VS Code in Home: local installation and font customization without sudo

mkdir -p ~/apps
cd ~/apps
wget "https://code.visualstudio.com/sha/download?build=stable&os=linux-x64" -O vscode.tar.gz
tar -xzf vscode.tar.gz
rm vscode.tar.gz

@startuml
skinparam backgroundColor #FEFEFE

rectangle "System Installation\n(/opt, apt, dnf)" #LightCoral {
    card "VS Code owned by root" {
        [CSS du workbench : sudo requis]
        [product.json : sudo requis]
        [Dossier d'install : non modifiable]
    }
}

rectangle "Home installation\n(~/apps)" #LightGreen {
    card "VS Code user property" {
        [CSS du workbench : libre]
        [product.json : libre]
        [Dossier d'install : libre]
        [Script update maison]
    }
}

"System Installation\n(/opt, apt, dnf)" -right-> "Home installation\n(~/apps)" : **Non, merci**\nJe prends le home

note bottom of "Home installation\n(~/apps)"
  L'agent opencode+LLM peut
  modifier les fichiers de l'IDE
  sans aucune élévation de privilèges
end note
@enduml

@startuml
skinparam backgroundColor #FEFEFE
autonumber

actor Développeur as dev
participant "workbench.desktop\n.main.css" as css
participant "product.json" as product
participant "VS Code" as vscode

== Patch CSS ==
dev -> css : Ajouter règles font-size\n(.menubar-menu-title, etc.)
dev -> vscode : Redémarrer VS Code
vscode -> vscode : Charge le CSS patché
vscode --> dev : Menus et dropdowns en 23px/22px ✓

== Suppression warning ==
vscode --> dev : ⚠️ "Your installation is corrupt"
dev -> product : Supprimer clé "checksums"\n(python3 -c ...)
dev -> vscode : Redémarrer VS Code
vscode --> dev : Plus de warning ✓

note over css, product
  Deux fichiers dans ~/apps/
  = modifiables sans sudo
end note
@enduml

CSS_FILE="$HOME/apps/VSCode-linux-x64/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.css"

cat >> "$CSS_FILE" << 'EOF'
.menubar-menu-title{font-size:23px!important}
.menubar>.menubar-menu-button{font-size:23px!important}
.monaco-menu-option{font-size:22px!important;line-height:34px!important}
.monaco-menu .action-label:not(.codicon){font-size:22px!important}
.menubar-menu-items-holder .monaco-menu .action-item .action-label{font-size:22px!important}
EOF

import json
product_json = "$HOME/apps/VSCode-linux-x64/resources/app/product.json"
with open(product_json, 'r') as f:
    data = json.load(f)
data.pop('checksums', None)
with open(product_json, 'w') as f:
    json.dump(data, f, indent=2)

{
    "workbench.tree.fontSize": 20
}

~/apps/VSCode-linux-x64/bin/code --install-extension be5invis.vscode-custom-css

.monaco-tree-rows .monaco-tree-row,
.sidebar .monaco-list-row,
.explorer-viewlet .monaco-list-row,
.monaco-list-row .monaco-icon-label {
    font-size: 22px !important;
    line-height: 36px !important;
}

{
    "vscode_custom_css.imports": [
        "file:///home/user/.vscode-custom-css/custom.css"
    ]
}

.monaco-list-row {
    height: 36px !important;
    min-height: 36px !important;
}

@startuml
skinparam backgroundColor #FEFEFE

rectangle "Attempt 1\nNonexistent parameter" #LightCoral {
    card "workbench.tree.fontSize" as t1 {
        [VS Code ignore le paramètre]
    }
}

rectangle "Attempt 2\nCustom CSS + font-size" #LightYellow {
    card ".monaco-list-row { font-size: 22px }" as t2 {
        [Texte plus grand\nmais lignes superposées]
    }
}

rectangle "Attempt 3\nfont-size + line-height + height" #LightYellow {
    card "height: 36px !important" as t3 {
        [VS Code override\npar JavaScript]
        [Aucun effet]
    }
}

rectangle "Solution\nzoom on parent container" #LightGreen {
    card ".monaco-list-rows { zoom: 1.25 }" as t4 {
        [Texte + espacement\nproportionnels]
        [Layout JS respecté]
        [✓ Résultat conforme]
    }
}

t1 -down-> t2 : Pas de paramètre ?\nOn essaie le CSS
t2 -down-> t3 : Lignes superposées ?\nOn force la hauteur
t3 -down-> t4 : Override JS ?\nOn utilise zoom

@enduml

.explorer-viewlet .monaco-list-rows,
.sidebar .monaco-list-rows {
    zoom: 1.25;
}

#!/bin/bash
set -e

VSCODE_DIR="$HOME/apps/VSCode-linux-x64"
BACKUP_DIR="$HOME/apps/vscode-backup"
TEMP_DIR="/tmp/vscode-update"

MENUBAR_FONT_SIZE="23px"
DROPDOWN_FONT_SIZE="22px"

echo "=== VS Code Local Updater ==="

CURRENT_VERSION=$("$VSCODE_DIR/bin/code" --version 2>/dev/null | head -1)
echo "Current version: $CURRENT_VERSION"

echo "Downloading latest VS Code..."
mkdir -p "$TEMP_DIR"
wget -q "https://code.visualstudio.com/sha/download?build=stable&os=linux-x64" \
    -O "$TEMP_DIR/vscode.tar.gz"

echo "Extracting..."
mkdir -p "$TEMP_DIR/extracted"
tar -xzf "$TEMP_DIR/vscode.tar.gz" -C "$TEMP_DIR/extracted"

NEW_VERSION=$("$TEMP_DIR/extracted/VSCode-linux-x64/bin/code" \
    --version 2>/dev/null | head -1)
echo "New version: $NEW_VERSION"

if [ "$CURRENT_VERSION" = "$NEW_VERSION" ]; then
    echo "Already up to date!"
    rm -rf "$TEMP_DIR"
    exit 0
fi

echo "Backing up current installation..."
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
cp -r "$VSCODE_DIR" "$BACKUP_DIR/VSCode-linux-x64-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)"

echo "Updating..."
rm -rf "$VSCODE_DIR"
mv "$TEMP_DIR/extracted/VSCode-linux-x64" "$VSCODE_DIR"
rm -rf "$TEMP_DIR"

CSS_FILE="$VSCODE_DIR/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.desktop.main.css"
echo "Re-applying custom CSS patch \
    (menubar=${MENUBAR_FONT_SIZE}, dropdown=${DROPDOWN_FONT_SIZE})..."
cat >> "$CSS_FILE" << CSSEOF
.menubar-menu-title{font-size:${MENUBAR_FONT_SIZE}!important}\
.menubar>.menubar-menu-button{font-size:${MENUBAR_FONT_SIZE}!important}\
.monaco-menu-option{font-size:${DROPDOWN_FONT_SIZE}!important;\
line-height:34px!important}\
.monaco-menu .action-label:not(.codicon)\
{font-size:${DROPDOWN_FONT_SIZE}!important}\
.menubar-menu-items-holder .monaco-menu .action-item .action-label\
{font-size:${DROPDOWN_FONT_SIZE}!important}
CSSEOF

PRODUCT_JSON="$VSCODE_DIR/resources/app/product.json"
if [ -f "$PRODUCT_JSON" ]; then
    echo "Removing checksums to prevent integrity warning..."
    python3 -c "
import json
with open('$PRODUCT_JSON','r') as f: data=json.load(f)
data.pop('checksums', None)
with open('$PRODUCT_JSON','w') as f: json.dump(data,f,indent=2)
print('Done.')
"
fi

echo "=== Update complete: $CURRENT_VERSION -> $NEW_VERSION ==="