quarto-dev / quarto-dev/quarto

Feature request: Add "Run Current Cell and Below" command/link in Quarto VS Code notebooks

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vscode
Dominant language
TypeScript
Stars
645
Forks
62
Avg merge
17h 42m
Merged PRs (30d)
13

Description

Description
When working with Quarto notebooks in VS Code, each code cell currently shows links such as:

  • Run Cell
  • Run Next Cell
  • Run Above

However, there is no option to run the current cell and all cells below, which is a very common workflow in Jupyter-style environments.

This capability is especially useful when:

  • Re-running an entire analysis pipeline after modifying a cell in the middle of the notebook
  • Avoiding manual multi-cell execution or restarting the kernel
  • Working with long notebooks where execution order matters

Adding a "Run Current and Below" (or similar) command would significantly improve productivity and align the experience with other notebook ecosystems.

Proposed Feature
Add a new command/link in the cell toolbar:

  • Run Current and Below

Optionally also expose it via:

  • Command Palette
  • Keyboard shortcut

Expected Behavior
From any cell, the user can execute that cell and all subsequent cells in top-to-bottom order.

Actual Behavior
Only the following options are available:

  • Run Cell
  • Run Next Cell
  • Run Above

No built-in way to run current cell plus all following cells.

Why this matters
Quarto notebooks are often used for reproducible data science and ML workflows. Missing this execution mode makes iterative development slower and increases friction compared to Jupyter Notebooks.

Environment

  • VS Code: (add your version)
  • Quarto extension: (add your version)
  • OS: Windows 10/11 (or your OS)

Additional Notes
If there is already an internal command that supports this behavior, exposing it in the UI would also be sufficient.

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by locating the existing VS Code notebook commands or links for Run Cell, Run Next Cell, and Run Above. Trace how they select and execute cells, then add the current-and-below behavior and verify that cells run in top-to-bottom order; the feature is done when it is available from the cell toolbar and its execution behavior is tested.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
jupyter-notebook, typescript, vscode
Domain
developer-experience, tooling
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
55/100

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