VS Code setup for R

.lintr

// save to windows-user directory

linters: with_defaults(object_name_linter = NULL,
                       object_length_linter(50),
                       commented_code_linter = NULL,
                       object_usage_linter = NULL,
                       line_length_linter(120),
                       cyclocomp_linter = cyclocomp_linter(50))

keybindings.json

[
    /*
      Keybindings for R Language ------------------------------------------------
    */
  
      // Build RD files for R functions / packages
      {
        "description": "R Build Docs",
        "key": "ctrl+shift+d",
        // "command": "r.document",
        "command": "r.runCommand",
        "args": "devtools::document(roclets = c('rd', 'collate', 'namespace'))",
        "when": "editorTextFocus || terminalFocus"
      },
  
      // Insert pipe-operator
      {
        "description": "R Pipe Operator",
        "key": "ctrl+shift+m",
        "command": "type",
        "args": {"text": " |> "},
        "when": "editorTextFocus || terminalFocus",
      },
      
      // Insert <- assignment
      {
        "description": "R Assignment Arrow",
        "key": "alt+-",
        "command": "type",
        "args": {"text": " <- "},
        "when": "editorTextFocus || terminalFocus",
      },
  
      // Build R *source* package (e.g. for submission to win-builder)
      {
        "description": "R Build Source Package",
        "key": "ctrl+shift+b",
        // "command": "r.build",
        "command": "r.runCommand",
        "args": "devtools::build()",
        "when": "editorTextFocus || terminalFocus",
      },
  
      // Install R package (for developers)
      {
        "description": "R Install Package",
        "key": "ctrl+shift+i",
        // "command": "r.install",
        "command": "r.runCommand",
        "args": "devtools::install(quick=TRUE,upgrade=FALSE)",
        "when": "resourceLangId == 'r'"
      },
  
      // Restart R session, to clean workspace and namespace
      {
        "description": "R Restart Session",
        "key": "ctrl+shift+F10",
        "command": "r.runCommand",
        "when": "editorLangId == 'r'",
        "args": "startup::restart()"
      },
  
      // Loads current package (for developers), local install
      {
        "description": "R Load Package",
        "key": "ctrl+alt+l",
        "command": "r.loadAll",
        "when": "editorLangId == 'r' || editorTextFocus && editorLangId == 'rmd'"
      },
  
      // Update R packages
      {
        "description": "R Update Packages",
        "key": "ctrl+shift+u",
        "command": "r.runCommand",
        "args": "vsCodeSnippets::update_R_packages()",
        "when": "resourceLangId == 'r' || terminalFocus"
      },
  
      // Create reprex (must be in clipboard)
      {
        "description": "R Create Reprex",
        "key": "ctrl+shift+x",
        "command": "r.runCommand",
        "args": "reprex::reprex()",
        "when": "resourceLangId == 'r'"
      },
  
      // Compile report (knit R Script)
      {
        "description": "R Compile Report",
        "key": "ctrl+shift+t",
        "command": "r.runCommand",
        "args": "rmarkdown::render(input=rstudioapi::getSourceEditorContext()$path)",
        "when": "resourceLangId == 'r'"
      },
  
      // Show help for function at cursor position
      {
        "description": "R Show Documentation",
        "key": "f1",
        "command": "r.helpPanel.openForSelection",
        "when": "editorLangId == 'r' || editorTextFocus && editorLangId == 'rmd'"
      },    
  
  
    /*
      Editor-specific keybindings -----------------------------------------------
    */
  
      // View R workspace
      {
        "description": "View: Show R Workspace",
        "key": "ctrl+shift+w",
        "command": "workbench.view.extension.workspaceViewer"
      },
  
      // Format Code
      {
        "key": "ctrl+shift+a",
        "command": "editor.action.formatSelection",
        "when": "editorHasDocumentSelectionFormattingProvider && editorTextFocus && !editorReadonly"
      },
  
      // Show all symbols (objects, ...)
      {
        "key": "ctrl+oem_period",
        "command": "workbench.action.showAllSymbols"
      },
  
      // new R file
      {
        "key": "ctrl+n",
        "command": "r.newFileDocument"
      },
  
      // new file
      {
        "key": "ctrl+shift+n",
        "command": "welcome.showNewFileEntries"
      },
  
      // switch position of panel
      {
        "key": "shift+alt+7",
        "command": "workbench.action.positionPanelRight"
      },
      {
        "key": "shift+alt+8",
        "command": "workbench.action.positionPanelBottom"
      },
  
      // other stuff
      {
        "key": "ctrl+alt+l",
        "command": "quarto.previewShortcut",
        "when": "editorLangId == 'dot' || editorLangId == 'mermaid' || editorLangId == 'quarto'"
      },
      {
        "key": "ctrl+l",
        "command": "workbench.action.terminal.clear",
        "when": "terminalFocus"
      },
      // requires extension "multi-command"
      {
        "key": "ctrl+shift+j",
        "command": "extension.multiCommand.execute",
        "args": { 
          "sequence": [
            "workbench.action.toggleMaximizedPanel",
            "workbench.action.terminal.focus"
            ]
        },
        "when": "editorTextFocus || terminalFocus"
      },
      // lock scrolling, to synch scrolling across editor windows
      {
        "key": "ctrl+t",
        "command": "workbench.action.toggleLockedScrolling"
      },

  
    /*
      Switch default keybindings for these commands -----------------------
    */
  
      {
        "key": "shift+f12",
        "command": "references-view.findReferences",
        "when": "editorHasReferenceProvider"
      },
      {
        "key": "shift+alt+f12",
        "command": "editor.action.goToReferences",
        "when": "editorHasReferenceProvider && editorTextFocus && !inReferenceSearchEditor && !isInEmbeddedEditor"
      },
      {
        "key": "ctrl+oem_5",
        "command": "editor.action.jumpToBracket",
        "when": "editorTextFocus"
      },
      {
        "key": "ctrl+shift+oem_5",
        "command": "workbench.action.splitEditor"
      },
      {
        "key": "alt+oem_5",
        "command": "workbench.action.splitEditorDown"
      },
  
  
    /*
      Unbinding pre-defined shortcuts ----------------------------------------
    */
    
      {
        "key": "ctrl+k ctrl+f",
        "command": "-editor.action.formatSelection",
        "when": "editorHasDocumentSelectionFormattingProvider && editorTextFocus && !editorReadonly"
      },
      {
        "key": "ctrl+oem_period",
        "command": "-editor.action.quickFix",
        "when": "editorHasCodeActionsProvider && editorTextFocus && !editorReadonly"
      },
      {
        "key": "ctrl+t",
        "command": "-workbench.action.showAllSymbols"
      },
      {
        "key": "ctrl+shift+d",
        "command": "-workbench.view.debug",
        "when": "viewContainer.workbench.view.debug.enabled"
      },
      {
        "key": "ctrl+shift+x",
        "command": "-workbench.view.extensions",
        "when": "viewContainer.workbench.view.extensions.enabled"
      },
      {
        "key": "ctrl+shift+u",
        "command": "-workbench.action.output.toggleOutput",
        "when": "workbench.panel.output.active"
      },
      {
        "key": "ctrl+shift+w",
        "command": "-workbench.action.closeWindow"
      },
      {
        "key": "ctrl+shift+l",
        "command": "-quarto.previewShortcut",
        "when": "editorLangId == 'dot' || editorLangId == 'mermaid' || editorLangId == 'quarto'"
      },
      {
        "key": "ctrl+shift+n",
        "command": "-workbench.action.newWindow"
      },
      {
        "key": "ctrl+n",
        "command": "-workbench.action.files.newUntitledFile"
      },
      {
        "key": "ctrl+alt+win+n",
        "command": "-welcome.showNewFileEntries"
      },
      {
        "key": "shift+alt+f12",
        "command": "-references-view.findReferences",
        "when": "editorHasReferenceProvider"
      },
      {
        "key": "shift+f12",
        "command": "-editor.action.goToReferences",
        "when": "editorHasReferenceProvider && editorTextFocus && !inReferenceSearchEditor && !isInEmbeddedEditor"
      },
      {
        "key": "shift+f12",
        "command": "-goToPreviousReference",
        "when": "inReferenceSearchEditor || referenceSearchVisible"
      },
      {
        "key": "ctrl+oem_5",
        "command": "-workbench.action.splitEditor"
      },
      {
        "key": "ctrl+shift+oem_5",
        "command": "-editor.action.jumpToBracket",
        "when": "editorTextFocus"
      },
      {
        "key": "ctrl+shift+b",
        "command": "-workbench.action.tasks.build",
        "when": "taskCommandsRegistered"
      },
      {
        "key": "shift+f1",
        "command": "workbench.action.showCommands"
      },
      {
        "key": "f1",
        "command": "-workbench.action.showCommands"
      },
      {
        "key": "ctrl+shift+t",
        "command": "-workbench.action.reopenClosedEditor"
      }
    ]

r.json

{
	// Place your snippets for r here. Each snippet is defined under a snippet name and has a prefix, body and 
	// description. The prefix is what is used to trigger the snippet and the body will be expanded and inserted. Possible variables are:
	// $1, $2 for tab stops, $0 for the final cursor position, and ${1:label}, ${2:another} for placeholders. Placeholders with the 
	// same ids are connected.
	// Example:
	// "Print to console": {
	// 	"prefix": "log",
	// 	"body": [
	// 		"console.log('$1');",
	// 		"$2"
	// 	],
	// 	"description": "Log output to console"
	// }
  "VS Code Debugging": {
    "prefix": ["deb", "debugging"],
    "body": ["vsCodeSnippets::load_debug_pkg()"],
    "description": "Loads package for debugging and refreshes breakpoints"
  },
  "VS Code Debugging 2": {
    "prefix": ["fixit"],
    "body": [
      "ret <- pkgload::load_all()",
      "exports <- as.environment(paste0(\"package:\", environmentName(ret$env)))",
      "vscDebugger::.vsc.refreshBreakpoints(list(ret$env, exports))"
    ],
    "description": "Loads package for debugging and refreshes breakpoints (no need for vcCodeSnippets)"
  }
}

settings.json

{
  // workspace, workbench and window settings
  "workbench.startupEditor": "none",
  "workbench.panel.defaultLocation": "right",
  "workbench.colorTheme": "Default Dark+",
  "security.workspace.trust.untrustedFiles": "open",
  "window.commandCenter": true,
  "explorer.confirmDelete": false,
  "diffEditor.renderSideBySide": false,
  "diffEditor.ignoreTrimWhitespace": false,
  "diffEditor.experimental.showMoves": true,

  // terminal settings
  "terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.windows": "R Terminal",
  "terminal.integrated.fontWeightBold": "normal",
  "terminal.integrated.enableMultiLinePasteWarning": "never",
  "terminal.integrated.cursorStyle": "underline",
  "terminal.integrated.cursorBlinking": true,
  
  // editor settings
  "editor.stickyScroll.enabled": true,
  "editor.minimap.enabled": false,
  "editor.formatOnPaste": true,
  "editor.unicodeHighlight.nonBasicASCII": true,
  "editor.tabSize": 2,
  "editor.detectIndentation": false,
  "editor.defaultFormatter": "REditorSupport.r",
  "editor.guides.indentation": false,
  "editor.fontFamily": "'Fira Code', Hasklig, Consolas, 'Courier New', monospace",
  "editor.fontLigatures": true,
  "editor.inlineSuggest.enabled": true,
  "editor.guides.bracketPairs": "active", // adds guides to matching brackets
  "editor.accessibilitySupport": "off",
  "editor.rulers": [
      {"column":  80, "color": "#5a5a5a80"}, // right rule
      {"column":  95, "color": "#5a5a5a30"}, // right rule
      {"column": 120, "color": "#5a5a5a40"}  // extra right rule
  ],

  // remember (and restore) unsaved files even when switching workspaces
  "files.hotExit": "onExitAndWindowClose",
  // make sure ".rmd" files are treated as R Markdown
  "files.associations": {
    "*.rmd": "rmd"
  },


  // other extension settings

  // allows PathAutocomplete to start completion after typing "."
  // use "./<filename>" for correct file paths
  "path-autocomplete.pathMappings": {  
    ".": "${workspace}"
  },

  // git settings
  "git.autofetch": true,
  "git.confirmSync": false,
  "git.suggestSmartCommit": false,
  
  // r settings
  "r.alwaysUseActiveTerminal": true,
  "r.bracketedPaste": true,
  "r.plot.useHttpgd": true,
  "r.plot.defaults.fullWindowMode": true,
  "r.rpath.windows": "C:\\Program Files\\R\\R-4.3.3\\bin\\R.exe",
  "r.rterm.windows": "C:\\Program Files\\R\\R-4.3.3\\bin\\x64\\Rterm.exe",  
  // "r.rterm.windows": "C:\\Users\\mail\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Python\\Python311\\Scripts\\radian.exe",
  "r.removeLeadingComments": true,
  "r.session.levelOfObjectDetail": "Normal",
  "quarto.mathjax.theme": "dark",

  // github settings
  "githubPullRequests.fileListLayout": "tree",
  "githubPullRequests.defaultMergeMethod": "squash",
  "githubPullRequests.pullBranch": "never",
  "github-actions.org-features": true,

  // TODO highlighter
  "todohighlight.include": [
    "**/*.r"
  ],
  "todohighlight.keywords": [
    {
      "text": "TODO",
      // "color": "#1ab7ea",
      "color": "#fffc00",
      "backgroundColor": "rgba(245, 145, 0, .66)",
    }  
  ],

  // StatusBar Debugger
  "statusbarDebugger.actions": [
    "step_over",
    "step_into",
    "step_out",
    "restart",
    "stop"
  ],
  "statusbarDebugger.actionsIcons": [
    "$(debug-step-over)",
    "$(debug-step-into)",
    "$(debug-step-out)",
    "$(debug-step-back)",
    "$(debug-stop)"
  ],
  "debug.toolBarLocation": "docked",

  // Codesnap
  "codesnap.boxShadow": "rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.55) 0px 20px 60px",
  "codesnap.backgroundColor": "#6090a0",
  "codesnap.containerPadding": "1em",
  "codesnap.showWindowControls": false,
  "codesnap.shutterAction": "copy",

  // todo tree
  "todo-tree.highlights.customHighlight": {
    "TODO": {
      "background": "#F5910044",
      "foreground": "#fffc00FF"
    },
    "BUG": {
      "icon": "bug",
      "background": "#D3262655",
      "foreground": "#FF3300FF"
    },
    "HACK": {
      "icon": "tools"
    },
    "FIXME": {
      "icon": "flame",
      "background": "#00996844",
      "foreground": "#25D366FF"
    }
  },

  // GitHub Copilot
  "github.copilot.enable": {
    "files.associations": {
      "*.R": "r"
    },
    "languages": [{
        "id": "r",
        "extensions": [ ".r", ".R", ".rmd", ".Rmd" ],
        "aliases": [ "R" ]
    }],    
    "quarto": false,
    "*": true
  },
  "chatgpt.lang": "en"
}

Thank you for this detailed gist. It is quite helpful.
I would like to use VS code IDE for R development. My work revolves around, shiny, API's, developing workflow pipelines ( Nextflow, snakemake, WDL), connecting to remote DB's, and submitting jobs to remote servers. Any specific extensions you would recommend to make the development process a bit easier in VS code ?

The most used features for me on Rstudio are, "

publish button for shiny apps, Knitr, markdown preview or quarto preview feature, 'cmd+enter' to run each line of code.

Is there a way we can set-up some of these features to work in VS code ? I work on Mac OS, what aspects of the .json settings need to be changed specifically to Mac ? Do you have similar setup guidelines for IOS?

PS: I guess the publish button in Rstudio may be out-of-scope , and wish Rstudio would make it available. The tedious task with shiny apps is to host them ( if not using Rstudio products). Is there any simpler way to host shiny apps from VS code ?

does the vscode has data viewer like in Rstudio?
I mean in rstudio, i can open a data frame and search within it ? does vs code has this capability? Thanks.

knitr, preview of markdown/quarto files and Ctrl+enter are available in vscode. Not sure about shiny apps though, since I don't use it.
A data viewer is available, but probably less sophisticated. Click on the magnifier next to the data frame in the workbench, where you see all objects in your environment

There's a ShinyUiEditor-Extension, that might be able to do this.

@aminuldu07 @strengejacke The data viewer in VS Code can also be accessed with View(). I.E.,

View(mtcars)
# or
mtcars |> View()