This page compares Workspace Tasks (darthminos.workspace-tasks) with Task Explorer (spmeesseman.vscode-taskexplorer) — two popular VS Code extensions for discovering and running workspace tasks and scripts.
Task Explorer information is based on the v2.13.2 source commit (3edc102 ) and the current marketplace listing (v3.0.12). Workspace Tasks information reflects the current release.
Overview Task Type Support Task Discovery & Filtering UI & Display Task Execution Favorites & Recent Tasks Compound Tasks (Queues) Environment Variables & Secrets Task History & Metrics Performance Configuration Distribution & Availability Summary Workspace Tasks Task Explorer Publisher darthminos (camalot) spmeesseman Marketplace ID darthminos.workspace-tasksspmeesseman.vscode-taskexplorer License Apache 2.0 Custom (paid license planned) Open VSX ✅ Available ❌ Not listed VS Code minimum 1.105.1 1.50+ (v2) / 1.102+ (v3) Pricing Free & open source Free (Preview); paid license planned for full features
Task / Script Type Workspace Tasks Task Explorer WST Planned VS Code Tasks (.vscode/tasks.json) ✅ ✅ User-level Tasks (tasks.json) ✅ ✅ npm (package.json) ✅ ✅ Yarn (package.json) ✅ ✅ (v3+) pnpm (package.json) ✅ ❌ Bun (package.json) ✅ ❌ Gulp ✅ ✅ Grunt ✅ ✅ Apache Ant ✅ ✅ Apache Maven ✅ ✅ (v2.2+) Gradle ✅ ✅ (v1.15+) Make / Makefile ✅ ✅ (v1.10+) Composer (PHP) ✅ ✅ (v2.6+) Pipenv (Python Pipfile) ✅ ✅ (v2.4+) Poetry (pyproject.toml) ✅ ❌ Poe the Poet (pyproject.toml) ✅ ❌ Cargo (Rust) ✅ ❌ cargo-make (Makefile.toml) ✅ ❌ Just (justfile) ✅ ❌ mise (mise.toml) ✅ ❌ Cake Build (.cake) ✅ ❌ MSBuild (.csproj) ✅ ❌ Docker / Dockerfile ✅ ❌ Docker Compose ✅ ❌ GitHub Actions (via act) ✅ ❌ Bash / Shell scripts (.sh, .bash, .zsh, .fish) ✅ ✅ (v1.12+) PowerShell (.ps1) ✅ ✅ (v1.12+) Batch/CMD (.bat, .cmd) ✅ ✅ (v1.12+) Python scripts ✅ ✅ (v1.12+) Ruby scripts ✅ ✅ (v1.12+) Perl scripts ✅ ✅ (v1.12+) ✅ NSIS scripts ❌ ✅ (v1.12+) ❌ Shell scripts without extension ✅ ✅ (v2.6+) ✅ v1.8.0 Jupyter Notebooks ✅ ❌ Custom Workspace Tasks (.workspace-tasks.json) ✅ ❌ App-Publisher ❌ ✅ (v1.19+) ❌ TSC / TypeScript ✅ ✅ (v3+) ESLint ✅ ✅ (v3+) NodeJS scripts ✅ ✅ (v3+) v1.8.0 Laravel ❌ ✅ (v3+, via collaborator) ❌ GitHub Actions (act) integration ✅ ❌ External Provider API ❌ ✅ (v2.7+) ❌
Feature Workspace Tasks Task Explorer WST Planned Auto-discovery on workspace open ✅ ✅ Multi-root workspace support ✅ ✅ Glob-based exclusion patterns ✅ ✅ Per-type glob include patterns ✅ (path configs) ✅ (Ant, Bash) .tasksignore file support✅ ❌ Add to excludes from tree context menu ✅ ✅ Enable/disable per task type ✅ ✅ Configurable discovery depth ✅ ❌ File-cache for faster startup ✅ ✅ (v3+) Restore tree collapsed/expanded state ✅ ✅ (v3+)
Feature Workspace Tasks Task Explorer WST Planned Sidebar view (Activity Bar) ✅ ✅ Explorer panel view ✅ ✅ Hierarchical tree (workspace → type → file → task) ✅ ✅ Task grouping by separator character ❌ ✅ (v1.23+, up to 15 levels in v3) Hide individual tasks ✅ ❌ Hide task groups ✅ ❌ Animated running-task icon ✅ ✅ Status bar message while task runs ❌ ✅ (v1.26+) Configurable click action (run vs. open) ✅ ✅ (v1.30+) Task icons (per type) ✅ ✅ Custom icons via settings ❌ ✅ ✅ v1.8+ Task Monitor (fullscreen webview console) ❌ ✅ (v3+) ❌
Feature Workspace Tasks Task Explorer WST Planned Run task ✅ ✅ Stop task ✅ ✅ (v1.6+) Restart task ✅ ✅ (v1.20+) Run with arguments ✅ ✅ (v1.30+) Run without terminal ✅ ✅ (v1.30+) Keep terminal open after stop ✅ ✅ (v1.21+) Open terminal for running task ✅ ✅ (v1.24+) Stop dependsOn child tasks ✅ ❌ Configurable terminal presentation ✅ ❌ Graceful stop delay ✅ ❌
Feature Workspace Tasks Task Explorer WST Planned Favorites (pin tasks) ✅ ✅ (v2.0+) Clear favorites ✅ ✅ (v2.0+) Persistent favorites across sessions ✅ ✅ Settings Sync for favorites ✅ ❌ Recent / Last tasks list ✅ ✅ (v1.25+) Configurable recent task count ✅ ❌ Clear recent/last tasks ✅ ✅ (v2.0+) Recent Tasks / Latest Tasks ✅ ✅ (v1.17+)
Feature Workspace Tasks Task Explorer WST Planned Named compound task sequences (Queues) ✅ ❌ Multiple independent queues ✅ ❌ Sequential execution mode ✅ ❌ Parallel execution mode ✅ ❌ Drag & drop task reordering in queues ✅ ❌ Persistent queues across sessions ✅ ❌ Settings Sync for queues ✅ ❌ VSCode native compound task support ✅ ❌
Note: Task Explorer’s roadmap includes creating “composite tasks” via multi-selection (v3.x planned), but this is not yet implemented.
Feature Workspace Tasks Task Explorer WST Planned Inject env vars into tasks ✅ ❌ 14-layer precedence env resolution ✅ ❌ Secrets stored in VS Code SecretStorage ✅ ❌ Encrypted data persistence ✅ ✅ (v3+, optional) Manage secrets from tree (store/update/delete/copy) ✅ ❌ Secrets via Command Palette ✅ ❌
Feature Workspace Tasks Task Explorer WST Planned Task execution history log ✅ ❌ Sortable history table view ✅ ❌ Per-task duration trends ✅ ❌ Per-task success/failure rates ✅ ❌ Interactive dashboard with charts ✅ ❌ Stats & runtime tracking ✅ ✅ (v3+) Stats & runtime quick reports ✅ ✅ (v3+) Task parsing / detail reports (webview) ✅ ✅ (v2+)
Feature Workspace Tasks Task Explorer WST Planned v1.6.0: 98.5% perf improvement (large workspaces) ✅ — File caching for fast startup ✅ ✅ (v3+) Internal npm provider (avoids VSCode provider lag) ✅ ✅ (v3+) Internal tsc/grunt/gulp providers ✅ ✅ (v3+) Async/await task loading ✅ ✅ (v2.0+)
Feature Workspace Tasks Task Explorer WST Planned Grouped settings categories ✅ (5 groups) ✅ (v3+) Executable path overrides ✅ ✅ Per-type enable/disable ✅ ✅ Configurable glob patterns per type ✅ ✅ (Ant, Bash) Tree grouping/separator settings ✅ ✅ Debug / verbose logging ✅ ✅
Feature Workspace Tasks Task Explorer WST Planned Visual Studio Marketplace ✅ ✅ Open VSX Registry ✅ ❌ Cursor ✅ ❌ VSCodium ✅ ❌ Windsurf / Kiro / Antigravity ✅ ❌
Workspace Tasks focuses on breadth of task type support (20+ types including modern tools like Bun, mise, Just, Docker, GitHub Actions), developer quality-of-life features (compound task queues, environment/secrets management, task history with charts, Settings Sync), and broad editor compatibility (Open VSX, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.).
Task Explorer has deep roots in script-based task discovery including unique types like NSIS, Perl, and shell scripts without extensions. Its v3 release introduces a Task Monitor webview console, internal npm/tsc/grunt/gulp providers for improved performance, stats/runtime tracking, and an External Provider API for third-party extensions to register their own task types. A paid license model is planned for full-feature access.
Workspace Tasks Task Explorer WST Planned Best for Teams wanting modern toolchain support, compound queues, secrets management, and broad editor compatibility Developers needing deep script-type support, external provider APIs, or the Task Monitor console Licensing Free & open source (Apache 2.0) Free during Preview; paid license planned Open VSX / broader editors ✅ Yes ❌ No Compound task sequences ✅ Yes (named queues) ❌ Not yet (planned) Secrets management ✅ Yes ❌ No GitHub Actions (local) ✅ Yes (via act) ❌ No External provider API ❌ No ✅ Yes ❌ Task Monitor (webview) ❌ No ✅ Yes (v3+) ❌