User Settings: return the list of installed editors #1217

gcsecsey · 2025-04-16T10:56:42Z

Related issues

Fixes https://linear.app/a8c/issue/STU-363/user-settings-return-the-list-of-installed-editors

Proposed Changes

Note

I tried out the new PR Cursor template (pesfPa-1sj-p2) to produce a more detailed description.

This PR enhances the IDE detection functionality to support a wider range of editors across different platforms (macOS, Windows, Linux) with improved reliability and test coverage.

The existing IDE detection was limited in scope and didn't account for the various ways different platforms store and name their applications. Each platform (macOS, Windows, Linux) has its own conventions for:

Application naming (e.g., .app bundles on macOS vs executable names on Linux)
Installation paths (e.g., /Applications vs Program Files vs /usr/bin)
User-specific vs system-wide installations

While I attempted to find a more generalized solution, the fundamental differences between platforms made it necessary to implement platform-specific path detection. While more verbose, this approach ensures reliable detection across all supported platforms.

Added support for detecting additional editors:
- Cursor
- Windsurf
- Nova (macOS only)
- WebStorm
- Sublime Text
- Atom
Enhanced JetBrains IDE detection:
- Added version-specific folder detection on Windows
- Better path handling for PhpStorm and WebStorm
Added comprehensive test coverage:
- Platform-specific test suites
- Mock filesystem and electron app paths
- Test cases for all supported editors
- Edge cases and platform-specific scenarios

Testing Instructions

Unit tests

The changes include a new test suite that covers:

Editor detection on all supported platforms
Various installation locations
Platform-specific edge cases
Mac-only editor handling on other platforms

Run the new tests using npm run test -- src/lib/tests/is-installed.test.ts. All tests should pass.

The new tests contain some path manipulation that were causing some issue when run on Windows. After fixing these, I ran the tests both on Mac and Windows to double-check:
On Mac:

On Windows:

Manual testing

Start the app with STUDIO_PREFERRED_EDITOR=true npm start
Go to user preferences
Check that the list of editors contains the installed editors as active options
Check that the list of terminals contains the installed terminals as active options

editors	terminals

Pre-merge Checklist

Have you checked for TypeScript, React or other console errors?

…r-settings-return-the-list-of-installed-editors

wojtekn

It works for my limited use case of having PhpStorm and VS Code, but I didn't have a chance to test for other editors or systems.

One thing I'm wondering about is the amount of editors. Do we want to add a support for a long list of editors, and then commit to maintain and test it for all for future releases?

Thanks for adding tests!

src/lib/is-installed.ts

gcsecsey · 2025-04-16T12:43:22Z

It works for my limited use case of having PhpStorm and VS Code, but I didn't have a chance to test for other editors or systems.

Yes, I ran into the same issue, even having installed some apps I can only test on Mac. I'm working on setting up Windows and Linux VMs on my proxmox box, and will try to test my assumptions of these install paths before merging.

One thing I'm wondering about is the amount of editors. Do we want to add a support for a long list of editors, and then commit to maintain and test it for all for future releases?

Yes, this is an interesting question. From a maintenance burden standpoint, I think it'd be better to have only a handful of options and add a custom option where the user can browse for an arbitrary executable on their system. On #63 (comment) this was discussed earlier but you shared that there we have app-specific code which would limit us to do something like that. Can you elaborate on this a bit? Is this related to the opening logic we do currently in openFileinIDE?

studio/src/ipc-handlers.ts

Lines 1102 to 1128 in 4aad06b

    
           /** 
        
            * Opens a file in the IDE with the site context. 
        
            */ 
        
           export async function openFileInIDE( 
        
           	_event: IpcMainInvokeEvent, 
        
           	relativePath: string, 
        
           	siteId: string 
        
           ) { 
        
           	const server = SiteServer.get( siteId ); 
        
           	if ( ! server ) { 
        
           		throw new Error( 'Site not found.' ); 
        
           	} 
        
           	const path = await getAbsolutePathFromSite( _event, siteId, relativePath ); 
        
           	if ( ! path ) { 
        
           		return; 
        
           	} 
        
           	if ( isInstalled( 'vscode' ) ) { 
        
           		// Open site first to ensure the file is opened within the site context 
        
           		await shell.openExternal( `vscode://file/${ server.details.path }?windowId=_blank` ); 
        
           		await shell.openExternal( `vscode://file/${ path }` ); 
        
           	} else if ( isInstalled( 'phpstorm' ) ) { 
        
           		// Open site first to ensure the file is opened within the site context 
        
           		await shell.openExternal( `phpstorm://open?file=${ path }` ); 
        
           	} 
        
           }

gcsecsey · 2025-04-16T13:09:24Z

src/lib/is-installed.ts

+	| 'vscode'
+	| 'phpstorm'
+	| 'cursor'
+	| 'windsurf'
+	| 'nova'
+	| 'webstorm'
+	| 'sublime'
+	| 'atom';


Couple of notes regarding this list:

atom was archived in 2022

nova is mac-only

wojtekn · 2025-04-16T14:50:10Z

Yes, I ran into the same issue, even having installed some apps I can only test on Mac. I'm working on setting up Windows and Linux VMs on my proxmox box, and will try to test my assumptions of these install paths before merging.

We can remove the Linux part at this point, or just leave what was supported there. We don't officially support Linux and we don't provide a Linux binary, yet, and I think we shouldn't dedicate too much time for Linux-specific features at this point.

[...] you shared that there we have app-specific code which would limit us to do something like that. Can you elaborate on this a bit? Is this related to the opening logic we do currently in openFileinIDE?

Yes, the reason is that we couldn't find a unified way to open the project in the editor. I you look into openFileinIDE, you will see that we use the different deep links for PhpStorm and VS Code, and I could expect it will be different for other IDEs, too.

…r-settings-return-the-list-of-installed-editors

This lets the tests running on Windows use UNIX style paths.

…ors' of github.com:Automattic/studio into stu-363-user-settings-return-the-list-of-installed-editors

gcsecsey · 2025-04-17T13:29:08Z

src/lib/is-installed.ts

+const installationPaths: Record< string, PlatformPaths > = {
+	darwin: {
+		vscode: [ 'Visual Studio Code.app' ],
+		phpstorm: [ 'PhpStorm.app' ],
+		cursor: [ 'Cursor.app' ],
+		windsurf: [ 'Windsurf.app' ],
+		nova: [ 'Nova.app' ],
+		webstorm: [ 'WebStorm.app' ],
+		sublime: [ 'Sublime Text.app' ],
+		atom: [ 'Atom.app' ],
+		iterm: [ 'iTerm.app' ],
+		terminal: [ 'Terminal.app' ],
+	},
+	linux: {
+		vscode: [ '/usr/bin/code' ],
+		phpstorm: [ '/usr/bin/phpstorm' ],
+		cursor: [ '/usr/bin/cursor' ],
+		windsurf: [ '/usr/bin/windsurf' ],
+		nova: [],
+		webstorm: [ '/usr/bin/webstorm' ],
+		sublime: [ '/usr/bin/sublime' ],
+		atom: [ '/usr/bin/atom' ],
+		iterm: [],
+		terminal: [],
+	},


@katinthehatsite when rebasing this PR after #1215 was merged, I found it easier to merge the list of terminals and apps into one list, and do the same path manipulations for these as the IDEs.

I only had some issues with the typing, currently I use InstalledApps | InstalledTerminals where we need to be able to handle both. Longer term, I think it'd make sense to maintain just one type of the possible apps/terminals we support.

Yeah I am fine with this approach for now considering that the terminal apps are still applications and are located at the same path as other applications 👍

gavande1

Thanks, @gcsecsey, for working on this. It looks great to me!

I do have one concern similar to what Wojtek mentioned. Are we sure we want to support this many editors right from the start? It might make testing and maintenance more challenging.

Would it make sense to start with a smaller set of editors and gradually expand support, either later on or during the polishing phase?

katinthehatsite · 2025-04-22T09:58:42Z

src/lib/tests/is-installed.test.ts

+	let isInstalled: ( key: string ) => boolean;
+	let mockPaths: string[];
+
+	// Reset mocks before each test


Let's clean up the comments as they seem to be pretty self explanatory unless it is something that is not evident

katinthehatsite

The changes look good to me and I can see, that for instance, it is now finding Cursor for me:

It would be nice to get this tested on Windows as well to see how it turns there.

gcsecsey · 2025-04-22T10:20:51Z

I do have one concern similar to what Wojtek mentioned. Are we sure we want to support this many editors right from the start? It might make testing and maintenance more challenging.

Would it make sense to start with a smaller set of editors and gradually expand support, either later on or during the polishing phase?

I agree that it might be too much to start off with this many editors. As I mentioned above, I don't see too much benefits of supporting Nova and Atom at all, and I think we can start with a smaller subset and itroduce the rest later.

As we need to support PHPStorm and VSCode, I think adjacent editors to these would be the easiest to start off with. For now, I'll update the list to be these editors, then we can iterate on these later.

VSCode
PHPStorm
Cursor
Windsurf
Webstorm

We can add these back later as needed.

gcsecsey added 4 commits April 16, 2025 11:47

Update install path detection logic

afaf875

Merge branch 'trunk' of github.com:Automattic/studio into stu-363-use…

4aad06b

…r-settings-return-the-list-of-installed-editors

Update test types

8ecfdf4

Remove self-explanatory comments

e3e41f5

gcsecsey requested review from katinthehatsite, gavande1 and a team April 16, 2025 11:06

wojtekn reviewed Apr 16, 2025

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src/lib/is-installed.ts Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

gcsecsey changed the title ~~IDE Detection: Enhanced multi-platform editor detection and testing~~ User Settings: return the list of installed editors Apr 16, 2025

gcsecsey added 2 commits April 16, 2025 14:00

Use programfiles env var for paths on Windows

a78fcca

Remove unnecessary log

676926e

gcsecsey commented Apr 16, 2025

View reviewed changes

gcsecsey added 9 commits April 16, 2025 16:57

restore linux supported apps

f8c1700

use path.win32 for windows path operations

a2e232b

fix mocking of process.env

eb23ce3

Merge branch 'trunk' of github.com:Automattic/studio into stu-363-use…

0c10567

…r-settings-return-the-list-of-installed-editors

tests: normalize mock paths

dbc9474

This lets the tests running on Windows use UNIX style paths.

Return installed apps list in getInstalledApps

445bf74

Return installed apps list in getInstalledApps

10adeb4

Merge branch 'stu-363-user-settings-return-the-list-of-installed-edit…

68a2766

…ors' of github.com:Automattic/studio into stu-363-user-settings-return-the-list-of-installed-editors

update types

881a8b3

gcsecsey commented Apr 17, 2025

View reviewed changes

gavande1 reviewed Apr 17, 2025

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gavande1 approved these changes Apr 17, 2025

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wojtekn assigned gcsecsey Apr 21, 2025

katinthehatsite reviewed Apr 22, 2025

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katinthehatsite approved these changes Apr 22, 2025

View reviewed changes

gcsecsey added 3 commits April 22, 2025 13:08

Remove self-explanatory comments

437253c

Remove Nova, Sublime, and Atom from the list of editors

a8cb722

We can add these back later as needed.

Remove Nova, Sublime, and Atom from the list of editors

eee7089

We can add these back later as needed.

gcsecsey merged commit 395a054 into trunk Apr 22, 2025
8 checks passed

gcsecsey deleted the stu-363-user-settings-return-the-list-of-installed-editors branch April 22, 2025 12:48

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User Settings: return the list of installed editors #1217

User Settings: return the list of installed editors #1217

gcsecsey commented Apr 16, 2025 •

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gcsecsey commented Apr 22, 2025

User Settings: return the list of installed editors #1217

User Settings: return the list of installed editors #1217

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gcsecsey commented Apr 16, 2025 • edited Loading

Related issues

Proposed Changes

Testing Instructions

Unit tests

Manual testing

Pre-merge Checklist

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gcsecsey commented Apr 16, 2025 •

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