Tomcat for VSCode

Advanced Apache Tomcat management. Full server control, smart deployment, browser integration and debugging support.

Features

• Full Server Logs Monitoring
  Monitor All+ Tomcat logs in real-time with syntax highlighting

• Build Strategies
  Three build strategies Local, Maven and Gradle to choose from

• Save/Ctrl+S Deployment Automatically deploy your project every time you save a file or press Ctrl+S/Cmd+S

• Built-in Debugging
  Java-specific syntax coloring in output channel with organized error messages

• Browser Automation
  Automate browser testing across multiple browsers seamlessly.

Installation

1. Open VS Code
2. Launch Extensions View (Ctrl+Shift+X)
3. Search for Al-rimi.tomcat
4. Click Install

Command line:

code --install-extension Al-rimi.tomcat

Usage

The Editor Button and Status Bar are only visible when the current project is detected as a Java EE project, following VScode Editor Actions and Status Bar Guidelines.

When is a project considered a Java EE project? click to expand

public static isJavaEEProject(): boolean {
    const workspaceFolders = vscode.workspace.workspaceFolders;

    // Check 0: Workspace must be open
    if (!workspaceFolders) {
        return false;
    }

    const rootPath = workspaceFolders[0].uri.fsPath;
    const webInfPath = path.join(rootPath, 'src', 'main', 'webapp', 'WEB-INF');

    // Check 1: Look for WEB-INF directory in the standard structure
    if (fs.existsSync(webInfPath)) {
        return true;
    }

    // Check 2: Check for presence of deployment descriptor (web.xml)
    if (fs.existsSync(path.join(webInfPath, 'web.xml'))) {
        return true;
    }

    const pomPath = path.join(rootPath, 'pom.xml');

    // Check 3: Look for WAR packaging in Maven project
    if (
        fs.existsSync(pomPath) &&
        fs.readFileSync(pomPath, 'utf-8').includes('<packaging>war</packaging>')
    ) {
        return true;
    }

    const gradlePath = path.join(rootPath, 'build.gradle');

    // Check 4: Look for Java EE-related keywords in Gradle config
    if (
        fs.existsSync(gradlePath) &&
        fs.readFileSync(gradlePath, 'utf-8').match(/(tomcat|jakarta|javax\.ee)/i)
    ) {
        return true;
    }

    const targetPath = path.join(rootPath, 'target');

    // Check 5: Look for compiled artifacts (.war or .ear) in target folder
    if (
        fs.existsSync(targetPath) &&
        fs.readdirSync(targetPath).some(file => file.endsWith('.war') || file.endsWith('.ear'))
    ) {
        return true;
    }

    // If none match, project is not considered a Java EE project
    return false;
}

Method location, If you notice any false positives/negatives or have better ideas for detection logic, you are more than welcome to contribute:

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Editor Button

Click the Tomcat icon in the editor title bar to deploy your project.

Status Bar

Click the Tomcat status in the bottom bar to toggle auto-deploy modes.

Command Palette

Use the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) to quickly access core commands:

Command	Description
Tomcat: Start	Launch the Tomcat server
Tomcat: Stop	Stop the running server
Tomcat: Clean	Clean Tomcat webapps, temp, and work folders
Tomcat: Deploy	Deploy the current Java EE project

Configuration

Access via Ctrl+, → Search "Tomcat"

Setting	Default	Description
tomcat.autoDeployBuildType	Fast	Default build strategy for deployments (Fast, Maven, Gradle)
tomcat.autoDeployMode	Disable	Auto-deploy triggers (Disable, On Save, On Shortcut)
tomcat.browser	Google Chrome	Browser for app launch & debug (Disable, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Safari, Brave, Opera)
tomcat.port	8080	Tomcat server listen port (valid range: 1024-65535)
tomcat.protectedWebApps	["ROOT", "docs", "examples", "manager", "host-manager"]	List of protected web apps during cleanup operations
tomcat.logLevel	INFO	Minimum log level to display (DEBUG, INFO, SUCCESS, HTTP, APP, WARN, ERROR)
tomcat.showTimestamp	true	Whether to include timestamps in log messages
tomcat.autoReloadBrowser	true	Whether to automatically reload the browser after deployment. Disable this option if having issues with the browser reloading.
tomcat.logEncoding	utf8	Encoding for Tomcat logs (utf8, ascii, utf-8, utf16le, utf-16le, ucs2, ucs-2, base64, base64url, latin1, binary, hex)

tomcat.home and tomcat.javaHome are now auto-detected and hidden from user settings.

Requirements

• Runtime:

  • JDK 11+
  • Apache Tomcat 9+

• Build Tools (optional):

  • Maven 3.6+ or Gradle 6.8+ (if using Maven or Gradle build types)

Developer Documentation

For technical implementation details and contribution guidelines, see:

• System Architecture
• Development Guide
• Testing Strategy

Known Issues

• Browser Compatibility for Auto-Reload

  Some browsers may not support automatic page reloading (click to expand)

  The extension uses the Chrome Debug Protocol (CDP) to reload pages after deployment. Currently supported browsers include:

  • Google Chrome
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Brave
  • Opera

  Unsupported Browsers:

  • Firefox
  • Safari

  These lack CDP support and will not auto-reload.

• Debug Mode Launch Failures

  Occasional issues launching browsers in debug mode (click to expand)

  Even supported browsers might fail to launch in debug mode due to system configurations. The extension uses this command template:

  start chrome.exe --remote-debugging-port=9222 http://localhost:8080/app-name

  Common solutions:

  1. Verify browser executable path in system PATH
  2. Ensure no other instances are using port 9222
  3. Update browser to latest version

  If issues persist, disable tomcat.autoReloadBrowser in settings.

What's New in 2.5.3

• Real-Time Server Insights
  Instant full server logging with dual-stream architecture for all server events (Thanks to @zhuxiaodics6)

• Granular Log Control
  New tomcat.logLevel and tomcat.showTimestamp settings for customized logging

• Fixed Browser Reload Issue Add fall back to reduce CDP bug damage and tomcat.autoReloadBrowser setting to control browser reload behavior

• Removed Unnecessary Futures Removed help command and associated documentation and tomcat.autoScrollOutput configuration setting

View Full Changelog

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License: MIT • 💖 Support: Star our GitHub Repo • VScode Marketplace