I have a keybind that triggers a terminal command. The terminal command prompts for input, but in order to respond, I have to make an extra, unnecessary click to focus on the terminal. How can I avoid this so that when I trigger the keybind, the terminal command runs, and the VSCode focus automatically shifts to the terminal?

I found a solution, but I'd prefer not to press the keybind twice in a row; though it's still better than using the keybind and then clicking.

tasks.json

{
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "Run Example Command",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "powershell",
      "args": [
        "..."
      ],
      "windows": {
        "command": "powershell",
        "args": [
          "..."
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

keybindings.json

{
  {
    "key": "f4",
    "command": "workbench.action.tasks.runTask",
    "args": "Run Example Command"
  },
  {
    "key": "f4",
    "command": "workbench.action.terminal.focus",
    "when": "taskRunning"
  },
}

How can I make the terminal receive focus on the first F4 press?

Update Illustration

By default what my problem	With @Mark's second solution

I have a keybind that triggers a terminal command. The terminal command prompts for input, but in order to respond, I have to make an extra, unnecessary click to focus on the terminal. How can I avoid this so that when I trigger the keybind, the terminal command runs, and the VSCode focus automatically shifts to the terminal?

I found a solution, but I'd prefer not to press the keybind twice in a row; though it's still better than using the keybind and then clicking.

tasks.json

{
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "Run Example Command",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "powershell",
      "args": [
        "..."
      ],
      "windows": {
        "command": "powershell",
        "args": [
          "..."
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

keybindings.json

{
  {
    "key": "f4",
    "command": "workbench.action.tasks.runTask",
    "args": "Run Example Command"
  },
  {
    "key": "f4",
    "command": "workbench.action.terminal.focus",
    "when": "taskRunning"
  },
}

How can I make the terminal receive focus on the first F4 press?

Update Illustration

By default what my problem	With @Mark's second solution

• visual-studio-code
• vscode-keybinding

Share Improve this question Follow edited Mar 12 at 18:42 rozsazoltan asked Mar 12 at 12:10 rozsazoltanrozsazoltan 11.3k66 gold badges2020 silver badges5959 bronze badges 4

• This is probably the issue: you cannot have conflicting key bindings. F4 should be only one. – Sergey A Kryukov Commented Mar 12 at 12:12
• @SergeyAKryukov you misunderstood. This is a working example. The original problem was F4 + click, and I found a solution with a double F4 press. However, the issue still bothers me because the expected result is achieving it with a single F4 press. --- Since the double F4 press is still more efficient than F4 + click, I will use it. But I'd be interested to know if anyone has a solution to make both the focus switch and the command execution happen with a single F4 press. – rozsazoltan Commented Mar 12 at 12:14
• You did not explain my misunderstanding. You confirmed that this is the working example and provided keybindings.json or its fragment. But you should not such a file with the duplicate key. What happens if you use a different key for workbench.action.terminal.focus? – Sergey A Kryukov Commented Mar 12 at 12:20
• Now, in my understanding, you want to combine workbench.action.tasks.runTask with later workbench.action.terminal.focus, when the task is already running, But it means that you have to perform focusing triggered by the running task or defer focusing. Note that you also make sure that the terminal is visible. In all cases, you still need one command and one key binding with F4. Again, in my understanding, you can achieve something like that by writing a VSCode extension. – Sergey A Kryukov Commented Mar 12 at 12:24

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1 Answer 1

Sorted by: Reset to default 1

There may be two solutions - which I can't test without your actual powershell command and args.

Combine your commands into one keybinding using the runCommands command:

{
  "key": "alt+c",
  "command": "runCommands",
  "args": {
    "commands": [
      {
        "command": "workbench.action.tasks.runTask",
        "args": "echo"
      },
      "workbench.action.terminal.focus"
    ]
  }
}

Or try adding presentation options to your task:

  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "echo",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "powershell",
      "args":
        [...],
      "presentation": {
        "echo": true,
        "reveal": "always",    // note
        "focus": true,         // see if this works
        "panel": "new",
        "showReuseMessage": false,
        "clear": true
      }
    }
  ],