VS Code Extension

The SDF extension by Etapsky brings first-class .sdf file support to Visual Studio Code.

Installation

From the marketplace: Open the Extensions panel (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X), search for SDF Etapsky, and click Install.

From the CLI:

code --install-extension etapsky.sdf-vscode

Commands

Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) and type SDF to see all available commands.

Command	Description
`SDF: Inspect`	Open an inspection panel showing `meta.json`, `data.json`, `schema.json`, and signature status for the active `.sdf` file
`SDF: Validate`	Validate the active `.sdf` file and display results in the Output panel
`SDF: Preview PDF`	Open the visual layer (`visual.pdf`) in VS Code’s built-in PDF viewer

Features

Syntax highlighting

.sdf files open with syntax highlighting for the embedded JSON layers. The extension registers the .sdf file association automatically — no manual language mode selection required.

Schema hover

Hover over any field in data.json to see its JSON Schema description, type, and constraints from the bundled schema.json.

Inline validation

The extension runs validation in the background as you work. Schema violations appear as red underlines on the offending fields in data.json. Hover over an underlined field to see the violation message, which matches the SDF error code from the validator.

A dedicated SDF panel in the Activity Bar shows a tree view of the open .sdf archive:

invoice.sdf
├── meta.json          ← document_id, document_type, sdf_version
├── data.json          ← invoice_number, issuer, recipient, totals
├── schema.json        ← validation rules
├── visual.pdf         ← visual layer
└── signature.sig  ✓  ← signature present and valid

Requirements

Visual Studio Code 1.85 or later
The sdf-cli binary is optional but recommended. If installed, the extension delegates validation to sdf validate for consistent results with CI.

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
`sdf.cliPath`	`sdf`	Path to the `sdf` binary. Set this if `sdf` is not on your `PATH`.
`sdf.validateOnSave`	`true`	Run validation automatically when you save a `.sdf` file.
`sdf.showTreeView`	`true`	Show the SDF sidebar panel.

Configure these in VS Code settings (Ctrl+, / Cmd+,), under the SDF section.