Multirun - VS Code Extension for Multiple Debug Configurations

Multirun is a Visual Studio Code extension that lets you run multiple launch configurations, debug sessions, and terminal scripts together from one Activity Bar panel.

Useful for full-stack projects, microservices, backend/frontend setups, and complex debugging workflows.

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Features

• Run groups of launch configurations and/or terminal scripts with one click
• Parallel or sequential execution per group, with optional delay between steps
• Stop groups — kill all debug sessions and terminals in a group at once
• Live status indicators — running entries are highlighted in the tree view
• Environment variable support — load from .env files or inline env map per script entry
• Auto-reload — the view updates automatically when you edit multirun.json
• Visual config editor — open the built-in webview to edit your groups without touching JSON

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Getting Started

1. Install the extension
2. Open the Multirun panel in the Activity Bar (rocket icon)
3. Click the Edit Config button to open .vscode/multirun.json
4. Define your groups and click Run ▶

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Configuration

Multirun reads from .vscode/multirun.json in your workspace root. A config file is created automatically with an example on first use.

{
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "groups": [
    {
      "name": "Full Stack",
      "sequential": false,
      "delay": 500,
      "configurations": [
        {
          "name": "Launch API",
          "type": "launch",
          "launchConfig": "Launch API"
        },
        {
          "name": "Frontend Dev Server",
          "type": "script",
          "command": "npm run dev",
          "cwd": "packages/frontend",
          "envFile": ".env.local",
          "env": {
            "NODE_ENV": "development"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Group options

Field	Type	Description
name	string	Display name shown in the tree view
sequential	boolean	Run entries one after another (true) or all at once (false)
delay	number	Milliseconds to wait between entries in sequential mode
configurations	array	List of launch or script entries

Entry options

Field	Type	Description
name	string	Display name and identifier for the entry
type	"launch" | "script"	Launch a debug config or run a terminal command
launchConfig	string	Name of the entry in .vscode/launch.json (launch type only)
command	string	Shell command to run (script type only)
cwd	string	Working directory for the terminal (script type only)
envFile	string	Path to a .env file to load environment variables from
env	object	Inline environment variables (merged on top of envFile)

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Commands

Command	Description
Multirun: Refresh	Reload the tree view
Multirun: Run Group	Start all entries in a group
Multirun: Stop Group	Stop all entries in a group
Multirun: Edit Config	Open the visual config editor

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Requirements

• VS Code ^1.80.0

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License

MIT