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Dim unused includes when editor.showUnused is enabled. #10490 #14857
Description
Environment
- OS and Version: Win11
- VS Code Version: 1.144.1
- C/C++ Extension Version: 1.35.6
Bug Summary and Steps to Reproduce
I use an umbrella include file in my projects for my all my source files to use. It is named includes.h
so each of my source files just has #include "headers.h" at the top.
I have allways found it stupid to add #inclues to each source file that are common amongst many source files.
its just silly repition.
The issue with the update, is now many of my #includes are dimmed out.
as an example these are dimmed out, but yet ther ARE used in source files.
#pragma once
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdarg.h>
#include <ctype.h>
#include <inttypes.h>
#include <stdbool.h>
#include <stdint.h>
#include <math.h>
#include <time.h>
The ONLY way they should get dimmed is if its never used anywhere in the project.
Configuration and Logs
{
"configurations": [
{
"name": "ESP-IDF",
"compilerPath": "J:\\ESP_6.1.0\\.espressif\\v6.1\\tools\\xtensa-esp-elf\\esp-15.2.0_20251204\\xtensa-esp-elf\\bin\\xtensa-esp32s3-elf-gcc.exe",
"compileCommands": "${config:idf.buildPath}/compile_commands.json",
"intelliSenseMode": "${default}",
"includePath": [
"${workspaceFolder}/**"
],
"browse": {
"path": [
"${workspaceFolder}"
],
"limitSymbolsToIncludedHeaders": true
}
}
],
"version": 4
}Other Extensions
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Colengms commentedon Nov 4, 2026
Hi ldesandcco . It's currently by-design that, by default, include statements will be dimmed as (semantically) unused if they have already been included (including if nested within a prior include), such that they could be removed without incurring a compilation error. The feature can be configured using a
.editorconfigfile. This feature is common between cpptools and Visual Studio. It looks like you may want to altercpp_include_cleanup_add_missing_error_tag_type. If the.editorconfigvariables don't provide sufficient flexibility for your scenario, please let us know what's missing.[-]Dim unused local variables and parameters when editor.showUnused is enabled. #10490[/-][+]Dim unused includes when editor.showUnused is enabled. #10490[/+]Colengms commentedon Nov 4, 2026
I think I see the issue. I believe (some of) the dimming you are seeing is intended to be opted into, and the default (of
cpp_include_cleanup_remove_unused_error_tag_type) is not being set (or read) properly.