Let extensions hook into url opening

Overview

Let extensions hook into url opening. Motivating use case: I click on a link in the integrated terminal and it opens in my browser preview extension

Potential places to handle links:

Links in the terminal
Links in documents
Links from the remote port forwarding views
Debugger launch?
Open external?

Additional requirements

A url opener should be able to decline opening a link

Some openers may only support specific types of links, such as localhost
Clicking a link should activate relevant extensions

We'd need a new activation event so that extensions can make sure they handle link opening
Let users fallback to VS Code's default behavior

This typically is to open using the default browser
Handle multiple url openers being registered at the same time

Users should be able to select which opener to use in this case. They should potentially be able to specify a default opener.

I talked with Kai about the "debugger launch" scenario in my 1:1 last week. In my specific scenario, I think the requirements you have are sufficient. Most of the potential fancy stuff I do would be driven OOB, e.g. by the mirroring http server providing the debugging and communication pipe.

Adding proposed external uri opener API

Johannes Rieken (@jrieken)

Johannes Rieken (@jrieken) Alexandru Dima (@alexdima) Here's the current version of the API based on our discussion earlier:

/**
	 * Handles opening external uris.
	 *
	 * An extension can use this to open a `http` link to a webserver inside of VS Code instead of
	 * having the link be opened by the webbrowser.
	 *
	 * Currently openers may only be registered for `http` and `https` uris.
	 */
	export interface ExternalUriOpener {

		/**
		 * Try to open a given uri.
		 *
		 * @param uri The uri being opened.
		 * @param ctx Additional metadata about how the open was triggered.
		 * @param token Cancellation token.
		 *
		 * @return Optional command that opens the uri. If no command is returned, VS Code will
		 * continue checking to see if any other openers are available.
		 *
		 * If multiple openers are available for a given uri, then the `Command.title` is shown in the UI.
		 */
		openExternalUri(uri: Uri, ctx: {}, token: CancellationToken): ProviderResult<Command>;
	}

	namespace window {
		/**
		 * Register a new `ExternalUriOpener`.
		 *
		 * When a uri is about to be opened, an `onUriOpen:SCHEME` activation event is fired.
		 *
		 * @param schemes List of uri schemes the opener is triggered for. Currently only `http`
		 * and `https` are supported.
		 * @param opener Opener to register.
		 *
		* @returns Disposable that unregisters the opener.
		 */
		export function registerExternalUriOpener(schemes: readonly string[], opener: ExternalUriOpener,): Disposable;
	}

Main changes:

Renamed to ExternalUriOpener to make it clear the opener only applies to uris that VS Code itself does not handle
The provider now registers for a specific set of schemes
The openExternalUri method now returns a command. If there are multiple openers, we show the command title in a quick pick so that the user can select which opener to use

This is something I'd like to take advantage of for the port auto forwarding notification. The idea would be that instead of clicking on the button in the notification to open in the browser, we could instead use that button to open a "browser preview".

Taking this even further, once we add a way to specify additional properties for ports in settings, we can make one of the additional properties an "on forward" action. This action could be one of several options: open in browser, open in "browser preview", do nothing, etc..

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Let extensions hook into url opening #109277

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Let extensions hook into url opening #109277

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connor4312 commented on Oct 26, 2020

mjbvz commented on Dec 16, 2020

alexr00 commented on Dec 16, 2020

mjbvz commented on Jan 7, 2021

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