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Changelog

3.0.1 - 2026-09-28

  • Bump version of both the extension and sess to 3.0.1 so users who installed an earlier 3.0.0 pre-release build of sess (before its connection protocol was finalized) are prompted to reinstall sess. (#1794)

Full Changelog: https://github.com/REditorSupport/vscode-R/compare/v3.0.0...v3.0.1

3.0.0 - 2026-09-27

v3.0.0 of the R Extension for VS Code is a major release. It introduces a significant architectural change via the (new) sess R package, which powers faster and more robust communication with the underlying R session. In turn, this has allowed us to close numerous long-standing bugs, as well as enable a variety of ancillary improvements and feature requests. The extension bundles its own copy of sess and will offer to install it (on your behalf) if it is missing or outdated. See the sess README for more details.

Highlights

  • More reliable R sessions: Session communication now uses sess with local sockets or named pipes. Managed R sessions can reconnect after a VS Code window reload, and workspace updates no longer delay code submission when the environment contains large objects.
  • More flexible plot viewing: r.plot.backend selects jgd, httpgd, or the standard graphics device. Automatic selection prefers jgd when installed, then httpgd, then the standard device.
  • Faster, more capable data and workspace viewers: Data rows and workspace objects load on demand, including Arrow and Polars data frames in the data viewer, which also gains column controls, filtering, and row counts.
  • R Markdown and RStudio API: YAML parameters are evaluated before running R Markdown code, and rstudioapi::showPrompt() and rstudioapi::askForPassword() are now supported.
  • Improved console configuration: Console and background R executables can be set separately, including executable names found on PATH.

Breaking changes

  • VS Code 1.110 or later is now required.
  • The session watcher has been rewritten around the new sess package, which replaces the R scripts that previously lived under ~/.vscode-R/. The extension and R now talk over a local socket (Unix) or named pipe (Windows), rather than by watching files. For most users, this change should be invisible apart from being faster and more reliable. However, users who customized the old session watcher should note the following:
    • The R-side vsc.* options (e.g., vsc.plot, vsc.viewer, vsc.browser, vsc.row_limit) are no longer read. Use the equivalent r.* VS Code settings instead.
    • The ~/.vscode-R/init.R script and the R: Attach Active Terminal command have been removed.
  • Live Share integration has been removed, including its commands and r.liveShare.* settings. (#1684 @randy3k)
  • Several settings that no longer had any effect have been removed: r.helpPanel.rpath, r.session.useWebServer, r.session.data.rowLimit (superseded by on-demand loading in the data viewer), r.session.objectLengthLimit, r.session.objectTimeout, r.session.levelOfObjectDetail, and r.workspaceViewer.showObjectSize. (#1713, #1734 @Fred-Wu, #1762 @eitsupi)

Renamed settings

Several settings have been given clearer, platform-independent names. The old names are deprecated but still work, so existing configurations will continue to behave as before. If both are set, the new name takes precedence (within the same user/workspace scope).

Old (deprecated) New
r.rpath.<platform> r.executablePath
r.rterm.<platform> r.consolePath
r.rterm.option r.consoleArgs
r.rtermSendDelay r.consoleSendDelay
r.plot.useHttpgd r.plot.backend

(#1733, #1735, #1762 @eitsupi)

New features

Plot viewer

  • New r.plot.backend setting for choosing the plot viewer: "standard", "httpgd", "jgd", or "auto" (the default). The latter picks the best available backend, trying jgd first (see next bullet), then httpgd, then the standard viewer. Changes should take effect without reloading VS Code, and you'll get a warning if the requested backend isn't installed. This supersedes the old r.plot.useHttpgd setting, which is deprecated but still respected (see "Renamed settings" above). (#1706, #1716, #1766 @grantmcdermott, #1733 @eitsupi)
  • Native integration with the lightweight jgd graphics device, including plot history and export. Only the jgd R package is needed; no separate VS Code extension required. See the r.plot.jgd.* settings for history and export options. (#1706 @grantmcdermott)
  • The standard plot viewer now re-renders plots to fit the viewer panel as it is resized, rather than displaying a fixed-size image. It also produces crisp SVG output by default if the svglite package is installed, falling back to PNG otherwise. Use the new r.plot.format setting to choose explicitly. (#1684 @randy3k)
  • Plot navigation commands (next, previous, zoom, export, etc.) are now hidden from the Command Palette, since they only apply to an open plot viewer. They remain available from the viewer toolbar. (#1762 @eitsupi)

R executable and console

  • r.executablePath sets the R used for background tasks (e.g., the help server and package installation), while r.consolePath sets the interactive console. The latter makes it easy to use alternative consoles like arf or radian. Both accept either a full path or a bare command name on your PATH (e.g., "R" or "arf"), and support variables like ${workspaceFolder}. If r.consolePath is unset, r.executablePath is used for the console too. (#1735, #1762 @eitsupi)

Data viewer

  • Much faster for large datasets. Rows are loaded on demand as you scroll, rather than all at once. Arrow tables and Polars DataFrames are also supported. (#1703 @renkun-ken, #1717 @Fred-Wu)
  • New column panel to search, show/hide, and pin columns, plus inline filters, a "clear all filters" button, row counts, and full-value tooltips. Columns fit the viewer width by default, and your view settings are remembered. (#1747 @Fred-Wu, #1765 @renkun-ken)
  • Calling View() on the same object again refreshes the existing viewer tab, instead of opening a new one. The viewer also keeps its column layout if the column names, order, and types are unchanged. (#1707 @Fred-Wu, #1765 @renkun-ken)

Workspace viewer

  • Nested objects (lists, environments, pairlists, S4 and R6 objects, data frames) can now be expanded recursively. Large objects load 500 items at a time, with a "..." row to load more. (#1713, #1730 @Fred-Wu)

Session

  • R terminals now reconnect automatically after reloading the VS Code window. (#1764 @eitsupi)

Other

  • rstudioapi::showPrompt() and rstudioapi::askForPassword() are now supported. (#1684 @randy3k)
  • R Markdown params from the YAML header are now evaluated before running code chunks. (#1684 @randy3k)
  • The extension now activates when an R or R Markdown file is opened, not just when a workspace contains one. (#1768 @ThomasSoeiro)
  • New R documentation files default to the .Rd extension. (#1773 @ThomasSoeiro)

Bug fixes

  • Fixed lag when sending code to the console while the workspace contains many or large objects. (#1713, #1720 @Fred-Wu)
  • The data viewer no longer displays very small numbers as 0. (#1738, #1757 @Fred-Wu)
  • Fixed various rstudioapi emulation issues, including viewer routing. (#1684 @randy3k)
  • Removed the spurious "No text editor active" warning. (#1704 @renkun-ken)
  • The help viewer no longer disables TLS certificate validation when fetching from CRAN. (@tomaioo)
  • Session files are now created with owner-only permissions. (#1705 @renkun-ken)
  • r.session.viewers.viewColumn.helpPanel is now respected for help pages opened from R, including "Disable". (#1762 @eitsupi)
  • Language server diagnostics now ignore virtual and deleted files. (#1697 @toscm)
  • When the session watcher is disabled, the warning now links to the relevant setting rather than an empty wiki page. (#1760 @Fred-Wu)

Internals

  • New integration test suite. (#1684 @randy3k)
  • Modernized CI, including Node.js 24, updated GitHub Actions, and Dependabot updates for workflow dependencies. (#1731, #1771 @eitsupi)
  • The sess R tests use tinytest. (#1706 @grantmcdermott)

Organization

  • New maintainers with write access: @eitsupi, @Fred-Wu, and @grantmcdermott.
  • The jgd graphics device package has joined the REditorSupport organization.
  • REditorSupport now has its own R-universe, providing up-to-date (dev) binary builds of our various R packages.
  • The default branch has been renamed from master to main. Contributors should update their local clones and target main in pull requests. (#1103, #1775 @randy3k)

Full Changelog: https://github.com/REditorSupport/vscode-R/compare/v2.8.8...v3.0.0

2.8.8 - 2026-03-24

Features

  • feat: change default of r.lsp.multiServer to false

Full Changelog: https://github.com/REditorSupport/vscode-R/compare/v2.8.7...v2.8.8

2.8.7 - 2026-03-15

Bug Fixes

  • fix: correct r.term and r.path setting names in error message

Features

  • feat: support multi-root workspaces in single-server mode

Other

  • Allow bracketedPaste on win32 platform (#1631)
  • feat: default to single language server for multi-root workspaces (#1682)

Full Changelog: https://github.com/REditorSupport/vscode-R/compare/v2.8.6...v2.8.7

2.8.6 - 2025-05-31

Other

  • Syntax update and bump to 2.8.6 (#1605)
  • Show sidebar icon only when extension is active (#1579)
  • Move R and R markdown syntaxes to vscode-R-syntax (#1606)

Refactor

  • refactor: restructure files (#1613)

Full Changelog: https://github.com/REditorSupport/vscode-R/compare/v2.8.5...v2.8.6

See CHANGELOG.old.md for changes before v2.8.5.