Extension Pack for Java Auto Config

Overview

Just install this extension and start Java development right out of the box with zero configuration.

No need to install JDK, Gradle or Maven, no need to set JAVA_HOME or PATH environment variables.
Automatically configure, update, and fix multiple Java versions (at least the four latest LTS).
Includes extensions for de facto standard Java development from Microsoft, Red Hat and others.

GitHub Issues
- Microsoft: Extension Pack for Java | Maven | Gradle | Debug | Test | Project Manager | IntelliCode
- Red Hat: Language Support for Java | XML
- Broadcom: Spring Boot Extension Pack | Initializr | Dashboard

Open Terminals by Java Version

This extension adds the Java versions available in your current environment to the VS Code terminal drop-down. Select the Java version you want to use, open terminals, and you can check the complete version with the following commands. The latest versions of gradle and mvn are available, but it is generally recommended to use wrappers (gradlew, mvnw) for each project.

java -version
gradle -v
mvn -v

Specify Project Java Version

The Extension Pack for Java Auto Config has been extended to automatically configure the user (global) settings.json at startup and apply the Java version selected in Select Default Profile to settings.json (⭐). To specify the Java version individually, edit the following files.

No Build Tools (vscode-java)
(*1) User settings.json

// Java runtimes common settings
"java.configuration.runtimes": [
  {
    "name": "JavaSE-1.8",
    "path": "C:\\Program Files\\java\\jdk-1.8.0_402",
  },
  {
    "name": "JavaSE-11",
    "path": "C:\\Program Files\\java\\jdk-11.0.21",
  },
  {
    "name": "JavaSE-17",
    "path": "C:\\Program Files\\java\\jdk-17.0.12"
  },
  {
    "name": "JavaSE-21",
    "path": "C:\\Program Files\\java\\jdk-21.0.8",
    "default": true //⭐ For No Build Tools projects
  }
]

Gradle (vscode-gradle)
(*1) User settings.json (Gradle execution runtime)

"java.import.gradle.java.home": "C:\\Program Files\\java\\jdk-21.0.8" //⭐

(*2) Project build.gradle (options.release)

def javaVersion = 17
java.sourceCompatibility = javaVersion // Make it recognize to VS Code
compileJava.options.release = javaVersion // JEP 247: API validation

Toolchain allows you to specify exactly which JDK version to build. Note that you cannot use the latest Java version without using the toolchains.

java.toolchain.languageVersion = JavaLanguageVersion.of(17)

Maven (vscode-maven)
(*1) User settings.json (Maven execution runtime)

"maven.terminal.customEnv": [
  {
    "environmentVariable": "JAVA_HOME",
    "value": "C:\\Program Files\\java\\jdk-21.0.8" //⭐
  }
]

(*2) Project pom.xml (maven.compiler.release)

<properties>
    <!-- <maven.compiler.source>17</maven.compiler.source> -->
    <!-- <maven.compiler.target>17</maven.compiler.target> -->
    <maven.compiler.release>17</maven.compiler.release><!-- JEP 247: API validation -->
</properties>

Toolchain allows you to specify exactly which JDK version to build.

(*1) The settings.json can be overridden by project (workspace).
(*2) The java.configuration.runtimes that best matches this version will be used. Setting the release ensures the specified version syntax and api is used regardless of which compiler version actually performs the compilation.

JEP 182: Retiring javac -source and -target / JEP 247: Compile for Older Platform Versions
Since Spring Boot 3.1, Maven <java.version> value is set to <maven.compiler.release>.
Enabling Java preview features

Features

The JDK, build tools, terminal and other settings are automatically configured and updated at startup according to the current environment, as shown below. If you want to disable all auto-configuration features, set javaAutoConfig.enabled to false.

JDK Auto-Configuration

Automatically configure multiple versions of the JDK and build tools. If there are multiple JDKs of the same version, the latest minor version among them is used. If you installed the JDK manually or encountered a configuration error, restart VS Code or execute Command Palette >Java: Clean Java Language Server Workspace ≫ Reload and delete. These apply to User settings.json (VS Code global), but can be manually edited to customize them. If you want to customize your settings even further, consider using workspace settings or profiles.

Auto-fix invalid JDK configuration (e.g. /foo/jdk-21.0.8/bin -> /foo/jdk-21.0.8)
Auto-remove configuration entries when JDK uninstalled or version path changed
Auto-scan from OS specific locations, Package Managers and Toolchains (See next section)
Auto-detect environment variables JAVA_HOME, JDK_HOME and PATH
Auto-download Adoptium LTS JDKs, Gradle, Maven if not installed
Auto-update auto-downloaded JDKs, Gradle, Maven to the latest version

JDK auto-scan targets (Best in the industry)

OS specific locations: Adoptium, BellSoft, Corretto, Microsoft, Oracle, Red Hat, Semeru, Zulu etc...
Package Managers: asdf, Chocolatey, jabba, jEnv, Homebrew, IntelliJ, Scoop, SDKMAN, vfox etc...
Toolchains: Gradle jdks directory, Maven toolchains.xml
Own Support: Windows C:\Java\*, D:\Java\* (e.g. C:\Java\jdk-21.0.8)

The feature automatically fixes errors such as

Java Language Server requires a JDK xx+ to launch itself.
This setting is deprecated, please use 'java.jdt.ls.java.home' instead.
Invalid runtime for JavaSE-xx: The path points to a missing or inaccessible folder
The java.jdt.ls.java.home variable defined in Visual Studio Code settings points to a missing or inaccessible folder

For Included Extensions

Configuration Name	Configured Value [Precedence]
Language support for Java
java.configuration.runtimes (Issues) ⭐ default	Set all detected and downloaded JDKs (default: Latest LTS) [`settings.json` > `JAVA_HOME`]
java.jdt.ls.java.home (Issues) 🛠️	Remove setting if Red Hat embedded JRE exists [`settings.json` > Embedded JRE > `JDK_HOME` > `JAVA_HOME` > `PATH`]
~~java.home~~	Remove as it has been replaced by `java.jdt.ls.java.home`
Spring Boot Tools
spring-boot.ls.java.home (Issues) 🛠️	Remove setting if Red Hat embedded JRE exists [`settings.json` > Embedded JRE > `JAVA_HOME` > `PATH`]
Gradle for Java
java.import.gradle.java.home (Issues) ⭐	Set latest LTS JDK if unset [`settings.json` > `java.jdt.ls.java.home` > `JAVA_HOME` > `PATH`]
java.import.gradle.home (Issues)	Set auto-downloaded gradle if unset [`gradlew` > `settings.json` > `PATH` > `GRADLE_HOME`]
Maven for Java
maven.terminal.customEnv (Issues) ⭐	Set latest LTS JDK if unset [`settings.json` > `JAVA_HOME`]
maven.executable.path (Issues) 📝	Set auto-downloaded maven if unset (If you want to use `mvnw`, set "" manually) [`settings.json` > `mvnw` > `PATH`]

For Optional Extensions

Configuration Name	Configured Value [Precedence]
IBM Z Open Editor zopeneditor.JAVA_HOME (Issues) 🛠️📝	Set previous LTS if unset [`settings.json` > `JAVA_HOME` > `PATH`]
PlantUML plantuml.java (Issues) 🛠️	Set stable LTS if unset [`settings.json` > `PATH`]
Runtime Server Protocol UI rsp-ui.rsp.java.home (Issues) 🛠️	Set stable LTS if unset [`settings.json` > `JDK_HOME` > `JAVA_HOME` > Windows Registry > `PATH`]
Salesforce Extension Pack salesforcedx-vscode-apex.java.home (Issues) 🛠️	Set previous LTS if unset [`settings.json` > `JDK_HOME` > `JAVA_HOME` > Windows Registry > `PATH`]
Scala (Metals) metals.javaHome (Issues) 🛠️	Set previous LTS if unset [`settings.json` > `JAVA_HOME` > Windows Registry > `PATH`]

⭐ The Java version specified in Select Default Profile is set.
🛠️ The language server runtime used by VS Code extensions. Not for building or running projects.
📝 This setting cannot be overridden per workspace (project).

Auto-Download Support

Automatic download is enabled if the extensions.autoUpdate configuration is NOT false. Java downloads multiple versions, but Gradle/Maven downloads only the latest version. If you use an older version of Gradle/Maven due to compatibility issues, please introduce gradlew (Compatibility) or mvnw (Compatibility) in your project or manually set java.import.gradle.home or maven.executable.path in settings.json.

Adoptium JDK - Latest LTS 4 versions if not installed (VS Code supported versions)
Gradle - Latest version
Maven - Latest version

JDK auto-download supports the following platforms:

Windows x64, ARM Emulation
macOS x64, aarch64
Linux x64, aarch64

It is saved in the following location.

OS	Extension global storage location
Windows	`%APPDATA%\Code\User\globalStorage\pleiades.java-extension-pack-jdk\`
macOS	`$HOME/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/pleiades.java-extension-pack-jdk/`
Linux	`$HOME/.config/Code/User/globalStorage/pleiades.java-extension-pack-jdk/`

e.g. Auto-configured User settings.json

Command Palette >Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON)

// Project Runtimes (multiple versions)
"java.configuration.runtimes": [
  {
    "name": "JavaSE-1.8", // Adoptium (Auto-download)
    "path": "C:\\Users\\<UserName>\\AppData\\Roaming\\Code\\User\\globalStorage\\pleiades.java-extension-pack-jdk\\java\\8"
  },
  {
    "name": "JavaSE-11", // Corretto (Auto-scan)
    "path": "C:\\Program Files\\Amazon Corretto\\jdk11.0.18_10"
  },
  {
    "name": "JavaSE-17", // Oracle (Auto-scan)
    "path": "C:\\Program Files\\java\\jdk-17.0.12"
  },
  {
    "name": "JavaSE-21", // Adoptium (Auto-scan)
    "path": "C:\\Program Files\\Eclipse Adoptium\\jdk-21.0.8-hotspot",
    "default": true // Runtime to use for No build tools projects
  }
],
// Gradle Daemon Java Runtime
"java.import.gradle.java.home": "C:\\Program Files\\Eclipse Adoptium\\jdk-21.0.8-hotspot",
// Maven Environment Variables (for GUI context menu)
"maven.terminal.customEnv": [
  {
    "environmentVariable": "JAVA_HOME",
    "value": "C:\\Program Files\\Eclipse Adoptium\\jdk-21.0.8-hotspot"
  }
],

Terminal Auto-Configuration

The terminal dropdown items by Java version are automatically created based on the "java.configuration.runtimes" above. You can easily open a terminal by selecting the Java version from command >Terminal: Create New Terminal (With Profile) or Terminal (Ctrl + `) ≫ Profiles dropdown. Besides java, gradle and mvn commands can also be used. The configured environment variables have no effect outside the terminal, so the system and OS user environment remain clean. The JAVA_HOME and PATH in the auto-configured terminal configuration will always be overridden from the configured runtimes, so if you want to customize it, copy the terminal configuration entry and create a new one.

Configuration Name	Configured Value [Original Default]
terminal.integrated.env.windows (Issues) Windows only ⭐	Set latest LTS if unset [None]
terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.{platform} (Issues)	Set latest LTS runtime name (e.g. `JavaSE-21`) [Windows:`cmd`, Mac:`zsh`, Linux:`bash`]
terminal.integrated.automationProfile.windows (Issues) Windows only	`"path": "cmd"` [null] Suppress error: 'Incorrect parameter format -/d'
terminal.integrated.profiles.{platform} (Issues) ⭐ Mac:`zsh`, Linux:`bash`	Set configured runtimes to terminal [None]
terminal.integrated.enablePersistentSessions (Issues)	`false` [`true`]
terminal.integrated.tabs.hideCondition (Issues)	`never` [`singleTerminal`]
java.test.config > vmArgs (Issues) Windows only	`-Dstdout.encoding=UTF-8`, `-Derrout.encoding=UTF-8` [`undefined`]

e.g. Auto-configured User settings.json

Command Palette >Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON)

// Terminal Default Environment Variables
"terminal.integrated.env.windows": {
    "PATH": "C:\\Program Files\\Eclipse Adoptium\\jdk-21.0.8-hotspot\\bin;${env:PATH}",
    "JAVA_HOME": "C:\\Program Files\\Eclipse Adoptium\\jdk-21.0.8-hotspot"
},
// Terminal Default Profile
"terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.windows": "JavaSE-21",
"terminal.integrated.automationProfile.windows": {
    "path": "cmd"
},
// Terminal Profiles Dropdown
"terminal.integrated.profiles.windows": {
    "JavaSE-1.8": {...},
    "JavaSE-11": {...},
    "JavaSE-17": {
        "overrideName": true,
        "env": {
            "PATH": "C:\\Program Files\\java\\jdk-17.0.12\\bin;${env:PATH}",
            "JAVA_HOME": "C:\\Program Files\\java\\jdk-17.0.12"
        },
        "path": "cmd"
    },
    "JavaSE-21": {
        "overrideName": true,
        "env": {
            "PATH": "C:\\Program Files\\Eclipse Adoptium\\jdk-21.0.8-hotspot\\bin;${env:PATH}",
            "JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS": "-Dstdout.encoding=UTF-8 -Dstderr.encoding=UTF-8", // Windows
            "JAVA_HOME": "C:\\Program Files\\Eclipse Adoptium\\jdk-21.0.8-hotspot"
        },
        "path": "cmd",
        // For Windows, auto-configured Java 19+ terminals are set to `chcp 65001`.
        "args": [
            "/k",
            "chcp",
            "65001"
        ]
    }
}

Auto-Default Settings

Entries that do not have the following configuration in the user settings are automatically set to the default values of Extension Pack for Java Auto Config. To prevent automatic setting, set the Original Default value below. Note that a debug run is required to enable Hot Code Replace (Hot Deploy).

Configuration Name	Original Default	Auto Default
editor.codeActionsOnSave	`{}`	See below
editor.linkedEditing (like Auto Rename Tag)	`false`	`true`
editor.minimap.enabled	`true`	`false`
editor.rulers	`[]`	See below
editor.unicodeHighlight.includeComments	`inUntrustedWorkspace`	`true`
emmet.variables > lang	`en`	OS locale
workbench.colorCustomizations	`{}`	See below
workbench.editor.revealIfOpen	`false`	`true`
workbench.tree.indent	`8`	`20`
files.eol (For Windows)	`auto`	`\n`
`[bat]` > `files.eol`	`auto`	`\r\n`
Language support for Java
java.configuration.detectJdksAtStart	`true`	`false`
java.configuration.updateBuildConfiguration	`interactive`	`automatic`
java.sources.organizeImports.staticStarThreshold	`99`	`1`
Debugger for Java
java.debug.settings.hotCodeReplace	`manual`	`auto`
Code Spell Checker
cSpell.diagnosticLevel	`Information`	`Hint`
Trailing Spaces
trailing-spaces.includeEmptyLines	`true`	`false`

"editor.codeActionsOnSave": {
  "source.organizeImports": true
},
"editor.rulers": [ // RGBA for transparency
  {
    "column": 80,
    "color": "#00FF0010"
  },
  {
    "column": 100,
    "color": "#BDB76B15"
  },
  {
    "column": 120,
    "color": "#FA807219"
  },
],
"workbench.colorCustomizations": {
  "[Default Dark Modern]": {
    "tab.activeBorderTop": "#00FF00",
    "tab.unfocusedActiveBorderTop" : "#00FF0088",
    "textCodeBlock.background": "#00000055", // Markdown preview code block
  },
  "editor.wordHighlightStrongBorder": "#FF6347", // Write-access
  "editor.wordHighlightBorder": "#FFD700", // Read-access
  "editor.selectionHighlightBorder": "#A9A9A9" // Double click selection
},

Language Pack Auto-Installation

The language pack corresponding to the OS locale is installed at the first startup.

cs, de, es, fr, it, ja, ko, pl, ru, tr, zh-hans or zh-hant

License

MIT (c) 2023 Shinji Kashihara (cypher256) @ WILL
Adoptium JDK: https://adoptium.net/docs/faq/#_is_temurin_free_to_use

Thank you

A big thank you to the developers of VS Code and its extensions.

Included Extensions

The Extension Pack for Java is required. Other extensions can be disabled or uninstalled according to your preference. Note that uninstalling Extension Pack for Java Auto Config extension will uninstall all of the following extensions. If you want to set up extensions and configurations by development language, consider Profile. (*) indicates that it will be installed if available in that environment at first startup.

Extension Pack for Java (Microsoft: MIT, Red Hat: EPL) / VS Code Document
Java IntelliSense, debugging, testing, Maven/Gradle support, Lombok and more.
Spring Boot Extension Pack (Broadcom: EPL) / VS Code Document
A collection of extensions for developing Spring Boot applications.
Gradle for Java (Microsoft: MIT) / VS Code Document
Manage Gradle Projects, run Gradle tasks and provide better Gradle file authoring experience in VS Code.
XML (Red Hat: EPL)
XML Language Support by Red Hat (pom.xml etc.).
Code Spell Checker (Street Side Software: GPL)
Spelling checker for source code.
Todo Tree (Gruntfuggly: MIT)
Show TODO, FIXME, etc. comment tags in a tree view.
Live Server (Ritwick Dey: MIT)
Launch a development local Server with live reload feature for static & dynamic pages.
Trailing Spaces (Shardul Mahadik: MIT)
Highlight trailing spaces and delete them in a flash!
Indent-Rainbow (oderwat: MIT)
Makes indentation easier to read.
Rainbow CSV (mechatroner: MIT)
Highlight CSV and TSV files, Run SQL-like queries.
(*) Comment Translate (intellsmi: MIT)
This plugin uses the Google Translate API to translate comments for the VS Code programming language.
(*) Language Pack (Microsoft: MIT) / VS Code Document
A language pack that matches the OS Locale.

Recommended Extensions

The following are not included but are very useful extensions. Try to install it if necessary.

Thunder Client (Ranga Vadhineni: Free)
Lightweight Rest API Client for VS Code.
Error Lens (Phil Hindle: MIT)
Improve highlighting of errors, warnings and other language diagnostics.
SonarLint (SonarSource: GPL) / VS Code Document
Detect and fix quality issues as you write code in C, C++, Java, JavaScript, PHP, Python, HTML and TypeScript.
Checkstyle (ShengChen: GPL) / VS Code Document
Provide real-time feedback about Checkstyle violations and quick fix actions.
Thymeleaf HTML5 Snippets (Lalith Kahatapitiya: GPL)
Most common thymeleaf code snippets for .html file.
Thymeleaf Navigation (Stefan Gründel: GPL)
Navigate Thymeleaf 3 fragments.
Java Server Pages (JSP) (Samuel Weinhardt: MIT)
JSP syntax highlighting for VS Code.
Community Server Connectors (Red Hat: EPL) / VS Code Document
This extension can start, stop, publish, and control servers such as Apache Felix, Karaf, and Tomcat..
GlassIt-VSC (hikarin522: MIT)
VS Code Extension to set window to transparent on Windows and Linux platforms.
GistPad (Jonathan Carter: MIT)
Manage your code snippets and developer notes using GitHub Gists and repositories.

Recommended Gradle/Maven plugin that supports Tomcat hot deployment.

Gradle: Gretty Plugin
Maven: Codehaus Cargo Plugin

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 529 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
.vscode		.vscode
image		image
l10n		l10n
resources		resources
src		src
.eslintrc.json		.eslintrc.json
.gitignore		.gitignore
.vscodeignore		.vscodeignore
LICENSE.md		LICENSE.md
README.md		README.md
README_icon.png		README_icon.png
package-lock.json		package-lock.json
package.json		package.json
package.nls.ja.json		package.nls.ja.json
package.nls.json		package.nls.json
package_note.txt		package_note.txt
tsconfig.json		tsconfig.json

License

cypher256/java-extension-pack

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Extension Pack for Java Auto Config

Overview

Open Terminals by Java Version

Specify Project Java Version

Features

JDK Auto-Configuration

Auto-Download Support

e.g. Auto-configured User settings.json

Terminal Auto-Configuration

e.g. Auto-configured User settings.json

Auto-Default Settings

Language Pack Auto-Installation

License

Thank you

Included Extensions

Recommended Extensions

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