# VS Code and language-server support
The VS Code extension is **Shelly Shell**, identifier `cstrainge.shelly-shell`.
It associates `.shy` files with Shelly and launches the installed executable's
`--language-server` mode over standard input/output.
## Select a server
Install the extension from the Marketplace or use VS Code's **Extensions: Install
from VSIX…** command. A VS Code VSIX should be installed through VS Code, rather
than the separate Visual Studio extension installer.
By default the extension finds `shelly` through PATH. Set
`shelly-shell.serverPath` to a compatible executable when necessary:
```json
{
"shelly-shell.serverPath": "/home/you/workdir/shelly/target/debug/shelly"
}
```
In WSL or another remote workspace, install the extension on the workspace side
and choose a server path valid there. After changing the executable, run
**Shelly: Restart Language Server**. Trace communication with
`shelly-shell.trace.server` (`off`, `messages`, or `verbose`).
## What the server supplies
The current server advertises full-document synchronization, diagnostics, hover,
completion, and semantic tokens. Completion triggers include `.`, `:`, and `$`.
LSP positions use UTF-16 coordinates; internal source spans are translated rather
than confusing byte offsets with editor columns.
Semantic tokens use parser context and known symbols for language roles. VS Code
and the selected theme choose the final colors. A small lexical grammar supplies
comment/string boundaries so bracket matching does not treat quoted brackets as
code; semantic analysis supplies the richer language classification.
The server analyzes source without executing documents or loading their code.
Workspace trust is required to select a server executable through workspace settings.
Use VS Code's token inspector when checking theme support, and the Shelly output
channel when diagnosing process startup or a mismatched executable version.
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Related: [REPL highlighting](REPL-and-History) · [Running Shelly](Running-Shelly) · [Language map](Language-Map)