R Extension for Visual Studio Code

This VS Code extension provides support for the R programming language, including features such as R language service based on code analysis, interacting with R terminals, viewing data, plots, workspace variables, help pages, managing packages, and working with R Markdown documents.

The R and R Markdown syntaxes are located in a slibing package vscode-R-syntax.

Go to the wiki to view the documentation of the extension.

What's new in 3.0.0-rc

Version 3.0.0 introduces a major architectural shift for session watching:

• sess R Package: Replaces the legacy file-based IPC with a modern, in-memory WebSocket architecture using JSON-RPC 2.0.
• Better Performance and Reliability: No more OS-level file watchers. Communication is faster and more robust.
• Automatic Installation: The extension will prompt you to install the sess package when you start an R session if it is not available.

See the sess package README for more details on the protocol.

Quickstart

1. Install R (>= 3.4.0) on your system. For Windows users, Writing R Path to the registry is recommended in the installation.

2. Install the languageserver package from R.

   install.packages("languageserver")

3. Install this R extension from the VS Code Marketplace or the Open VSX Registry.

   code --install-extension REditorSupport.r

4. Create an R file and start coding!

Recommended extras

Steps 1-3 above are all that's required to get started with R in VS Code. But we also recommend the following software for a fully optimized R + VS code experience:

• Install an interactive plotting backend for a better R graphics experience:

  • jgd: Lightweight JSON graphics device with native vscode-R integration.
  • httpgd: SVG-based graphics device served via HTTP and WebSockets.

• arf: A modern R console with many features: syntax highlighting, multiline editing, vi/emacs keybindings, R version switching, etc. Successor to radian written in Rust.

• Complementary VS Code extensions:

  • Quarto: the official Quarto plugin for VS Code.
  • VSCode-R-Debugger: enables VS Code's debugging facilities for R scripts.

Please consult the relevant installation wiki pages for your OS (Windows | macOS | Linux) for more detailed instructions.

Features

• Snippets for R and R Markdown.

• R Language Service: Code completion, function signature, symbol highlight, document outline, formatting, definition, diagnostics, references, and more.

• Interacting with R terminals: Sending code to terminals, running multiple terminals, working with remote servers.

• Package development: Build, test, install, load all and other commands from devtools.

• Keyboard shortcuts: Built-in and customizable keyboard shortcuts.

• Workspace viewer: Environment pane to show global variables in the attached R session.

• Help pages viewer: Viewing R help pages and searching help topics.

• Package management: Installing and removing R packages.

• Session symbol hover and completion.

• Data viewer: Viewing data.frame or matrix in a grid or a list structure in a treeview.

• Plot viewer: Interactive plot viewer with support for jgd and httpgd backends, plus a standard PNG/SVG fallback.

• Webpage viewer: Viewing htmlwidgets such as interactive graphics and visual profiling results.

• Browser viewer: Viewing interactive shiny apps.

• R Markdown support: R Markdown chunk highlighting, chunk navigation, execute commands, and preview.

• RStudio add-in support: Run supported RStudio add-ins in VS Code with a live R session.

• Full support of Remote Development via SSH, Containers and WSL.

Questions, issues, feature requests, and contributions

• If you have a question about accomplishing something in general with the extension, please ask on Stack Overflow.

• If you find a problem or have a feature request with the extension, please find out if there is a current issue you may upvote or otherwise file an issue.

• Contributions are always welcome! Please see the contributing guide for more details.