names, emails, phones, roles (ADMIN, USER), and cities.
  • Products: E-commerce catalog items with categories, prices, ratings, and SKUs.
  • Orders / Transactions: Order IDs, totals, currencies, and payment methods.

13. Regular Expression Tester (DevUtils: QA: Test Regular Expression)

• Live test regex patterns with flags (g, i, m) directly against test text.
• Displays match counts, exact match indices, and all captured groups (Group 1, Group 2, etc.).
• Includes 1-click presets for common validation checks: Email, URL, IPv4, UUID v4, Strong Password, Phone, ISO Date, and Hex Color.

14. HTTP Status Code & API Header Reference (DevUtils: QA: Lookup HTTP Status Code & Header)

• Instant lookup across 1xx, 2xx, 3xx, 4xx, and 5xx status codes with official RFC definitions and QA Verification Tips (e.g. what headers to assert, response body checks, and edge cases to test).

15. JSON Flatten & Unflatten (DevUtils: Data: Flatten JSON / Unflatten JSON)

• Flatten deeply nested JSON into simple dotted keys ("user.address.city": "Berlin"), and reconstruct dotted keys back into nested JSON hierarchies.

16. Delimiter Switcher (DevUtils: Data: Convert Delimiter)

• Convert tabular data between Comma (CSV), Tab (TSV / Excel), Pipe (|), and Semicolon (;) with robust quote handling.

17. JSON Query, Filter & Projection (DevUtils: Data: Query & Filter JSON)

• Query JSON objects or arrays with conditions (price > 50, status == "COMPLETED") or property projections ([*].name).

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💻 Compatibility & Local Development

• VS Code Engine Compatibility: >= 1.75.0 (compatible with all modern VS Code, Cursor, and VSCodium versions).
• Node.js: >= 18.x (tested across Node 18, 20, and 22).

Setup

git clone git@github.com:Techwasti-Infotech/dev-utils-VSCode-plugin.git
cd dev-utils-VSCode-plugin
npm install
npm test
npm run compile

Packaging & Publishing

• Package locally to .vsix:

  npm run package

• Install local .vsix in VS Code:

  code --install-extension dev-utils-vscode-plugin-0.2.0.vsix

• Automated CI/CD Publishing: Set the VSCE_PAT (Personal Access Token from Azure DevOps / VS Code Marketplace) in your GitHub Repository Secrets (Settings > Secrets and variables > Actions). Trigger the Release & Publish VS Code Extension workflow or create a GitHub Release tag to automatically package, attach the VSIX artifact, and publish to the VS Code Marketplace.

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📄 License

MIT License - Copyright (c) 2026 Techwasti Infotech (techwastiinfotech@gmail.com).