NES / Famicom
Atari 2600 (VCS), Atari 7800, and Atari 8-bit computers
Commodore 64 and VIC-20
ColecoVision, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC
Apple II, Game Boy, Sega Master System, PC Engine
Arcade hardware (Galaxian, Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Williams, VIC Dual, Atari Vector)

Supported programming languages include:

Assembler with DASM, ca65, zmac, and more
C with CC65, SDCC, and more
BASIC with batariBASIC and FastBASIC
Verilog for hardware design
...and others! There's a lot going on in here!

All building and emulation runs on your computer. The toolchains and examples are included; only a few platforms, such as Verilog, download an extra component the first time you use them.

Get started

Open an empty window. The Explorer sidebar shows a New 8bitworkshop Project button below Open Folder; click it. Or run 8bitworkshop: New Project... from the Command Palette.
Choose a platform, such as NES or Atari 2600 (VCS).
Choose a blank program or an example, then a folder to copy it to.
Click Run (▷) at the top right of the editor. The emulator opens beside your code.
Click the emulator to play. Click your code to type again.

Change something and the game rebuilds and restarts as you type. Errors appear as red underlines and in the Problems panel, and the last version that built keeps running until you fix them.

To look at the included examples without copying them, run 8bitworkshop: Open Example.

To use code you already have, open its folder: the extension detects the appropriate platform and main file.

AI agents can build and test your program too. Agents that use VS Code's tools, such as Copilot's agent mode, get Build 8bitworkshop Program and Run 8bitworkshop Program, which returns a screenshot. Agents in the terminal, such as Claude Code, use the 8bws command, once you turn on 8bitworkshop.terminalCommand. See AI agents and the terminal.

Settings

Project settings, saved in .vscode/settings.json:

Setting	What it does
`8bitworkshop.platform`	The platform, such as `nes`, `c64`, or `vcs`
`8bitworkshop.mainFile`	The file that runs. Empty: the file in the editor
`8bitworkshop.tool`	The build tool, when it isn't the usual one for the file
`8bitworkshop.folders`	Projects in subfolders
`8bitworkshop.exportRomPath`	Folder for exported ROMs, relative to the main file (`bin` by default)

Your local user settings:

Setting	What it does
`8bitworkshop.autoBuild`	`onType` (default), `onSave`, or `off`
`8bitworkshop.reloadOnBuild`	`always` (default), `onSave`, or `never`
`8bitworkshop.exportRom`	Write each successful build's ROM to the export folder
`8bitworkshop.toolchainPath`	Use a local 8bitworkshop checkout instead of the included toolchains
`8bitworkshop.assetUrl`	Server or local directory to download toolchains from, tried before the default servers
`8bitworkshop.terminalCommand`	Add the `8bws` command to the integrated terminal (off by default)

Commands

Every command is under 8bitworkshop: in the Command Palette; several also appear in the editor title bar, the Explorer, or Project Options.

Command	What it does
New Project...	Create a project from an example or a blank program
Open Example	Open a bundled example without copying it
Copy to Workspace	Copy the open example into your workspace
Set as Main File	Make the active file the one that runs
Change Main File...	Pick the main file from the workspace
Change Platform...	Build the project for another platform
Detect Projects	Scan the folder for projects and platforms
Add Launch Configuration	Write a run configuration to `.vscode/launch.json`; `F5` debugs it, with step back
Project Options	Open the project menu
Build	Build without running
Run	Build and run in the emulator
Debug	Build and debug in the emulator, with breakpoints and step back
Run This File	Run the active file, without changing the project
Run Main File	Run the project's main file
Follow Active Editor	Run whichever program is in the editor
Reset / Pause / Resume / Stop / Mute / Unmute Emulator	Control the emulator panel (shown while it is open)
Prepare Toolchains	Unpack or download every platform's toolchain for offline use (shown only when a toolchain isn't bundled)

Books

Many of the examples come from the 8bitworkshop books. The New Project and Open Example lists show which platforms have one.

Making Games For The Atari 2600
Making Games for the NES
Making Games for the C-64
Making 8-bit Arcade Games in C: Midway 8080, VIC Dual, Galaxian/Scramble, Atari Color Vector, Williams
Designing Video Game Hardware in Verilog

Error reports

When a compiler or the emulator crashes, the extension sends an error report to 8bitworkshop.com: the error message, stack trace, platform, and tool, plus VS Code and extension versions. It doesn't send your source files, and VS Code removes file paths from the report before it leaves. Errors in your program, like a syntax error or a crash in the emulated machine, aren't reported.

VS Code attaches identifiers to every report: a machine id (stable for your VS Code install, not tied to your identity), a session id, and a device id. These group reports from one install together.

The reports follow VS Code's telemetry.telemetryLevel setting: set it to off to stop them.

License

GPL-3.0. The included components (toolchains, emulators, libraries, firmware, etc.) keep their own licenses; see THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md.

README.md