Vue.js

Vue.js is a framework for developing user interfaces and advanced single-page applications. JetBrains Rider provides support for the Vue.js building blocks of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript with Vue.js-aware code completion for components, including components defined in separate files, attributes, properties, methods, slot names, and more.

With the built-in debugger, you can debug your Vue.js code right in JetBrains Rider, which can automatically generate the necessary run/debug configurations you need: an npm configuration that launches the development server and starts your application in the development mode and a JavaScript Debug configuration that launches a debugging session.

Before you start

Download and install Node.js.
Make sure a local Node.js interpreter is configured in your project: open the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S) and go to Languages & Frameworks | Node.js. The Node interpreter field shows the default project Node.js interpreter. Learn more from Configuring a local Node.js interpreter.
Make sure the JavaScript and TypeScript, JavaScript Debugger, and Vue.js required plugins are enabled on the Settings | Plugins page, tab Installed. For more information, refer to Managing plugins.

Create a new Vue.js application

The recommended way to create a new Vue.js app is the create-vue official Vue project scaffolding tool, which JetBrains Rider downloads and runs for you using npx.

You can still use Vue CLI, if you choose this option JetBrains Rider also downloads and runs it with npx.

Create an empty JetBrains Rider solution

Click New Solution on the Welcome screen or select File | New Solution from the main menu. The New Solution dialog opens.
In the left-hand pane, choose Empty Solution.
Specify The path to the folder where the project-related files will be stored.
When you click Create, JetBrains Rider creates and opens an empty solution.

Install Vue.js in an existing solution

In the embedded Terminal (Alt+F12) , type:
npm install vue

Write and edit your code

In .vue files, JetBrains Rider recognizes script, style, and template blocks. You can use JavaScript and TypeScript inside script tags, Style Sheet languages inside style tags, and HTML and Pug inside template tags.

When you use TypeScript inside a script tag, JetBrains Rider invokes the TypeScript Language Service for type checking and shows detected errors in the Errors and Compile errors tabs of the TypeScript tool window. Alternatively, you can use TsLint as described in Linting TypeScript in Vue.js components using TSLint

Vue.js components

JetBrains Rider recognizes the .vue file type and provides a dedicated .vue file template for Vue.js components.

Create a Vue.js component

In the Solution explorer, select the parent folder for the new component, and then choose Vue Component from the list.

You can also extract a new Vue.js component from an existing one without any copying and pasting but using a dedicated intention action or refactoring. All the data and methods used in the newly extracted template stay in the parent component. JetBrains Rider passes them to the new component with properties and copies the related styles.

Extract components

Select the template fragment to extract and invoke component extraction:
- To use the intention action, press Alt+Enter, and then choose Extract Vue Component from the list.
- To use the refactoring, choose Refactor | Extract | Extract Vue Component from the main menu or from the context menu of the selection.
Type the name of the new component. If this name is already used or invalid, JetBrains Rider shows a warning. Otherwise, a new single-file component is created and imported into the parent component.

Code completion

Complete code inside script, style, and template blocks

By default, JetBrains Rider provides code completion for ECMAScript 6 inside script blocks and for CSS inside style blocks.
Inside the template tag, code completion Ctrl+Space and navigation to the definition Ctrl+B for Vue.js components and attributes is available.

Complete Vue.js properties and methods

JetBrains Rider also suggests completion for Vue.js properties, properties in the data object, computed properties, and methods.

Complete slot names

JetBrains Rider provides completion for the names of slots from library components and from components defined in your project.
If your project contains a component with named slots, JetBrains Rider shows suggestions for these names in the v-slot directive of a template tag.
If you’re using Vuetify, Quasar, or BootstrapVue, code completion for slot names is also available.

Complete components defined in separate files

If a component is defined in several files, JetBrains Rider recognizes the links between the parts of the component and provides proper code completion for properties, data, and methods.
For example, if the parts of your component are defined in separate JavaScript and stylesheet files that are linked in the vue file through the src attribute, properties defined in JavaScript are properly completed in the template as methods do.
Templates inside template literals in the template property of a component get completion just as if this code were inside a template tag.
Completion is also available if a template is defined in a separate HTML file and then linked to the template property.

Complete code inside Vue.js injections

Within Vue.js injections inside HTML files, JetBrains Rider recognizes Vue.js syntax and highlights your code accordingly. You can also get completion for symbols from Vue.js libraries that are linked from a CDN in an HTML file without adding these libraries to your project dependencies.

Open the HTML file with a CDN link to an external Vue.js library. JetBrains Rider highlights the link.
To enable completion for the library, press Alt+Enter on the link and select Download library from the list. Alternatively, hover over the link and click Download library.

The library is added to the list of JavaScript libraries on the Settings | Languages and Frameworks | JavaScript | Libraries page. For more information, refer to Configuring a library added via a CDN link.

Parameter hints

Parameter hints show the names of parameters in methods and functions to make your code easier to read.

Configure parameter hints

Open the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S) and go to Editor | Inlay Hints.
Expand Vue under Parameter names.
Specify the context in which you want parameter hints shown by selecting the corresponding checkboxes.
The preview shows how the changes you make in the settings affect the code appearance.
For some methods and functions, JetBrains Rider does not show parameter hints in any context. Click Exclude list... to view these methods and functions, possibly enable parameter hints for them, or add new items to the list.
To hide parameter hints for any value type in any context, clear the Vue template checkbox under Parameter names.

Navigate with component usages

Use inlay hints to jump from a component to its usages. If a component is used more than once, JetBrains Rider shows a list of detected usages. Select the relevant usage to jump to it.

Show component usages hints are displayed by default. To turn them off, press Ctrl+Alt+S to open settings and select Editor | Inlay Hints. Then clear the Component usages checkbox under Code vision.

Alternatively, right-click a Show component usages hint in the editor and select Hide 'Code Vision: Component usages' Inlay Hints.

Vue.js live templates

With JetBrains Rider, you can use a collection of Live templates for Vue.js adapted from the collection created by Sarah Drasner.

Type the abbreviation of the template to use or press Ctrl+J and select it from the list of available templates.
To expand the template, press Tab.
To move from one variable to another inside the template, press Tab again.

Nuxt.js in Vue.js applications

With JetBrains Rider, you can use the Nuxt.js framework in your Vue.js applications. The recommended way to set up a Nuxt.js app in JetBrains Rider is use the create-nuxt-app command. Alternatively, you can install Nuxt.js in an existing solution.

Install Nuxt.js in an existing solution

Open the embedded Terminal (Alt+F12) and type:
npm install --save nuxt

Install the @nuxt/types package

With the @nuxt/types package, you can get better code completion.

If you’re using a Nuxt.js version from 2.9.0 onwards and don’t have the @nuxt/types package installed, JetBrains Rider notifies you about it and suggests installing it as a development dependency. Click the Install @nuxt/types as dev dependency link in the notification popup.
If you close the popup, you can still install @nuxt/types by clicking the Install @nuxt/types as dev dependency link in the Event Log tool window (View | Tool windows | Event Log).
Alternatively, open the embedded Terminal (Alt+F12) and type:
npm install --save-dev @nuxt/types

Nuxt.js-aware coding assistance

JetBrains Rider suggests code completion and shows quick documentation for all core Nuxt.js components.

Completion and quick doc for Nuxt component

JetBrains Rider resolves references to the Vuex store and provides highlighting and completion for them.

JetBrains Rider resolves all references to assets stored in the static folder in the <img src='/logo.png/> format.

Edit nuxt.config.js

JetBrains Rider provides proper completion suggestions for the nuxt.config.js configuration file.

On hover, you’ll also see the Documentation popup showing the type information for the Nuxt options used in the file.

Module resolution

JetBrains Rider supports Nuxt.js-specific webpack setup. Starting with Nuxt.js 2.12.0, JetBrains Rider automatically finds the webpack.config.js configuration file and uses the module resolution rules from it for coding assistance.

TypeScript in Vue.js applications

If your Vue.js project is written in TypeScript, you need to choose the service to get coding assistance for .ts and .vue files from. That can be either JetBrains Rider integration with the TypeScript Language Service, or the Vue Language server (Volar), or the internal JetBrains Rider parser and code inspections.

For TypeScript 5.0.0 and later, the Vue Language Server (Volar) is used by default because the TypeScript Language Service is not supported for these versions.

For earlier versions, the default solution is integration with the TypeScript Language Service, but you can also use integration with the Vue Language Server (Volar).

In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S) , go to Languages & Frameworks | TypeScript | Vue.
Specify the service to use.
- By default, the Auto option is chosen. In this mode, JetBrains Rider detects the TypeScript version used in your project and enables integration with the appropriate service.
  - For TypeScript version 5.0.0 and later, JetBrains Rider downloads the @vue/language-server package and uses the Vue Language Server (Volar).
  - For earlier versions of TypeScript, the TypeScript Language Service is used. Learn more from Configure integration with the TypeScript Language Service.
- Select Classic TypeScript Service to always use the TypeScript Language Service in .ts and .vue files.
  Note that the TypeScript Language Service does not work with TypeScript version 5.0.0 and later. Therefore, if your project is using one of these versions, error highlighting will be provided through the JetBrains Rider internal code inspections.
- Select Disabled to turn both the TypeScript Language Service and the Vue Language Server off and get coding assistance from the JetBrains Rider internal support.
In the Vue Language Server field, specify the Vue Language Server version to use.
- Accept the suggested default version.
- If you have another version of @vue/language-server package installed, this version appears on the list. You can select it or accept the default version.
- Alternatively, click Select or and specify the path to a custom @vue/language-server package.

Formatting in Vue.js applications

Configure indentation

By default, code within top-level tags is indented uniformly, in the Vue.js-specific style. You can configure this indentation to depend on the language used, for example, be HTML or Pug-specific.

In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S) , go to Editor | Code Style | Vue Template, and open the Tabs and Indents tab.
By default, the contents of all top-level tags are indented uniformly, in the Vue.js-specific style. Accept the default indentation settings or customize them using the controls on the page. As you change the settings, the Preview in the right pane shows how the changes affect code formatting.
To have the code inside top-level tags indented with regard to its language, select Specific to the language in the block.
In the Indent children of top-level tag field, specify the top-level tags where the code should have initial indentation.
By default, only the code inside template tags has initial indentation. If necessary, add other tags using commas as separators. For example, if you specify script in the field, the code inside all script tags gets initial indentation as shown in the Preview pane.

Configure spaces

By default, JetBrains Rider automatically inserts spaces after the opening curly brace ({) and before the closing one (}) in Vue.js text interpolations with Mustache syntax.
To suppress inserting spaces automatically, open the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S) , go to Editor | Code Style | Vue Template, then open the Spaces tab and clear the Interpolations checkbox.
By default, when you enclose a code fragment in a block comment, the text starts right after the opening /* characters without any spaces. Before the closing */ characters no space is inserted either.
This default code style may conflict with some linters' rules, for example, ESLint. To improve the code style, configure enclosing block comments in leading and trailing spaces.
In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S) , go to Editor | Code Style | JavaScript or Editor | Code Style | TypeScript, open the Code Generation tab, and configure the spaces and formatting in the Comments area.

Configure wrapping and braces

In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S) , go to Editor | Code Style | Vue Template, and open the Wrapping and Braces tab.
If a JavaScript expression inside a Vue.js interpolation has line breaks, JetBrains Rider automatically starts this JavaScript expression from a new line and adds a new line after it.
Clear the New line after '{{' and the New line before '}}' checkboxes to change this default behavior.
These checkboxes do not affect JavaScript expressions without line breaks inside. For example, {{ foo }} will not be split automatically anyway.
Configure multiple right margins as described in Vue.js code style: Visual guides.
Configure wrapping in interpolations as described in Wrapping options.

Reformat Vue.js code with Prettier

You can configure Prettier to reformat specific files every time such file is changed and the changes are saved automatically or manually, refer to Run Prettier automatically on save.

Also, Prettier can be set as default formatter for specific files. It will run against such files every time you reformat your code with Ctrl+Alt+L.

For more information, refer to Reformat code with Prettier.

Reformat code with Prettier

In the editor, select the code fragment to reformat. To reformat a file or a folder, select it in the Solution explorer. Then select Reformat with Prettier from the context menu.
To run Prettier automatically against specific files, open the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S) , go to Languages & Frameworks | JavaScript | Prettier, and use the On code reformatting and On save checkboxes to specify the actions that will trigger Prettier.
For more information, refer to Run Prettier automatically on save and Set Prettier as default formatter.

JetBrains Rider can apply the key code style rules from the Prettier's configuration to the JetBrains Rider Code Style settings so that generated code (for example, after refactoring or quick-fix) and the code that is already processed with Prettier are formatted consistently.

Apply Prettier code style rules

In the project where Prettier is enabled, open package.json and click Yes in the pane at the top of the tab.
To re-apply the Prettier code style (after you've clicked No in the pane or modified the code style), press Ctrl+Shift+A and select Apply Prettier Code Style Rules from the Find Action list.

Linting TypeScript in Vue.js components using TSLint

You can lint TypeScript code in your Vue.js single file components using typescript-tslint-plugin.

Because typescript-tslint-plugin works only with TypeScript that is installed in the current project, make sure the typescript package from your project node_modules folder is selected in the TypeScript field on the TypeScript page of the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S) .

Install and configure typescript-tslint-plugin

In the embedded Terminal (Alt+F12) , type:
npm install --save-dev typescript-tslint-plugin
In the plugins property of your tsconfig.json file, type:
{ "compilerOptions": { "plugins": [{"name": "typescript-tslint-plugin"}] } }
When you are using typescript-tslint-plugin, TSLint is running via the TypeScript Language Service so you can disable the TSLint integration with JetBrains Rider to avoid duplicate error reporting.
To do that, open the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S) , go to Languages & Frameworks | TypeScript | TSLint, and select Disable TSLint.

Run a Vue.js application

Сlick in the gutter next to the dev script in package.json, or run npm run dev in the Terminal Alt+F12, or double-click the dev task in the npm tool window (View | Tool Windows | npm).
Wait till the application is compiled and the development server is ready.
The Run tool window or the Terminal shows the URL at which your application is running. If your application was generated with create-vue, the default URL is http://localhost:5173/. Click this link to view the application.

Run a Vue.js application via a run/debug configuration

For applications created with create-vue, JetBrains Rider generates an npm configuration . This configuration runs the vite command that launches the development server and starts your application in the development mode.

In other cases, you need to create a run/debug configuration with the actual settings, such as, host, port, etc., manually.

Create an npm run/debug configuration

Go to Run | Edit Configurations. Alternatively, select Edit Configurations from the Run widget on the toolbar.
In the Edit Configurations dialog that opens, click the Add button () on the toolbar and select npm from the list.
In the Configuration tab of the Run/Debug Configurations: npm dialog that opens, specify the location of the package.json, the Node.js interpreter, and the package manager to use.
In the Command field, select run from the list and then select the script to run from the Scripts list. Most likely it will be the default dev script but you can configure another one in your package.json, for example, to run the application on a custom port.
Optionally:
To open the application in the browser, update the configuration as follows: in the Browser / Live Edit tab, select the After launch checkbox, select the browser to open the application in, and specify the URL address at which the application wil run.
If you are going to debug the application, select Google Chrome or another Chromium-based browser.

Run an application

From the list in the Run widget on the toolbar, select a run configuration of the type npm and click next to it. This can be the autogenerated dev configuration or a custom one that you created yourself as described above.
Wait till the application is compiled and the development server is ready.
The Run tool window or the Terminal shows the URL at which your application is running. If your application was generated with create-vue, the default URL is http://localhost:5173/. Click this link to view the application.
Alternatively, enable JetBrains Rider to open the application on start as described above.
When the development server is running, your application is automatically reloaded as soon as you change any of the source files and save the updates.

Debug a Vue.js application

You can start a debugging session either by launching a run/debug configuration or from the Run tool window that shows the URL at which your application is running in the development mode.

Start debugging via a run/debug configuration

To debug your Vue.js application you need two run/debug configurations:

An npm configuration to start your application in the development mode, as described above.
A JavaScript Debug configuration to attach the debugger to the application that is running in the development mode.
If you generated your application with create-vue, as described above, JetBrains Rider has already generated these two run/debug configurations.

You can create a JavaScript Debug configuration within the npm configuration to launch them at once, as described in Run and debug a Vue application with an npm run/debug configuration.

Alternatively, launch an npm and a JavaScript Debug run/debug configurations separately, as described in Start debugging with a JavaScript Debug run/debug configuration.

Run and debug a Vue.js application with a single npm run/debug configuration

Set the breakpoints in your code.
Create an npm configuration as described above.
If you generated your application with create-vue, JetBrains Rider has already created an npm configuration with the default name npm dev. The configuration is available from the Run widget and in the Run/Debug Configurations dialog.
In the Configuration tab of the Run/Debug Configurations: npm dialog that opens, specify the location of the package.json, the Node.js interpreter, and the package manager to use.
In the Command field, select run from the list and then select the script to run from the Scripts list. Most likely it will be the default dev script but you can configure another one in your package.json, for example, to run the application on a custom port.
In the Browser / Live Edit tab, select the After launch checkbox, select Google Chrome or another Chromium-based browser from the list, select the with JavaScript debugger checkbox, and then specify the URL at which your application will run.
Click Run.
To re-run the configuration, select it from the list in the Run widget and click next to it.
JetBrains Rider runs the application in the development mode and at the same time launches a debugging session.
When the first breakpoint is hit, switch to the Debug window and proceed as usual: step through the program, stop and resume program execution, examine it when suspended, explore the call stack and variables, set watches, evaluate variables, view actual HTML DOM, and so on.

Start debugging with a JavaScript Debug run/debug configuration

Set the breakpoints in your code.
Start the application in the development mode as described above and wait till the application is compiled and the development server is ready.
The Run tool window or the Terminal shows the URL at which your application is running. Copy this URL to specify it later in the JavaScript Debug configuration.
Create a JavaScript Debug configuration. To do that, go to Run | Edit Configurations in the main menu, click , and select Javascript Debug from the list.
If you generated your application with create-vue, JetBrains Rider has already created a JavaScript Debug run/debug configuration with the default name Debug Application and the default URL http://localhost:5173. Select this run/debug configuration from the list under the JavaScript Debug node.
In the Run/Debug Configurations: JavaScript Debug dialog that opens, specify the name of the configuration and the URL address at which the application is running in the development mode. You can copy this URL in the Run tool window or in the Terminal, as described above.
If you are using the autogenerated configuration, make sure the specified URL address is the one at which your application is actually running.
Click Debug.
To re-run the configuration, select it from the list in the Run widget and click next to it.
When the first breakpoint is hit, switch to the Debug window and proceed as usual: step through the program, stop and resume program execution, examine it when suspended, explore the call stack and variables, set watches, evaluate variables, view actual HTML DOM, and so on.

Start debugging from the Run tool window or from the built-in Terminal

If your application is running in the development mode on localhost, in particular, if it was generated with create-vue, you can launch a debugging session right from the >Run tool window or from the built-in Terminal.

Set the breakpoints in your code.
Start the application in the development mode as described above and wait till the application is compiled and the development server is ready.
The Run tool window or the Terminal shows the URL at which your application is running. Hold Ctrl+Shift and click this URL link. JetBrains Rider starts a debugging session with an automatically generated Debug Application configuration of the type JavaScript Debug.

When the first breakpoint is hit, switch to the Debug window and proceed as usual: step through the program, stop and resume program execution, examine it when suspended, explore the call stack and variables, set watches, evaluate variables, view actual HTML DOM, and so on.

Troubleshooting for Node.js 17+

In you are using Nuxt.js in the application and your Node.js version 17 or later, during a debugging session you may face network connectivity issues. That may result in problems with attaching the debugger or with loading sourcemaps.

The workaround is to pass --host 127.0.0.1 to the server by updating the dev script in your package.json as follows:

"dev": "nuxt --hostname=127.0.0.1"

Use several frameworks within a project

Sometimes you may need to use other frameworks within one Vue.js project.

To get context-aware coding assistance in each file, create a configuration file .ws-context and specify which framework should be used in each particular file or folder. The settings from this file will override the default configuration.

In the project root, select New | File from the context menu and specify .ws-context as the file name.
In .ws-context, use two types of properties:
- <context-name> with the context value string
- A GLOB pattern with a context details object
Use the following context values:
- framework: vue, angular, react, svelte, astro
- angular-template-syntax: V_2, V_17
- nextjs-project: nextjs
- astro-project: astro
- vue-store: vuex, pinia
- vue-class-component-library: vue-class-component, vue -property-decorator, vue-facing-decorator
- jsdoc-dialect: jsdoc-typescript, jsdoc-closure
Use path nesting for simplicity.
- The last segment of a GLOB path is the file name pattern, it only supports the * wildcard.
- If the last segment is a ** it matches all nested directories and files.
- Top level context properties should have the /** pattern.
When several patterns match the same file name, the following rules are used for disambiguation:
- Choose the pattern with maximum number of path segments, excluding ** segments.
- Choose the pattern that is a pure file name pattern, which means that it does not end in ** or /.
- Choose the pattern that was defined first.

Example

Suppose you have a project with a number of frameworks used in various folders.

To get context-aware assistance for each file in the project, add the following code to .ws-context:

{
  "framework": "vue",
  "angular-template-syntax": "V_2",
  "src/**/app/**": {
    "framework": null,
    "app.component.html" : {
      "framework": "angular",
      "angular-template-syntax": "V_17"
    }
  },
  "src/**/p*-editor/*.html" : {
    "framework" : "angular"
  }
}
        

Last modified: 23 October 2024