How to intellisense alias module path in VSCode

Question

I would like VSCode to IntelliSense the module path so I can access it by click.

For example, after configurating jsconfig.json I'm able to access ./src/styled/index by importing its global path. (By a global path, it means that the import won't change its meaning after moving the file into a different location.)

But I couldn't figure out how to make it work with an alias @styles

// VSCode Intellisene Works
import { mixins, theme } from 'styles';

// VSCode Intellisene Doesn't work
import { mixins, theme } from '@styles';

My current jsconfig.json:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "baseUrl": "./",
    "jsx": "react",
    "paths": {
      "@styles": ["src/styles/index"]
    }
  }
}

Angara

When you named it styles or @styles, did you mean it is a CSS file? By default, a tsconfig.json doesn't deal with CSS files. – Grape

Answer 1

Seems I had to restart VSCode.

---

Javascript (javascript,javascriptreact file types in VSCode)

An example of jsconfig.json file for reference:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "baseUrl": "./src",
    "jsx": "react",
    "paths": {
      "@styles": ["styles/index"],
      "@fonts": ["fonts/index"],
      "@components": ["components/index"],
      "@atoms": ["components/atoms/index"],
      "@molecules": ["components/molecules/index"],
      "@organisms": ["components/organisms/index"],
      "@templates": ["components/templates/index"],
      "@icons": ["components/atoms/Icons/index"],
      "@config": ["config/index"],
      "@utils": ["utils/index"],
      "@hooks": ["hooks/index"],
      "@constants": ["constants/index"],
      "@queries": ["queries/index"],
      "@reducers": ["state/store/reducers"],
      "@actions": ["state/store/actions"],
      "@slices": ["state/slices/"],
      "@storybookHelpers": ["../.storybook/helpers"]
    }
  }
}

An example of how styles/index looks like:

export * from './colors';
export * from './GlobalStyle.styles';
export * from './mixins.styles';

// Or
export { COLORS } from './colors';
export { default as GlobalStyle } from './GlobalStyle.styles';
export { default as mixins } from './mixins.styles';

Will allow import (with IntelliSense):

import { COLORS, mixins, GlobalStyle } from '@styles';

For a bonus: aliases.js, which is a helper which I use to define aliases in webpack config files, it helps to not repeat yourself, for example when using the same aliases in storybook and for the application itself.

// Remember to update `jsconfig.json`
const aliases = (prefix = `src`) => ({
  '@actions': `${prefix}/state/store/actions`,
  '@atoms': `${prefix}/components/atoms`,
  '@molecules': `${prefix}/components/molecules`,
  '@organisms': `${prefix}/components/organisms`,
  '@templates': `${prefix}/components/templates`,
  '@components': `${prefix}/components`,
  '@config': `${prefix}/config`,
  '@constants': `${prefix}/constants`,
  '@hooks': `${prefix}/hooks`,
  '@icons': `${prefix}/components/atoms/Icons`,
  '@queries': `${prefix}/queries`,
  '@reducers': `${prefix}/state/store/reducers`,
  '@slices': `${prefix}/state/slices`,
  '@styles': `${prefix}/styles`,
  '@utils': `${prefix}/utils`,
  '@storybookHelpers': `../.storybook/helpers`,
});

module.exports = aliases;

// usage example at .storybook/webpack.config.js file
const path = require("path");
const alias = require(`../src/config/aliases`);

const SRC = "../src";
const aliases = alias(SRC);

const resolvedAliases = Object.fromEntries(
  Object.entries(aliases).map(([key, value]) => [
    key,
    path.resolve(__dirname, value),
  ])
);

module.exports = ({ config }) => {
  config.resolve.modules.push(path.resolve(__dirname, SRC));
  config.resolve.alias = resolvedAliases;
  return config;
};

---

Typescript (typescript,typescriptreact files)

At tsconfig.json use the compilerOptions.paths option, notice that the paths are relative to baseUrl:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "baseUrl": "./",
    "paths": {
      "@components/*": ["components/*"],
      "@config": ["config"],
      "@constants": ["constants"],
      "@hooks": ["hooks"],
      "@styles": ["styles"],
      "$types/*": ["types/*"],
      "@utils": ["utils"]
    }
}

This allows aliases (with IntelliSense), for example:

// Example of hooks/index.ts file
export * from './useLogin';
export * from './useLocalStorage';
export * from './useAuth';

// Usage examples
import {ROUTES} from '@constants';
import {Text} from '@components/atoms';
import {mixins} from '@styles';
import {useLocalStorage} from '@hooks';

Angara

In my case we had baseUrl: '.' which needed to be updated to baseUrl: './' for Intellisense to pick it up correctly. I hope this helps someone else. – Middy

I had to Ctrl+Shift+P "Reaload Window" in order form the change to apply – Boxboard

Thanks, very useful, @Grape feel free to edit/remove this part from the answer I will accept – Angara

Answer 2

In the settings.json file, add this line:

"typescript.preferences.importModuleSpecifier": "non-relative"

If this property is removed, the ugly relative auto-import is the default option. Change 'typescript' to 'javascript' if you're currently using JS. To know more about this setting option, hover over it like this:

---

(Bonus tip) Prefix ~/ to all internal import paths with the following compiler options in tsconfig.json in order to distinguish them from external import paths prefixed with @:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "baseUrl": ".",
    "paths": {
      "~/*": ["./*"]
    }
  },
}

Hallow

Answer 3

I had the right configuration as described by the other answers. In VS code I restarted the TypeScript server using Ctrl + Shift + P -> TypeScript: Restart TS server command and it fixed the editor highlighting the import path error.

Just for completeness here is what my tsconfig.json looks like:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    ...
    "baseUrl": ".",
    "paths": {
      "@/*": ["./src/*"]
    }
  },
  "include": ["src/**/*"]
}

Undine

Answer 4

As a side note, make sure the include in your jsconfig/tsconfig is pointing to correct paths.

Clarion