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Visual Studio Code requires some configuration files and a tailored settings.json file to understand Ladybird.
The WSL Remote extension allows you to use VS Code in Windows while using the normal WSL workflow. This works well, but for code comprehension speed you should put the ladybird directory on your WSL root partition.
The recommended extensions for VS Code include:

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Configuration

1

Run initial build

Run ./Meta/ladybird.py build at least once to kick off downloading and building vcpkg dependencies.
2

Select CMake preset

The CMake Tools plugin should automatically detect the CMakePresets.json at the root of the repository. Selecting and activating the default preset should be enough to get started after the initial build.
3

Choose build type (optional)

You can also use the Debug preset to build with debug symbols, or the Sanitizer preset to build with ASAN/UBSAN.
For additional settings recommendations, see the Settings section below.

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Code comprehension

Clangd has the best support for modern compilers, especially if configured as noted below. The Microsoft C/C++ tools can work, but may require more configuration.

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clangd

The official clangd extension can be used for C++ comprehension. It is recommended in general, as it is most likely to work on all platforms. clangd uses compile_commands.json files to understand the project. CMake will generate these in Build/release. Run ./Meta/ladybird.py run ladybird at least once to generate the compile_commands.json file.

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Known issues

clangd has a tendency to crash when stressing bleeding edge compiler features. You can usually just restart it via the command palette. If that doesn’t help, close currently open C++ files and/or switch branches before restarting, which helps sometimes.

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Microsoft C/C++ tools

Enabling the extension in the same workspace as the clangd and clang-format extensions will cause conflicts. If you choose to use Microsoft C/C++ Tools rather than clangd and clang-format, use the following c_cpp_properties.json to circumvent some errors.
Even with the configuration in place, the extension will likely still report errors related to types and methods not being found.

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Formatting

clangd provides code formatting out of the box using the clang-format engine. clang-format support is also included with the Microsoft C/C++ tools (see above). The settings below include a key that makes the Microsoft extension use the proper style.

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Settings

These belong in the .vscode/settings.json of Ladybird. 
{
    // Excluding the generated directories keeps your file view clean and speeds up search.
    "files.exclude": {
        "**/.git": true,
        "Toolchain/Local/**": true,
        "Toolchain/Tarballs/**": true,
        "Toolchain/Build/**": true,
        "Build/**": true,
    },
    "search.exclude": {
        "**/.git": true,
        "Toolchain/Local/**": true,
        "Toolchain/Tarballs/**": true,
        "Toolchain/Build/**": true,
        "Build/**": true,
    },
    // Force clang-format to respect Ladybird's .clang-format style file. This is not necessary if you're not using the Microsoft C++ extension.
    "C_Cpp.clang_format_style": "file",
    // Tab settings
    "editor.tabSize": 4,
    "editor.useTabStops": false,
    // format trailing new lines
    "files.trimFinalNewlines": true,
    "files.insertFinalNewline": true,
    // git commit message length
    "git.inputValidationLength": 72,
    "git.inputValidationSubjectLength": 72,
    // If clangd was obtained from a package manager, its path can be set here.
    "clangd.path": "clangd-18",
    "clangd.arguments": [
        "--header-insertion=never" // See https://github.com/clangd/clangd/issues/1247
    ]
}

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Customization

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Custom tasks

You can create custom tasks (.vscode/tasks.json) to quickly compile Ladybird. The following three example tasks should suffice in most situations, and allow you to specify the build system to use, as well as give you error highlighting.

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Debugging

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Mac

If you want to run the debugger, first place the content below in .vscode/launch.json in the root of the project. 
{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "Attach to WebContent",
            "type": "lldb",
            "request": "attach",
            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/Build/debug/bin/Ladybird.app/Contents/MacOS/WebContent",
        }
    ],
}
Then run Ladybird with the debug preset and with the --debug-process WebContent flag: 
CC=$(brew --prefix llvm)/bin/clang CXX=$(brew --prefix llvm)/bin/clang++ BUILD_PRESET=Debug ./Meta/ladybird.py run ladybird --debug-process WebContent
Running Ladybird in this way will pause execution until a debugger is attached. You can then run the debugger by going to the Run and Debug menu and selecting the Attach to WebContent configuration.

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Linux

For Linux, the launch.json will instead be the file below. 
{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "name": "Attach and debug",
      "type": "cppdbg",
      "request": "attach",
      "program": "${workspaceRoot}/Build/debug/libexec/WebContent",
      "MIMode": "gdb",
    },
  ]
}
Running Ladybird as follows: 
BUILD_PRESET=Debug Meta/ladybird.py run ladybird --debug-process WebContent
Then follow the same steps found in the Mac section. Notice also that you need to have gdb (the GNU Debugger) installed.

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License snippet

The following snippet may be useful if you want to quickly generate a license header, put it in .vscode/ladybird.code-snippets: 
{
    "License": {
        "scope": "cpp,c",
        "prefix": "license",
        "body": [
            "/*",
            " * Copyright (c) $CURRENT_YEAR, ${1:Your Name} <${2:[email protected]}>.",
            " *",
            " * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-Clause",
            " */"
        ],
        "description": "License header"
    }
}

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