VS Code Extension — Features

The ShipGate ISL extension provides a rich development experience for writing and verifying ISL specifications.

Syntax highlighting

Full syntax highlighting for all ISL constructs:

Keywords — domain, entity, behavior, preconditions, postconditions, etc.
Types — UUID, Email, String, Int, Money, List<T>, etc.
Modifiers — [immutable], [unique], [sensitive], etc.
Operators — ==, !=, implies, and, or, old(), etc.
Constants — true, false, null, success, failure
Comments — single-line (//) and block (/* */)

The highlighting works with all VS Code color themes.

Real-time diagnostics

The extension runs the ISL parser and type checker in the background. Errors appear as you type:

Parse errors — syntax issues highlighted with red underlines
Type errors — mismatched types, unknown references
Warnings — missing postconditions, weak preconditions

IntelliSense

Keyword completion

Type the first few characters and get completions for:

ISL keywords
Built-in types
Standard library functions
Entity and behavior names (within the same domain)

Snippets

Built-in snippets for common patterns:

Prefix	Expands to
`domain`	Domain declaration skeleton
`entity`	Entity with id, invariants
`behavior`	Full behavior with all sections
`scenario`	Scenario with given/when/then
`chaos`	Chaos block with injection
`pre`	Preconditions block
`post`	Postconditions block
`enum`	Enum declaration

Example: typing behavior and pressing Tab expands to:

behavior Name {
  description: ""

  input {

  }

  output {
    success: Type
    errors {

    }
  }

  preconditions {

  }

  postconditions {
    success implies {

    }
    failure implies {

    }
  }
}

Commands

Access commands via the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P):

Command	Description
`ShipGate: Verify Current File`	Verify the active ISL file
`ShipGate: Generate Code`	Generate TypeScript from ISL
`ShipGate: Run Gate`	Run SHIP/NO_SHIP gate
`ShipGate: Check Types`	Parse and type-check
`ShipGate: Format File`	Format the current ISL file
`ShipGate: Show Coverage`	Show verification coverage
`ShipGate: Generate Spec`	Generate ISL from source code

Code formatting

Format ISL files with:

Shift+Alt+F (Format Document)
Right-click > Format Document
Format on save (if enabled in settings)

The formatter standardizes:

Indentation (2 spaces)
Brace placement
Line spacing between blocks
Alignment of field types and modifiers

Verification results

After running ShipGate: Verify Current File, results appear in:

Problems panel — individual precondition/postcondition results
Editor decorations — inline pass/fail indicators
Status bar — trust score and verdict

Code lens

Code lens annotations appear above behaviors and entities:

▶ Verify  |  ⚡ Generate  |  📊 3 scenarios
behavior CreateUser {

Click the annotations to run verification or generation directly.

Multi-root workspace

The extension works with multi-root VS Code workspaces. Each workspace folder is treated independently for spec discovery and verification.

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+Shift+V`	Verify current file
`Ctrl+Shift+G`	Generate code
`Shift+Alt+F`	Format ISL file