Just

Table of Contents

1. How It Works
2. Supported File Patterns
3. Task Execution
4. Example Justfile
5. Configuration
   1. Enabling / Disabling
   2. Application Path
   3. Recipe Groups
6. Tooltips from Doc-Comments
7. Troubleshooting
   1. No tasks appear in the tree view
   2. Tasks from a justfile are missing after editing
   3. Phantom task names like for or echo appeared previously
8. Related

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Just is a handy command runner for project-specific tasks. It is similar to Make but focused purely on running commands (not building files). Recipes are defined in a justfile using a clean, readable syntax with support for parameters, dependencies, doc-comments, and attributes.

How It Works

Just discovery uses the just CLI’s built-in JSON dump rather than a static text parser. For each justfile found in the workspace, the extension invokes:

just --justfile <path> --dump --dump-format json

The JSON response contains every recipe defined in the file — including its name, optional doc-comment, and attributes. Each recipe is surfaced as a runnable entry in the tree view.

The just executable must be installed and accessible on your system PATH (or configured via workspaceTasks.applicationPath.just) for recipe discovery to work. If the executable is not found or returns an error, no tasks are discovered from that justfile and a warning is written to the Workspace Tasks output channel.

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Supported File Patterns

The extension scans for justfiles anywhere in the workspace using the following patterns:

Pattern	Description
**/justfile	Standard justfile
**/.justfile	Hidden justfile
**/*.just	Imported sub-module files

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Task Execution

When you run a Just recipe, the extension invokes:

just --justfile <path> <recipeName>

The working directory is set to the directory containing the justfile so that just can resolve any imported files and relative paths correctly.

Run with arguments example:

If a recipe accepts parameters you can pass them via Run with Args:

just --justfile /path/to/justfile deploy production

---

Example Justfile

# Build the project
build:
    cargo build --release

# Run tests
test:
    cargo test

# Deploy to an environment
deploy env='staging':
    echo "Deploying to ..."
    ./scripts/deploy.sh 

# Run the full CI pipeline
[group('CI')]
ci: build test
    echo "CI pipeline complete"

# Clean build artefacts
[group('CI')]
clean:
    rm -rf target/

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Configuration

Enabling / Disabling

Just support is enabled by default. To disable it, add the following to your VS Code settings:

{
  "workspaceTasks.enabledTaskTypes": {
    "justfile": false
  }
}

Application Path

If just is not on your system PATH, or you want to use a specific version, configure the executable path:

{
  "workspaceTasks.applicationPath.just": "/usr/local/bin/just"
}

On Windows, if the path ends with just (without .exe), the .exe extension is appended automatically. The ~/ prefix is expanded to your home directory on all platforms.

See Application Paths — Just for the full reference.

Recipe Groups

Just supports a [group('name')] attribute on recipes (available since just 1.13.0). When workspaceTasks.groups.justfile.enabled is true, recipes that carry a group attribute are shown as collapsible group nodes in the task tree. Recipes without a group attribute are always shown at the top level, even when groups are enabled.

{
  "workspaceTasks.groups.justfile.enabled": true
}

See Display & Interaction — Grouping — justfile groups for details.

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Tooltips from Doc-Comments

When a recipe has a doc-comment (# comment on the line immediately above the recipe header), the comment text is shown as a tooltip when hovering over the task item in the tree view.

# Build the project in release mode
build:
    cargo build --release

Hovering over the build task shows Build the project in release mode.

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Troubleshooting

No tasks appear in the tree view

1. Check that just is installed. Run just --version in a terminal to verify.
2. Check the application path setting. If just is not on your PATH, set workspaceTasks.applicationPath.just to the full path of the executable.
3. Check the output channel. Open the Output panel and select Workspace Tasks from the dropdown. Warning messages from recipe discovery are logged there (e.g. if just --dump fails for a particular justfile).
4. Check that just is enabled. Verify workspaceTasks.enabledTaskTypes.justfile is true (it is true by default).
5. Reload the workspace. Use the Workspace Tasks: Refresh command (Ctrl+Shift+P → Workspace Tasks: Refresh).

Tasks from a justfile are missing after editing

The tree refreshes automatically on file change events. If tasks do not appear, use Workspace Tasks: Refresh to force a reload.

Phantom task names like for or echo appeared previously

Earlier versions of the extension used a regex-based parser that incorrectly matched recipe body lines containing shell keywords as recipe names. This was fixed by switching to just --dump --dump-format json for all recipe discovery. If you see unexpected tasks, ensure you are running an up-to-date version of the extension.

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Related

• Task Runners overview — all supported task runners
• Application Paths — configure the just executable path
• Grouping — justfile groups — show recipes under group nodes