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Cover image for Peacock - Late Night Coding FTW
John Papa
John Papa

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Peacock - Late Night Coding FTW

Flashback

A while back I created a theme for VS Code called Winter is Coming. I learned how to do this by reading this great guide on theming in the VS Code docs. I still use it today (I love the dark versions). It taught me a lot about how to customize colors in VS Code. I then started using this to help solve another problem I had: quickly and visually differentiating between VS Code instances

I'm often working on multiple code projects an articles I am writing in markdown. My worflow is to open different separate VS Code instances for each, as they are often unrelated to each other. As my mind shifts between the work, I find myself cycling through the instances and it takes me a bit of time to identify which instance I want to in focus.

About Last Night

I was working on 4 apps at once last night, along with several articles in I am crafting in markdown using VS Code. This motivated me to complete this project

After I had a working extension completed, I created a simple animated gif and shared it on twitter to see if anyone else was interested. Then I went to bed.

I woke up this morning to more positive reactions than from the community (thank you). I also received many great contributions already (thank you again!).

Special credit to the VS Code team and their incredibly helpful guide for creating extensions

Try Peacock Out

If you are interested in trying out Peacock, you can find it here in the marketplace. It is currently in preview, which means there may be dragons ahead.

  • Get the extension here
  • Contribute to GitHub repository here)

peacock icon

Worst case, this extension is just something I'll use, and that's OK. But if you like it too, please give it a try and submit feedback in GitHub. You can open issues or grab an open issue and help contribute.

Thanks!

Cross posted to johnpapa.net

Top comments (22)

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edisonywh profile image
Edison Yap • Edited

Man I was looking for something exactly like this! Worst was when I had multiple rails console opened at each tab and they all look identical.

Have a question though, does it work if I have my VS Code in full screen? (Mac)

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john_papa profile image
John Papa

Not yet. Preview just does title bar. I have an open issue on the repository to consider what other settings should be applied.

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joaopms profile image
João

Can you style the status bar? That might be a (perhaps better) alternative!

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john_papa profile image
John Papa

Yes - there is an open issue where I am gathering ideas for what should be colored. Please add your thoughts.

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john_papa profile image
John Papa

... and ... version 0.0.7 now has more options for coloring

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theblairwitch profile image
Blair McKee

I love it! I manage websites for multiple companies and often keep multiple windows open at a time. Makes switching so much easier. TY for sharing :)

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john_papa profile image
John Papa

Thanks! I'm happy you like it

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benjiboy13 profile image
Benjamin Gil Flores

That plugin you did looks great men, but atm am not that pro and i work on a single App at once.

I will sure download it once im ready to work on different projects at the same time.

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john_papa profile image
John Papa

Have you tried using VS Code to edit text files too? Articles, notes for you todo's for the day, etc? Just curious. I love it for all text editing

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benjiboy13 profile image
Benjamin Gil Flores • Edited

I havent tried it yet, sounds like a good idea, how do you normally wirte up this text files?, do you write the challenges for the day, or something like that?

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john_papa profile image
John Papa

I Use markdown in vs code for articles.

For daily notes I use markdown or it could just be text.

And often thought the day I have ideas one notirs I want to store.

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Sloan, the sloth mascot
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john_papa profile image
John Papa

you're welcome

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redtgrlily profile image
Kaitlyn McCormick

Love the coloration of the theme!

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john_papa profile image
John Papa

Thanks!

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andy profile image
Andy Zhao (he/him)

Nice! Simple and intuitive.

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vblazenka profile image
Vedran Blaženka

Thanks for this. It's really useful. Cheers! :)

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john_papa profile image
John Papa

you're welcome, cheers

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baily__case profile image
Baily Case

I don't think I will ever use Peacock mainly because I don't ever have multiple windows like that.
BUT, I love the theme and am totally using it now.

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john_papa profile image
John Papa

No worries :)

Thanks for using the theme

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vintharas profile image
Jaime González García

Looks really cool and useful! Thank you for building it and sharing! 😀👍

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subodhkumares profile image
Subodh Kumar

Thanks a lot for this...i was actually looking for something like this!!!