microsoft / microsoft/TypeScript-TmLanguage
typescript-basics: fix highlighting for triple-slash reference directives with preserve="true"
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- Dominant language
- TypeScript
- Stars
- 471
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Description
Does this issue occur when all extensions are disabled?: Yes
- versions
Version: 1.108.2
Commit: c9d77990917f3102ada88be140d28b038d1dd7c7
Date: 2026-01-21T13:52:09.270Z
Electron: 39.2.7
ElectronBuildId: 12953945
Chromium: 142.0.7444.235
Node.js: 22.21.1
V8: 14.2.231.21-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.19045
Problem
TypeScript supports preserve="true" on triple-slash reference directives, e.g.
/// <reference path="../communication-api.d.ts" preserve="true" />
However, VS Code's bundled TypeScript TextMate grammar fails to recognize the directive when preserve="true" is present, causing the line to be tokenized as a regular line comment instead of a reference directive.
Expected behavior
/// <reference ... /> should be tokenized/highlighted as a reference directive regardless of the presence of preserve="true".
Actual behavior
When preserve="true" is present, the entire line is highlighted as a regular line comment (directive tokenization does not apply).
Repro
- Open a
.tsfile in VS Code - Add the following baseline line (this is highlighted as a reference directive):
/// <reference path="../communication-api.d.ts" />
- Now add
preserve="true"(this becomes a regular comment highlight):
/// <reference path="../communication-api.d.ts" preserve="true" />
- Observe that only the
preserve="true"form loses directive highlighting.
Evidence (Inspect Editor Tokens and Scopes)
Without preserve="true"
- textmate scopes:
- punctuation.definition.comment.ts
- comment.line.triple-slash.directive.ts
- source.ts
- comment.line
With preserve="true"
- textmate scopes:
- comment.line.double-slash.ts
- source.ts
- comment.line
Potential fix
Update extensions/typescript-basics/syntaxes/TypeScript.tmLanguage.json under repository/directives to allow the optional preserve="true" attribute in /// <reference ... /> directives.
This makes directives with preserve="true" highlight consistently with the existing path/types/lib reference directives.
Notes
- The change is limited to the directive-matching pattern and does not affect general comment tokenization.
- Handles common spacing variants (e.g.
preserve="true"/>andpreserve="true" />).
Tests
-
Manual verification in VS Code:
/// <reference path="..." />(unchanged)/// <reference path="..." preserve="true" />(now highlighted as directive)- Same for
typesandlibforms
-
(Optional) Add/adjust a colorize fixture under
extensions/typescript-basics/test/colorize-fixtures/to cover thepreserve="true"case.
Contributor guide
No contributing guide indexed for this repository
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start in extensions/typescript-basics/syntaxes/TypeScript.tmLanguage.json, especially the repository/directives pattern described in the issue. Review the existing colorize fixtures under extensions/typescript-basics/test/colorize-fixtures/ and verify that path, types, and lib directives still highlight correctly with and without preserve="true".
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- typescript
- Domain
- tooling
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 1/5
- Estimated time
- 1-3 hours
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Clearly specified
- Newbie friendliness
- 58/100