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VS Code build configurations are defined ways to compile, run, and debug your code. They’re specified through JSON files in the .vscode folder and tell VS Code how to execute build tasks for your project.

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Creating Your First Build Task

You can configure VS Code to run external tasks via .vscode/tasks.json. FlowDeck supports all build operations to be configured this way.
1

Open Command Palette

Press ⌘⇧B to open the build task selector
2

Select default task

Choose the task you want to run by default
3

Configuration created

FlowDeck will create a .vscode/tasks.json with the selected configuration
4

Customize as needed

Add multiple tasks, assign different shortcuts, or run specific ones by default

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Basic Configuration

Here’s a basic tasks.json configuration for FlowDeck: 
{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "type": "flowdeck",
      "action": "build",
      "problemMatcher": [
        "$flowdeck-watch",
        "$flowdeck-xcodebuild-default",
        "$flowdeck-xcbeautify-errors",
        "$flowdeck-xcbeautify-warnings"
      ],
      "label": "flowdeck: build",
      "detail": "Build the app",
      "group": {
        "kind": "build",
        "isDefault": true
      }
    }
  ]
}

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Available Task Actions

FlowDeck supports the following actions in tasks:
ActionDescription
buildBuild the project
build-and-runBuild and run the project
runRun without building
cleanClean build artifacts
testRun tests
build-for-testingBuild test targets

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Multiple Build Configurations

You can define multiple build tasks for different scenarios: 
{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "type": "flowdeck",
      "action": "build",
      "label": "Debug Build",
      "detail": "Build with debug configuration",
      "group": {
        "kind": "build",
        "isDefault": true
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "flowdeck",
      "action": "build",
      "label": "Release Build",
      "detail": "Build with release configuration",
      "presentation": {
        "reveal": "always",
        "panel": "new"
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "flowdeck",
      "action": "clean",
      "label": "Clean Build",
      "detail": "Clean all build artifacts"
    }
  ]
}

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Problem Matchers

FlowDeck includes several problem matchers to parse build output:
  • $flowdeck-watch - Monitors for build system changes
  • $flowdeck-xcodebuild-default - Parses standard Xcode build errors
  • $flowdeck-xcbeautify-errors - Enhanced error formatting
  • $flowdeck-xcbeautify-warnings - Enhanced warning formatting

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Task Groups

You can organize tasks into groups for easier access: 
{
  "group": {
    "kind": "build",     // or "test"
    "isDefault": true    // Makes this the default for ⌘⇧B
  }
}

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Keyboard Shortcuts

After creating tasks, you can assign keyboard shortcuts:
  1. Open Keyboard Shortcuts (⌘K ⌘S)
  2. Search for “Tasks: Run Task”
  3. Add a keybinding for your specific task

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Tips and Best Practices

  • Default Task - Set one task as default for quick access with ⌘⇧B
  • Presentation Options - Control how output is displayed
  • Problem Matchers - Use appropriate matchers for better error detection
  • Task Dependencies - Chain tasks using the dependsOn property
For more information about VS Code tasks, see the official VS Code documentation.