Sync Pragmas

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Settings Sync supports per-os and per-host inline settings and keybindings by using Sync Pragmas.

Ignoring Certain Settings

You can ignore certain settings in settings.json or keybindings.json by using the @sync-ignore pragma.

// settings.json

{
  // @sync-ignore
  "window.zoomLevel": "1", /* won't upload to gist */
}

// keybindings.json

[
  // @sync-ignore
  {
    "key": "alt+v",
    "command": "workbench.action.closeActiveEditor",
    "when": "editorTextFocus"
  }, /* won't upload to gist */
]

Keywords

There are 3 different keywords that can be used with Sync Pragmas:

• host
• os
• env

Per-Host

After configuring a hostname for your computer, you can use the host keyword to only include certain parts of settings.json or keybindings.json.

// settings.json on "home" computer

{
  // @sync host=home
  "window.zoomLevel": "1"
}

Per-OS

The os keyword can also be used to only include certain parts of settings.json or keybindings.json.

Currently, there are 3 operating systems supported:

• windows
• linux
• mac

// settings.json on linux

{
  // @sync os=linux
  "window.zoomLevel": "1"
}

Per-Env

Settings Sync can check for the existence of environmental variables using process.env to only include certain parts of settings.json or keybindings.json.

// settings.json on a computer with the environmental variable "CODE_ZOOM_1" set

{
  // @sync env=CODE_ZOOM_1
  "window.zoomLevel": "1"
}

Example Syntax

Settings (settings.json)

// settings.json on "home" computer running Linux

{
  // @sync host=home os=linux
  "window.zoomLevel": "1",
  // @sync host=work os=windows
  // "window.zoomLevel": "0",
}

// settings.json on "work" computer running Windows

{
  // @sync host=home os=linux
  // "window.zoomLevel": "1",
  // @sync host=work os=windows
  "window.zoomLevel": "0",
}

// settings.json on "work-pc" running Linux

{
  // @sync os=linux host=work-pc
  "python.autoComplete.extraPaths": [
      "/blah/blah/python2.7/site-packages",
      "/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages",
  ],
  // @sync os=windows host=home-pc
  // "python.autoComplete.extraPaths": [
  //    "C:\\Program Files\\blah\\site-packages",
  //],
}

Keybindings (keybindings.json)

// keybindings.json on "home" computer running macOS

[
  // @sync host=home os=mac
  {
    "key": "alt+v",
    "command": "workbench.action.closeActiveEditor",
    "when": "editorTextFocus"
  },
  // @sync host=work os=linux env=CODE_WORK
  // {
  //   "key": "alt+q",
  //   "command": "workbench.action.closeActiveEditor",
  //   "when": "editorTextFocus"
  // }
]

// keybindings.json on "work" computer running Linux

[
  // @sync host=home os=mac
  // {
  //   "key": "alt+v",
  //   "command": "workbench.action.closeActiveEditor",
  //   "when": "editorTextFocus"
  // },
  // @sync host=work os=linux env=CODE_WORK
  {
    "key": "alt+q",
    "command": "workbench.action.closeActiveEditor",
    "when": "editorTextFocus"
  }
]

Setup Hostname

A hostname can be configured by editing syncLocalSettings.json. To open it, simply run > Sync: Advanced Options => Edit Configuration and change hostName from null to your desired hostname.

// syncLocalSettings.json

{
  ... other settings
  "hostName": "<YOUR HOSTNAME>",
}

How It Works

Before uploading your settings from settings.json or keybindings.json, all settings with inline pragmas are uncommented. Then, when your settings or keybindings are synchronized, all the settings or keybindings values with pragmas that don't match with your machine (OS, hostName or ENV variables) will be commented. Therefore VS Code won't apply them.