MULTI_PROJECTS.md

Working with multiple projects

For big projects, a user will typically have one or more projects to build, flash or monitor. The ESP-IDF extension follows the Visual Studio Code Workspace file schema to identify all projects folders inside the current workspace (which would be the root folder). This is how settings are loaded:

You can select the current project by clicking the ESP-IDF Current Project Item in the Visual Studio Code Status bar or by pressing F1 and typing ESP-IDF: Pick a workspace folder for IDF commands which will determine the folder where to obtain the ESP-IDF Settings such as current device USB port, ESP-IDF path, etc.

Projects folders and workspace level settings are defined in some <name>.code-workspace file such as:

{
  "folders": [
    {
      "path": "./project1"
    },
    {
      "path": "./project2"
    }
  ],
  "settings": {
    "idf.port": "/dev/ttyUSB1",
    "idf.espIdfPath": "${env:HOME}/esp/esp-idf"
  }
}

Settings in the root folder's .code-workspace can be used when your ESP-IDF Current Project directory doesn't contain a .vscode/settings.json file.

If you want to open a project with multiple subprojects in Visual Studio Code, click Menu File then Open Workspace which will open a window to select the .code-workspace file describing your workspace. You can either manually create this .code-workspace file and define all sub folders (projects) or when you click Menu File --> Save Workspace as... which doesn't automatically add any folder inside the current directory. You can add a folder to the workspace when you click Menu File --> Add Folder to Workspace....

NOTE: You still need to manually select the corresponding debug configuration in the Debug tab of your current workspace folder. There is a project directory suffix on each debug configuration.

Example

Consider the following multiple projects directory tree example:

---> /my-projects-root
------> /my-projects-root/project1
------> /my-projects-root/project2
------------> /my-projects-root/project2/.vscode/settings.json

and my-ws.code-workspace:

{
  "folders": [
    {
      "path": "/my-projects-root/project1"
    },
    {
      "path": "/my-projects-root/project2"
    }
  ],
  "settings": {
    "idf.port": "/dev/ttyUSB1",
    "idf.espIdfPath": "${env:HOME}/esp/esp-idf"
  }
}

1. If you open Visual Studio Code, click Menu File and run Open Workspace and open my-ws.code-workspace you will see just the folders defined in this workspace (/my-projects-root/project1 and /my-projects-root/project2).
   • For project1, Visual Studio Code will use the settings from my-ws.code-workspace first then other required settings from the User Settings.
   • For project2, Visual Studio Code will use those settings from /my-projects-root/project2/.vscode/settings.json first, then all required (and not found) settings from my-ws.code-workspace and finally in the Visual Studio Code User settings.
2. If you just open the /my-projects-root or /my-projects-root/project1 directory Visual Studio Code will use the User Settings.
   • If you just open the /my-projects-root/project2 directory Visual Studio Code will use the /my-projects-root/project2/.vscode/settings.json then other required settings from the User Settings.

     NOTE: If you open /my-projects-root, any of the sub projects will not be recognized as Workspace Folders, you need to add them to my-ws.code-workspace (manually or using File --> Add Folder to Workspace...) and open this workspace as specified before.