Summary: I've been using VSCode for years now and I keep on finding new options to improve my productivity using the tool. On this page I'll show you how I use VSCode tasks to automate small scripts that I use on a daily basis.
Date: 2 January 2025

The tasks below are used on a Windows 11 machine. Powershell is the main shell, so by default the tasks are executed in a Powershell terminal.

Tasks are mainly used in VSCode to help developers to automate their workflow. You can use tasks to run scripts, compile code, run tests, etc. I found them also very useful to automate small scripts that you use as a sysadmin. On this page I'll show you how to manage tasks, use different shells and overall how to improve your productivity.

To create a task, you need to create a file called 'tasks.json' in the '.vscode' folder in the root of your project. Here is an example of a 'tasks.json' file:

{
    // See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=733558
    // for the documentation about the tasks.json format
    "version": "2.0.0",
    "tasks": [
        {
            "label": "Login to Azure",
            "type": "shell",
            "command": [
                "Write-Host 'Start login to Azure' -ForegroundColor Green;",
                "az login;"
            ],
            "presentation": {
                "reveal": "always",
                "panel": "new"
            },
            "dependsOrder": "sequence",
            "problemMatcher": []
        }
    ]
}

This is just one task and on it's own not that useful. But you can add multiple tasks to the 'tasks' array. You can also add a 'group' to group tasks together.

If you need specific tasks to run in order you can create multiple tasks and a group to define the order.

In the example below I'm using tasks to start multiple browsers and setup a connection to a kubernetes cluster:

• The first is a group because it has a 'dependsOn' property that refers to the other tasks. The other tasks are executed in sequence.
• The second one uses a powershell script (see below) to login to Azure.
  • As you can see in the script, you can use any normal powershell command. I especially like to use scripts if I need to provide instructions to myself (or others, as these are set in a git repository).
• The third one uses the Azure CLI in a powershell to setup a tunnel to a Bastion in Azure.
• The fourth one starts Chrome with a specific URL. Note that I use a different browser from my default one so I can use multiple azure identities without having to use incognito/private mode.

{
    // See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=733558
    // for the documentation about the tasks.json format
    "version": "2.0.0",
    "tasks": [
        {
            "type": "shell",
            "label": "Connect to Dev",
            "detail": "Starts chrome for PIM groups; login to azure; setup the connection to the Bastion in the dev spoke.",
            "dependsOrder": "sequence",
            "dependsOn": [
                "Chrome PIM Groups",
                "Prepare Bastion",
                "Bastion Tunnel to Dev"
            ],
            "problemMatcher": []
        },
        {
            "label": "Prepare Bastion",
            "type": "shell",
            "command": [
                "./.vscode/tasks/bastion-prepare.ps1;"
            ],
            "presentation": {
                "reveal": "always",
                "panel": "new"
            },
            "dependsOrder": "sequence",
            "problemMatcher": []
        },
        {
            "label": "Bastion Tunnel to Dev",
            "type": "shell",
            "command": [
                "Write-Host 'Start tunnel to DEVELOPMENT' -ForegroundColor Green;",
                "az network bastion tunnel --name bas-001 --resource-group rg-bastion --target-resource-id /subscriptions/aa123456-a123-a123-a123-abcd12345678/resourceGroups/rg-cluster/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/vm-jumpbox --resource-port 22 --port 50022;"
            ],
            "presentation": {
                "reveal": "always",
                "panel": "new"
            },
            "dependsOrder": "sequence",
            "problemMatcher": []
        },
        {
            "label": "Chrome PIM Groups",
            "type": "shell",
            "windows": {
                "command": "start"
            },
            "osx": {
                "command": "open"
            },
            "args": [
                "C:\\Program Files\\Google\\Chrome\\Application\\chrome 'https://portal.azure.com/?feature.msaljs=true#view/Microsoft_Azure_PIMCommon/ActivationMenuBlade/~/aadgroup/provider/aadgroup'"
            ],
            "problemMatcher": []
        }
    ]
}

This is the powershell script that I use to login to Azure:

Write-Host "Make sure you have activated the correct PIM group: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_PIMCommon/ActivationMenuBlade/~/aadgroup"
Write-Host "Login to azure (use 'az logout' in case of problems)"
# Using az login because Connect-AzAccount opens login dialog in the background
# Connect-AzAccount -SubscriptionId aa123456-a123-a123-a123-abcd12345678
az login
Write-Host "Set subscription to hub subscription which has the bastion"
Set-AzContext -Subscription aa123456-a123-a123-a123-abcd12345678 | Out-Null
az account set --subscription aa123456-a123-a123-a123-abcd12345678
# Remove the known hosts file, these are environment specific
$daysToKeepKnownHosts = 28
$limit = (Get-Date).AddDays(-$daysToKeepKnownHosts)
$knownHostsPath = 'C:\Users\sjoer\.ssh'
$knownHostsFile = 'known_hosts'
Write-Host "Rename and remove known_hosts file: $knownHostsPath\$knownHostsFile"
if (Test-Path $knownHostsPath\$knownHostsFile){
    Get-ChildItem $knownHostsPath\$knownHostsFile | Rename-Item -NewName { $_.BaseName + (Get-Date -Format "yyyyMMdd-HHmm") + $_.Extension } -Verbose
    Get-ChildItem $knownHostsPath | Where-Object { ($_.CreationTime -lt $limit) -AND ($_.Name -like "$knownHostsFile*") } | Remove-Item -Force -Verbose
} else {
    Write-Host "The file $knownHostsPath\$knownHostsFile does not exist."
}
$subscription = Get-AzContext
Write-Host "Done, you are now in $($subscription.Subscription.Name). Use one of the other tasks to continue." -foregroundcolor green
Write-Host "Subscription Name: $($subscription.Subscription.Name)" -foregroundcolor green
Write-Host "Subscription Id  : $($subscription.Subscription.Id)" -foregroundcolor green
Write-Host "Tenant Name      : $($subscription.Tenant.Name)" -foregroundcolor green
Write-Host "Tenant Id        : $($subscription.Tenant.Id)" -foregroundcolor green
 
Write-Host "Once the tunnel is open, you can connect to the jumpbox and K8S in VS Code:"
Write-Host "Jumpbox    : In VS Code, open the Remote Explorer extension from the activity bar"
Write-Host "               -> SSH Targets -> Open 127.0.0.1 (linux) in a new window"
Write-Host "K8S cluster: In VS Code, from the just new opened window,"
Write-Host "               open the Kubernetes extension (might need to be installed for ssh:127.0.0.1) from the activity bar"
Write-Host "               -> Set Kubeconfig -> Select kubeconfig from /home/azadmin/.kube/config"

This is another example of a group task to connect to a Argo CD pod in a Kubernetes cluster:

• The first is a group because it has a 'dependsOn' property that refers to the other tasks. The other tasks are executed in sequence.
• The second one uses the Azure CLI to login to Azure and get the AKS credentials.
• The third one uses the Azure CLI to setup a port forward to the Argo CD pod. It also displays the Argo CD user and password from a kubernetes secret.
• The fourth one starts a tab to connect to the Argo CD web interface which is now available through the port forward.

{
    // See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=733558
    // for the documentation about the tasks.json format
    "version": "2.0.0",
    "tasks": [
        {
            "type": "shell",
            "label": "Connect to ArgoCD",
            "detail": "Login to azure; Connect to k8s; Setup port forwarding for argoCD; Start browser.",
            "dependsOrder": "sequence",
            "dependsOn": [
                "Connect K8S",
                "Open ArgoCD",
                "Port Forward to ArgoCD"
            ],
            "problemMatcher": []
        },
        {
            "label": "Connect K8S",
            "type": "shell",
            "command": [
                "echo 'Login to azure';",
                "az logout;",
                "az login;",
                "echo 'Set the subscription';",
                "az account set --subscription aa123456-a123-a123-a123-abcd12345678;",
                "az account show;",
                "echo 'Get AKS credentials';",
                "az aks get-credentials --resource-group rg-cluster --name aks-cluster --overwrite-existing;",
                "echo 'Use kubelogin plugin for authentication';",
                "kubelogin convert-kubeconfig -l azurecli;",
                "echo 'You can now close this and continue using the K8S plugin to connect to k8s or start a new terminal to work on the commandline.'"
            ],
            "presentation": {
                "reveal": "always",
                "panel": "new",
                "showReuseMessage": true,
                "clear": true
            },
            "dependsOrder": "sequence",
            "problemMatcher": []
        },
        {
            "label": "Port Forward to ArgoCD",
            "type": "shell",
            "command": [
                "Write-Host 'ArgoCD User: admin';",
                "kubectl get secret argocd-initial-admin-secret --namespace ops -o json | ConvertFrom-Json | select -ExpandProperty data | % { $_.PSObject.Properties | % { $_.Name + [System.Environment]::NewLine + [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetString([System.Convert]::FromBase64String($_.Value)) + [System.Environment]::NewLine + [System.Environment]::NewLine } };",
                "Write-Host 'ArgoCD Port: 8080';",
                "kubectl port-forward deployment/argo-cd-argocd-server 8080 --namespace ops"
            ],
            "presentation": {
                "reveal": "always",
                "panel": "new",
                "showReuseMessage": true,
                "clear": true
            },
            "dependsOrder": "sequence",
            "problemMatcher": []
        },
        {
            "label": "Open ArgoCD",
            "type": "shell",
            "windows": {
                "command": "start"
            },
            "osx": {
                "command": "open"
            },
            "args": [
                "http://localhost:8080"
            ],
            "problemMatcher": []
        }
    ]
}

If you're using git on Windows you might want to use the Git Bash shell, which is automatically installed with git. You can use the following task to run a script in the Git Bash shell:

Note that using all options listed below are very important. Each one is necessary to make the task work. Using git-bash.exe directly will start the git bash in it's own window and not in the terminal of VSCode. Using the -c option allows to start the bash script and the -l option starts the bash shell as a login shell.

{
    // See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=733558
    // for the documentation about the tasks.json format
    "version": "2.0.0",
    "tasks": [
        {
            "label": "AKS - Delete all jobs",
            "type": "shell",
            "command": [
                ".vscode/tasks/delete-k8s-jobs.sh"
            ],
            "options": {
                "shell": {
                    "executable": "C:\\Program Files\\Git\\git-cmd.exe",
                    "args": [
                        "--command=usr/bin/bash.exe",
                        "-l",
                        "-c"
                    ]
                }
            },
            "isBackground": true,
            "problemMatcher": [],
            "presentation": {
                "echo": true,
                "reveal": "always",
                "focus": false,
                "panel": "new",
                "showReuseMessage": true
            }
        }
    ]
}

This is the script that is started by the task:

# Delete all jobs starting with shift in a namespace
export NAMESPACE=shiftops
echo "Deleting all jobs in namespace $NAMESPACE"
# Check
kubectl get jobs -n $NAMESPACE -o name | grep shift-
# Delete all the jobs
kubectl get jobs -n $NAMESPACE -o name | grep shift- |
while read job; do
    # Note that the output specified the type so no need for 'delete job', just 'delete' is enough
    kubectl delete $job -n $NAMESPACE
done

When you're in the editor you can start a task by pressing ctrl + shift + p and then type 'Run Task'. You can now select the task you want to run.

If you have a lot of tasks I'd use the VSCode extension 'iulian-radu-at.vscode-tasks-sidebar' to show the tasks in the sidebar. This makes it easier to start a task.

• VSCode Tasks
• VSCode Tasks Sidebar