How to programmatically trigger a VS Code extension command and see its UI effects?
15:26 21 Nov 2025

I'm learning VSCode extension development and want to run a command I defined from within the extension.

Here is my code:

const vscode = require('vscode');

/**
 * @param {vscode.ExtensionContext} context
 */
function activate(context) {

    console.log('Congratulations, your extension "cli-runner-by-blueray453" is now active!');

    const disposable = vscode.commands.registerCommand('extension.cli-runner-by-blueray453', function () {
        vscode.window.showInformationMessage('Hello World from cli-runner-by-blueray453!');
    });

    context.subscriptions.push(disposable);

    setTimeout(() => {
        vscode.commands.executeCommand('extension.cli-runner-by-blueray453');
    }, 3000);
}

function deactivate() {
    console.log('CLI Runner extension deactivated.');
}

module.exports = {
    activate,
    deactivate
}

However, After 3 seconds, the command does not display the information message window.

What is the proper way to programmatically trigger a command and see its UI effects during development?

vscode-extensions