Install The VS Code Extension

The Aura Programming Language extension provides .au syntax highlighting, indentation, snippets, diagnostics, completion, hover, go-to-definition, and document symbols.

The extension includes its JavaScript editor client and language-server transport. Semantic analysis comes from the actual compiler server exposed by aura lsp, so install the Aura CLI first and verify:

aura --version
aura help

Install From Visual Studio Marketplace

Open the Extensions view in VS Code, search for Aura Programming Language from publisher JohnOlafenwa, and select Install.

• Open the Visual Studio Marketplace listing

The equivalent terminal command is:

code --install-extension JohnOlafenwa.vscode-aura-lang

Reload VS Code after installation.

Install From Open VSX

Editors using Open VSX, including VSCodium, can install the same extension:

• Open the Open VSX listing

In VSCodium, search for Aura Programming Language in Extensions or run:

codium --install-extension JohnOlafenwa.vscode-aura-lang

Install The Release VSIX Manually

Download aura-language.vsix from the v0.3.2-preview release. Then open the Command Palette and choose Extensions: Install from VSIX....

The command-line form is:

code --install-extension ./aura-language.vsix

VS Code does not automatically update extensions installed from a VSIX by default. Install the next release's VSIX manually when upgrading through this path.

Install In WSL

First complete Install Aura On Windows With WSL. Open the project from the Ubuntu terminal with code . and confirm that the remote status bar shows WSL: Ubuntu.

Open Extensions in that remote window, find Aura Programming Language, and select Install in WSL: Ubuntu. The Aura extension and the aura CLI must both run in the WSL environment. Installing the extension only in the local Windows extension host cannot reach the Linux compiler server reliably.

Verify the remote environment in VS Code's integrated terminal:

command -v aura
aura --version

Use A Specific Aura Binary

The extension normally launches aura from PATH. To use another binary, start VS Code with AURA_LSP_AURA_PATH set to its absolute path:

AURA_LSP_AURA_PATH="$HOME/tools/aura/bin/aura" code /path/to/project

For WSL, run that command from the WSL terminal so the path is a Linux path.

Verify Language Support

Create or open a file ending in .au:

def greet(name: str) -> str:
    return f"hello {name}"

print(greet("Aura"))

Confirm all of the following:

1. The language mode in the lower-right corner reads Aura.
2. Keywords, strings, types, and interpolation receive Aura highlighting.
3. An incomplete or invalid expression produces an AU#### diagnostic.
4. Completion appears after a binding or member-access prefix.
5. Hover shows compiler-owned type information.

Troubleshooting

The file opens as plain text

Confirm the filename ends in .au. Select the language mode in the lower-right corner and choose Aura.

Syntax colors work but semantic features do not

Syntax highlighting is bundled with the extension, while semantic features need aura lsp. Open VS Code's integrated terminal and run:

command -v aura
aura --version

Restart VS Code after fixing PATH, or launch it with AURA_LSP_AURA_PATH as shown above.

Inspect the language-server output

Open View → Output, then select Aura Language Server. Startup and request failures appear there without requiring a separate server package.