FreeDraw provides a simple and intuitive way to draw directly within your Visual Studio Code editor. Whether you need to sketch out ideas, annotate code, or create diagrams, FreeDraw has you covered.
This is an open-source project created by the community, for the community. We welcome contributions from anyone who wants to help make FreeDraw even better. Check out the Contributing section below for more information.
- Installation: Install the FreeDraw extension from the Visual Studio Code marketplace.
- Activation: Activate the extension using the command palette (
Ctrl+Shift+P) and typingFree Draw. - Drawing: Use your mouse or stylus to draw on the editor. You can change colors, brush sizes, and more from the toolbar.
- Saving: Drawings are automatically saved locally and can be exported as images by clicking the save button in the toolbar.
We welcome contributions from the community! To contribute:
- Fork the repository.
- Create a new branch for your feature or bugfix.
- Make your changes and commit them with clear messages.
- Push your changes to your fork.
- Open a pull request with a description of your changes.
This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.
To test the extension:
- Build the source code of the react app inside the
webfolder.
cd web
yarn install
yarn build-
Run the Extension Development Host with
F5. -
Activate the extension using the command palette (
Ctrl+Shift+P) and typingFree Draw. -
Draw!
Given that this is a React app, you can test the extension in the web for quick development.
cd web
yarn install
yarn devTo release a new version of the extension to both the VS Code Marketplace and Open VSX Registry, run:
yarn publish:allThis command requires a .env file in the root directory with the following token:
ACCESS_TOKEN_OPEN_VSX=<your-openvsx-token>For VS Code Marketplace, the publish script uses credentials stored via vsce login.
If you see an error like:
TF400813: The user 'aaaaaaaa-aaaa-aaaa-aaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaa' is not authorized to access this resource.
This means your VS Code Marketplace Personal Access Token (PAT) is invalid or expired. To fix it:
-
Generate a new PAT at https://dev.azure.com/:
- Click your profile icon → Personal access tokens → + New Token
- Set Organization to "All accessible organizations"
- Under Scopes, select Custom defined and check Marketplace → Manage
- Click Create and copy the token
-
Run
vsce login ProjectSyntaxand paste your new token when prompted -
Run
yarn publish:allagain
