My Opinionated VS Code Setup — Fast, Quiet, and Intentional

If you’ve been using VS Code for a while, you eventually stop chasing shiny extensions and start shaping the editor around how your brain works. This is my current setup: opinionated, minimal where it matters, and optimized for flow, clarity, and clean diffs. I’ll walk through the key settings, why I chose them, and a few optional twists you can adopt.

Philosophy

Three guiding principles:

1. Reduce cognitive noise (visual clutter, surprise popups, irrelevant hints).
2. Automate the boring stuff (format, whitespace hygiene, commit friction).
3. Make intentional actions fast (force pushing, smart commit paths, navigation).

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Editor Experience

editor.formatOnSave: true I trust my formatter. Every save is a cleanup checkpoint; it prevents stylistic bikeshedding and keeps diffs small. If a tool misbehaves, I’ll toggle it per-language rather than globally.

editor.guides.bracketPairs: "active" & editor.guides.bracketPairsHorizontal: "active" I write nested code (JS, config files, sometimes JSON). Active guides help my eyes snap to structure without turning the editor into a picket fence of lines. Horizontal guides are underrated—they clarify multi-line constructs like chained functions or deeply nested objects.

Disabled extras: editor.minimap.enabled: false, editor.stickyScroll.enabled: false The minimap is just a guilt meter showing how big the file got. Sticky scroll is neat, but I prefer jump-to-symbol and breadcrumbs instead of pinning headers visually. Less motion, more intent.

editor.wordWrap: "on" I read a lot of Markdown and comments. Hard horizontal scrolling kills flow. Wrap it, but keep line-length discipline in code via formatter rules.

Pro tip: If you collaborate with folks who hate wrap, consider enabling wrap only for markdown, plaintext, and json via language-specific settings.

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Extension & Recommendation Hygiene

extensions.ignoreRecommendations: true I don’t want a slot machine of extension suggestions mid-session. My environment evolves deliberately, not reactively.

github.copilot.nextEditSuggestions.enabled: false I like AI assistance, but I disable speculative hover “next edits” to avoid nudges when I’m still thinking. Pull help on demand; don’t let it push.

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File Discipline

files.autoSave: "onFocusChange" This is the “save when you context-switch” mode. Prevents forgotten unsaved buffers, but doesn’t interrupt rapid iterative edits like afterDelay can.

Whitespace hygiene trio: files.insertFinalNewline: true files.trimFinalNewlines: true files.trimTrailingWhitespace: true These keep diffs trustworthy. No more accidental noise at EOF or stray spaces triggering CI lint jobs. Silent janitor.

Optional tweak: If you work with Makefiles or languages where trailing spaces matter, scope trimTrailingWhitespace exclusions via .editorconfig.

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Git & GitHub Workflow

git.allowForcePush: true Force pushing is a power tool. I rebase and refine history regularly on feature branches (never on shared stable). This setting removes the extra friction but demands discipline.

git.enableSmartCommit: true Stage-less commits with a single shortcut when everything is intentional. Pair this with habits: run tests, glance at diff, save all, commit.

git.blame.statusBarItem.enabled: true Inline blame can be overwhelming; I prefer ephemeral, opt-in context. Status bar blame lets me hover when curious instead of reading a cemetery of gray annotations.

git.confirmSync: false If I hit Sync, I meant it. Reducing yes/no dialog fatigue.

Consider enabling git.autofetch if you haven’t; pairs well with quick sync.

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Window & Workbench

workbench.startupEditor: "none" Startup silence. No welcome screen, just the code I came for. My muscle memory opens recent projects via the command palette anyway.

window.openFilesInNewWindow: "on" & window.openFoldersInNewWindow: "on" Keeps context separation sharp. A new folder is a new mental sandbox—not muddled into an existing session.

workbench.tree.indent: 20 Slightly larger indent improves scan-ability of deeply nested folder structures. Treat the file explorer like a well-typeset outline.

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Chat / AI

chat.agent.enabled: true I want AI available—but as a tool, not an interruption. This complements my other disabled speculative features; assistance remains intentional.

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Commented-Out Choices (Intentional Restraint)

Some settings are commented out (font sizes, tab size, suggest folders, terminal font). That’s deliberate: they’re toggles I may re-enable for pairing, presenting, or deep refactor sessions. Comments act as a lightweight personal preset ledger.

Example reversible tweak block:

// Presentation mode:
// "editor.fontSize": 16,
// "terminal.integrated.fontSize": 14,
// "editor.minimap.enabled": true

Keep these in comments—fast context switching without hunting docs.

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Micro-Optimizations You Could Add

If you resonate with this setup, consider layering:

– Diagnostics calm mode: editor.inlineSuggest.enabled: false if AI inline ghosts distract you.

• Explorer clarity: "explorer.compactFolders": false for explicit folder depth.
• Safer force-push culture: combine local freedom with remote branch protection.
• Intent logging: enable "files.hotExit": "onExitAndWindowClose" if you often juggle unsaved scratch buffers.

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A Minimal .editorconfig Companion

Pair whitespace rules in both VS Code and collaborators’ editors:

root = true

[*]
end_of_line = lf
insert_final_newline = true
trim_trailing_whitespace = true
charset = utf-8

[*.md]
trim_trailing_whitespace = false

Stops Markdown lists from losing intentional double-space line breaks.

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Why This Matters

Your editor is a thinking surface. Every popup dismissed, every accidental diff artifact cleaned manually, every needless glare of a minimap is attrition—tiny energy leaks. Settings like these patch the leaks so creative and critical work gets the wattage instead.

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Copy/Paste Starter Block

If you want a fast jump-off, adapt:

{
"editor.formatOnSave": true,
"editor.guides.bracketPairs": "active",
"editor.guides.bracketPairsHorizontal": "active",
"editor.minimap.enabled": false,
"editor.stickyScroll.enabled": false,
"editor.wordWrap": "on",
"extensions.ignoreRecommendations": true,
"files.autoSave": "onFocusChange",
"files.insertFinalNewline": true,
"files.trimFinalNewlines": true,
"files.trimTrailingWhitespace": true,
"git.allowForcePush": true,
"git.blame.statusBarItem.enabled": true,
"git.enableSmartCommit": true,
"github.copilot.nextEditSuggestions.enabled": false,
"window.newWindowProfile": "Default",
"window.openFilesInNewWindow": "on",
"window.openFoldersInNewWindow": "on",
"workbench.startupEditor": "none",
"workbench.tree.indent": 20,
"chat.agent.enabled": true,
"git.confirmSync": false
}

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Closing

This setup won’t fit everyone, and that’s the point—settings are a userland dialect for how you approach code. Treat them as evolving artifacts of your workflow maturity. Borrow what resonates, ignore what doesn’t, and annotate your choices so future-you remembers the why.

Got a contrarian setting you swear by? Drop it in the comments—love comparing mental models.

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