CodVS editor
CodVS is a code editor prepared for Coduva. It is built from Code - OSS, the MIT-licensed open source code of Visual Studio Code. It adds a built-in extension that works with Coduva, the CodVS themes (CodVS Dark and CodVS Light), and a logo from the Coduva family. If you have used Visual Studio Code, the interface will feel familiar.
The work is divided this way: Coduva installs, runs and creates projects for Nginx, PHP and MariaDB. CodVS edits the project files, shows Coduva's status, and lets you manage the services.
Status: in preparation
CodVS is not yet distributed. It is not included in the Coduva installer and will be published as a separate application. It will be released once code signing, automatic updates and a brand review of the name are complete. Until then, Coduva's Editor button opens projects in Visual Studio Code.
Opening from Coduva
The Editor button in Coduva opens the project in CodVS first. If CodVS is not installed, it opens the project in Visual Studio Code, and if that is missing too, in File Explorer. Details: Open in editor.
Coduva view
The Coduva icon in the activity bar opens two sections:
- Projects: your projects in Coduva, with address, PHP and Node.js versions, database and logs. From here you can open a project in the browser, in CodVS or in the project terminal.
- Services: the status of Nginx and MariaDB; start, stop and restart; localhost and phpMyAdmin links.
When Coduva is closed, the view shows "Coduva is not running." and a Start Coduva link appears. If Coduva cannot be found on this computer, a link to the download page is shown.
Status bar
If the open folder is a Coduva project, the status bar shows the project's address and PHP version, for example shop.test · PHP 8.4. If services are stopped, the item appears in the warning color. Clicking it opens the Project actions list: open in browser, terminal, logs, and Artisan and WP-CLI commands. You can hide this item with the coduva.statusBar.enabled setting.
Project terminal
In each integrated terminal you open in a Coduva project, the project's tools are at the start of PATH:
| Command | Version |
|---|---|
php | The PHP selected for the project, using Coduva's php.ini (via PHPRC) |
composer, wp | Coduva's Composer and WP-CLI |
node, npm | The project's Node.js version (.nvmrc or engines.node) |
This is the same environment as Coduva's own project terminal. The Coduva (project PHP) profile in the terminal list always opens with this environment. If you do not want this environment in other terminals, turn off the coduva.terminal.applyEnvironment setting.
Commands
You can reach the Coduva commands by typing Coduva in the command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P). The main ones are:
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| Run Artisan command… | Ready-made commands such as migrate, route:list and make:model, or any command you type |
| Run WP-CLI command… | Commands such as plugin list, cache flush and search-replace |
| Run Composer command… | Commands such as install, require and dump-autoload |
| Run npm command… | Commands such as install, run dev and run build |
| Start all services / Stop all services / Restart all services | Manages Coduva's services |
| Open project in browser, Copy project address | Works with the project's .test address |
| Open Laravel/WordPress log, Open web server error log | Opens the log and goes to the last line |
| Show project in Coduva, Run diagnostics in Coduva | Opens the relevant page in the Coduva window |
Artisan, WP-CLI, Composer and npm commands run in the project terminal. Commands that can delete data (migrate:rollback, migrate:fresh --seed, search-replace) ask for confirmation before they run. Commands run only in workspaces you trust.
PHP language features
CodVS suggests linking the language features to the PHP version of the project you open (once for each project and PHP version). If you accept, or run the Use project's PHP for language features command, the following values are written to the workspace settings:
php.validate.executablePath: built-in PHP validationphp.debug.executablePath: PHP Debug extensionintelephense.environment.phpVersion: PHP Intelephense
You can turn off this suggestion with the coduva.php.suggestConfigure setting.
Extensions
CodVS installs extensions from the Open VSX registry. Microsoft's Visual Studio Marketplace, under its terms of use, can be used only with Microsoft products.
The following extensions are installed automatically on first launch:
| Extension | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Claude Code | Anthropic's AI coding assistant |
| PHP Intelephense | Code completion, go to definition and error checks for PHP |
| PHP Debug | Step-by-step debugging with Xdebug |
| HTML CSS Support | CSS class and id completion in HTML and PHP files |
| EditorConfig | .editorconfig rules |
| DotENV | Syntax coloring for .env files |
HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Emmet support is built into CodVS.
Default extensions are not embedded in the installation; they are installed as user extensions and receive their own updates. An extension you remove is not reinstalled. Extensions that could not be installed because there was no internet connection are retried on the next launch. If you do not want any of them installed, turn off the coduva.extensions.installDefaults setting.
The command Install recommended extensions… opens a checklist based on the project type:
- PHP: PHP DocBlocker
- Laravel: Laravel, Laravel Blade, Blade Formatter, Tailwind CSS IntelliSense
- WordPress: WordPress Hooks
- General: Turkish language pack, ESLint, Prettier, Vue
Xdebug
The PHP Debug extension ships with CodVS, but Coduva 0.2.0 does not install the Xdebug extension for PHP. Per-project Xdebug is planned for v1.x; see the Roadmap.
Microsoft-only extensions (such as Remote - SSH, Live Share, C# Dev Kit and Pylance) do not work in Code - OSS based editors. The extensions needed for PHP development are available on Open VSX.
Extension signatures are not verified, because the verification module is Microsoft-specific and is not in Code - OSS. Extensions are downloaded over HTTPS from open-vsx.org.
AI
The Claude Code extension is installed by default as the AI assistant. To use it, you need to sign in with your Anthropic account. If you do not want it, you can remove the extension; it will not be reinstalled.
GitHub Copilot does not come with CodVS. The built-in AI features of Visual Studio Code are turned off by default.
Privacy and network
- No telemetry. The Code - OSS builds have no telemetry endpoint; CodVS does not send usage data.
- Open VSX: CodVS connects to open-vsx.org when installing extensions and when checking for extension updates.
- Extensions: The extensions you install can open their own connections. For example, Claude Code sends your requests to Anthropic's servers when you use it.
How does it talk to Coduva?
CodVS and Coduva communicate in two ways, without opening a network port:
- Status (Coduva → CodVS): Coduva writes the status of services and projects to
%APPDATA%\Coduva\editor-bridge.json. The file is updated only when its content changes, and CodVS watches it. The file contains project names, addresses, folder paths, PHP and Node.js versions, and log paths. It contains no passwords. - Commands (CodVS → Coduva): CodVS passes service actions and page-open requests through
coduva.exe --codvs-action <action>. If Coduva is open, the request goes to the running window. If it is closed, Coduva starts in the tray and carries out the action.
Directories
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| Program | %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\CodVS |
| Command line | codvs (for example, codvs . in a project folder) |
| Settings | %APPDATA%\CodVS |
| Extensions | %USERPROFILE%\.codvs\extensions |
CodVS uses its own installation identifiers. It can be installed alongside Visual Studio Code, and it does not share settings or extensions with it.
Known limitations
- No code signing; the installer shows a Windows SmartScreen warning.
- No automatic updates.
- Windows x64 only.
Visual Studio Code and VS Code are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. CodVS is not developed or supported by Microsoft.