Setup Component Explorer

Skill: Setup Component Explorer

When the user asks to add, set up, or integrate the component explorer into their project, follow this guide.

Prerequisites

• The project uses Vite as its bundler
• Node.js >= 22

Step 1: Install Packages

npm install @vscode/component-explorer @vscode/component-explorer-cli @vscode/component-explorer-vite-plugin

Use the project's package manager (npm, pnpm, yarn). For workspace monorepos, install into the package that owns the Vite config.

Step 2: Configure Vite Plugin

Add componentExplorer() to vite.config.ts:

import { componentExplorer } from '@vscode/component-explorer-vite-plugin';

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
    // ... existing plugins (react, tailwind, etc.)
    componentExplorer(),
  ],
});

Plugin Options

For projects where fixtures live outside ./, set include explicitly:

componentExplorer({
  include: './test/**/*.fixture.{ts,tsx,js,jsx}',
}),

Step 3: Create component-explorer.json

Create a configuration file for the CLI/daemon/MCP features (place next to the Vite config or at the project root):

{
  "$schema": "./node_modules/@vscode/component-explorer-cli/dist/component-explorer-config.schema.json",
  "screenshotDir": ".screenshots",
  "viteConfig": "./vite.config.ts",
  
  // If you need a stable port, configure the redirection server port (required for the launch config in Step 6):
  "redirection": { "port": 5331 }
}

Step 4: Configure VS Code — MCP Server

Create or update .vscode/mcp.json to add the component explorer MCP server. This enables AI agents to take screenshots, compare fixtures, and interact with components:

{
  "servers": {
    "component-explorer": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npm",
      "args": [
        "exec",
        "component-explorer",
        "--no",
        "--",
        "mcp",
        "-p",
        "./component-explorer.json"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Adjust the -p path to point to the component-explorer.json location relative to cwd.

Step 5: Configure VS Code — Component Explorer Server Task

Add a task to .vscode/tasks.json to start the component explorer server:

{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "Component Explorer Server",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "./node_modules/.bin/component-explorer serve -p ./component-explorer.json --kill-if-running",
      "isBackground": true,
      "problemMatcher": {
        "owner": "component-explorer",
        "fileLocation": "absolute",
        "pattern": {
          "regexp": "^\\s*at\\s+(.+?):(\\d+):(\\d+)\\s*$",
          "file": 1,
          "line": 2,
          "column": 3
        },
        "background": {
          "activeOnStart": true,
          "beginsPattern": ".*Setting up sessions.*",
          "endsPattern": "Redirection server listening on.*"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

If other tasks already exist, merge the new task into the existing tasks array.

Step 6: Configure VS Code — Launch Configuration (Optional)

To open the component explorer UI in Chrome, add a launch configuration to .vscode/launch.json:

{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "name": "Component Explorer (Chrome)",
      "type": "chrome",
      "request": "launch",
      "url": "http://localhost:5331/___explorer",
      "preLaunchTask": "Component Explorer Server"
    }
  ]
}

This requires the redirection port to be configured in component-explorer.json (see Step 3). The preLaunchTask starts the daemon automatically before opening the browser.

If other launch configurations already exist, merge the new configuration into the existing configurations array.

Step 7: Create a First Fixture and Verify

Use the use-component-explorer skill for guidance on writing fixtures, including project-specific wrapper functions and best practices.

Create a .fixture.tsx (or .fixture.ts) file to verify the setup works:

1. Start the dev server: npx vite (or pnpm dev, etc.)
2. Open http://localhost:5173/___explorer to see the explorer UI.
3. Run the "Component Explorer Server" VS Code task (or the launch configuration) to start the server.
4. Verify the MCP server connects (Copilot can now list_fixtures, screenshot, etc.).