Before starting, you will want to make sure that you have all of the build tools set up, and QMK Firmware cloned. Head to the [Newbs Getting Started Guide](newbs_getting_started.md) to get things set up, if you haven't already.
First, we need to set up IntelliSense. This isn't strictly required, but it will make your life a LOT easier. To do this, we need to create the `.vscode/c_cpp_properties.json` file in the QMK Firmware folder, You can do this all manually, but I've done most of the work already.
Grab [this file](https://gist.github.com/drashna/48e2c49ce877be592a1650f91f8473e8) and save it. You may need to edit this file, if you didn't install MSYS2 to the default location, or are using WSL/LxSS.
Once you have saved this file, you will need to reload VS Code, if it was already running.
?> You should see an `extensions.json` and `settings.json` file in the `.vscode` folder, as well.
Now, we will set up the MSYS2 window to show up in VSCode as the integrated terminal. This has a number of advantages. Mostly, you can control+click on errors and jump to those files. This makes debugging much easier. It's also nice, in that you don't have to jump to another window.
If there are settings here already, then just add everything between the first and last curly brackets and separate the existing settings with a comma from the newly added ones.
?> If you installed MSYS2 to a different folder, then you'll need to change the path for `terminal.integrated.shell.windows` to the correct path for your system.
4. Hit Ctrl-<code>`</code> (Grave) to bring up the terminal or go to <kbd><kbd>View</kbd> > <kbd>Terminal</kbd></kbd> (command `workbench.action.terminal.toggleTerminal`). A new terminal will be opened if there isn‘t one already.
This should start the terminal in the workspace's folder (so the `qmk_firmware` folder), and then you can compile your keyboard.
## Every other Operating System
1. Head to [VS Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/) and download the installer
2. Run the installer
3. That's it
No, really, that's it. The paths needed are already included when installing the packages, and it is much better about detecting the current workspace files and parsing them for IntelliSense.
## Plugins
There are a number of extensions that you may want to install:
This installs a bunch of Git related tools that may make using Git with QMK Firmware easier.
* [EditorConfig for VS Code](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=EditorConfig.EditorConfig) - _[Optional]_ - Helps to keep the code to the QMK Coding Conventions.
* [Bracket Pair Colorizer 2](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=CoenraadS.bracket-pair-colorizer-2) - _[Optional]_ - This color codes the brackets in your code, to make it easier to reference nested code.
* [GitHub Markdown Preview](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=bierner.github-markdown-preview) - _[Optional]_ - Makes the markdown preview in VS Code more like GitHub's.
* [VS Live Share Extension Pack](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=MS-vsliveshare.vsliveshare-pack) - _[Optional]_ - This extension allows somebody else to access your workspace (or you to access somebody else's workspace) and help out. This is great if you're having issues and need some help from somebody.
* [VIM Keymap](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=GiuseppeCesarano.vim-keymap) - _[Optional]_ - For those that prefer VIM style keybindings. There are other options for this, too.
