Environment variables allow you to dynamically configure Visual Studio Code settings based on your system environment. This is useful for adapting settings to different operating systems, development stages (development, staging, production), or user-specific configurations. You can reference environment variables in settings.json using the ${env:VARIABLE_NAME} syntax.

{
	"terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.windows": "${env:WSL_DISTRO_NAME}", // Use WSL distro name as default terminal profile on Windows

The syntax basically works like this:

• ${env:VARIABLE_NAME}: References the environment variable VARIABLE_NAME.
• ${env:VARIABLE_NAME:DEFAULT_VALUE}: Provides a default value (DEFAULT_VALUE) if the environment variable is not set.

Visual Studio Code also supports these variables out of the box:

• VSCODE_FONT_SIZE: Example used above to dynamically set font size.
• VSCODE_DISABLE_EXTENSIONS: Disable all extensions when launching Visual Studio Code (useful for troubleshooting).
• VSCODE_DEV: Launch Visual Studio Code in development mode.

Potential Use Cases

• Cross-Platform Settings: Use environment variables to set OS-specific paths or configurations in settings.json, making your settings portable across different operating systems.
• Environment-Aware Settings: Adjust settings based on the development environment. For example, you might use different linters or formatters for development and production environments.
• User-Specific Customization: Allow different users on a team to have slightly different Visual Studio Code configurations by using user-specific environment variables.