Visual Studio Code

VS Code is a good fit for Riot when you want a conventional GUI editor around a CLI-first workflow.

The right way to think about it is:

• VS Code is the editing surface
• Riot is the source of truth for build, check, format, fix, test, and run

That distinction prevents a lot of confusion.

Recommended setup

1. open the workspace root
2. install the extension from editors/vscode-riot-ml
3. use the integrated terminal for Riot commands

The extension should help the editor understand the Riot workspace. It should not replace the Riot CLI.

What the editor should do well

Once the setup is healthy, VS Code should make these loops cheap:

• riot check
• riot fmt
• riot fix
• riot build
• riot test

That usually means:

• tasks or command palette entries for common commands
• diagnostics that reflect Riot’s own model
• formatting wired to Riot’s formatter path

Common failure modes

Most bad VS Code experiences with toolchains come from one of these:

• opening the wrong directory
• relying on generic OCaml assumptions instead of Riot workspace semantics
• using editor-specific formatting or diagnostics that disagree with Riot

When that happens, simplify. Use the integrated terminal and get the CLI path correct first, then add editor integrations back on top.