vscode-pdf Next — fast, secure PDF viewing in VS Code

Open PDFs right inside VS Code — with true dark mode, instant live reload for LaTeX and Typst builds, search, outline navigation, and a security-hardened PDF.js 6 runtime.

vscode-pdf Next is the actively maintained successor to the classic tomoki1207.vscode-pdf extension: same simplicity, modern renderer, and a much stronger security posture.

Why this extension?

• 🌙 True dark mode. Not just inverted colors — Night mode asks PDF.js to re-render page content for low-eye-strain reading, with auto theme matching and an inversion fallback for scanned documents. Your PDFs finally fit your dark setup.
• ⚡ Fast. Powered by the latest Mozilla PDF.js — currently pdfjs-dist@6.4.299, the same engine Firefox uses — with all PDF parsing and decoding in a dedicated worker thread so the interface never blocks. No telemetry, no network calls, no cloud round-trips: your PDFs never leave your machine.
• 🔒 Secure by design. Strict webview sandboxing, no shell execution, script eval disabled, WebAssembly limited to PDF.js's own image decoders, and every release package automatically scanned before publishing. See the security model below.
• 🔁 Built for TeX/Typst workflows. Debounced live reload keeps your page, zoom, and scroll position exactly where they were — even when your build tool deletes and recreates the PDF mid-compile.

Features

• Live reload with debounce and focus preservation — ideal for latexmk, tectonic, typst watch, and similar build loops.
• First-class WSL support: PDFs on \\wsl.localhost\... shares load instantly and live-reload works even though VS Code's file watchers can't see WSL files (the extension polls as a fallback).
• Per-PDF state restore: page, zoom, scroll position, sidebar, and active panel come back exactly as you left them.
• Text search and selection, with optional copy-on-select.
• Outline and thumbnail sidebars for quick navigation in long documents.
• Inter-PDF links that work locally and preserve fragments like #page=2.
• Keyboard-first navigation: vim-style scrolling, paging, and zoom (see shortcuts).
• Native printing via your system viewer, plus an advanced direct-print command with a no-shell custom command override.

Dark mode 🌙

Reading a blinding white PDF in a dark editor is miserable. vscode-pdf Next ships a full range of appearance modes — cycle them from the toolbar or pin one with pdf-preview.appearance.theme:

Mode	What it does
auto	Follows your VS Code theme for the viewer chrome.
dark	Dark viewer chrome, original page colors.
night	PDF.js re-renders page content in dark colors — real dark pages, not a CSS filter.
reader	Warm e-reader sepia pages — comfortable reading without going dark.
inverted	Full-page inversion fallback for scanned or image-heavy PDFs.

The toolbar button cycles Night → Reader → Invert — it never lands back on plain white pages. Shift+click (or Alt+click) it to go back to normal pages, or set pdf-preview.appearance.theme to make a mode stick for every PDF.

The viewer chrome follows your VS Code theme rather than hardcoded colors, so the toolbar, sidebar, and the surface behind the pages match whatever theme you run — including custom ones.

Getting started

Install from the Marketplace (search for "vscode-pdf Next") or from the command line:

code --install-extension RicardoFrantz.pdf-preview-next

Then just open any .pdf file. To make this the default PDF viewer:

"workbench.editorAssociations": {
  "*.pdf": "pdf-preview-next.preview"
}

Also available as a VSIX from GitHub Releases:

code --install-extension pdf-preview-next-<version>.vsix --force

Keyboard shortcuts

Keys	Action
j k h l	Scroll
n / p (or . / ,)	Next / previous page
g / G	First / last page
+ / -	Zoom in / out
Ctrl+F / Cmd+F	Find in document
Ctrl+C / Cmd+C	Copy selected PDF text
Ctrl+R / Cmd+R	Refresh the preview
Esc	Close the find bar

Settings

Setting	Default	Notes
pdf-preview.default.cursor	select	Default cursor tool: select or hand.
pdf-preview.default.scale	auto	auto, page-actual, page-fit, page-width, or a numeric scale such as 1.25.
pdf-preview.default.sidebar	false	Open the sidebar by default when the selected panel is available.
pdf-preview.default.sidebarPanel	outline	Initial sidebar panel: outline or thumbnails.
pdf-preview.default.scrollMode	vertical	vertical, horizontal, or wrapped.
pdf-preview.default.spreadMode	none	none, odd, or even.
pdf-preview.reload.automatic	true	Auto-refresh previews when the PDF changes; manual reload always remains available.
pdf-preview.reload.debounceMs	800	Delay after file-change notifications before refreshing.
pdf-preview.reload.closeOnDelete	false	Close previews when a PDF is deleted; keep disabled for build tools that replace files.
pdf-preview.appearance.theme	auto	auto, light, dark, night, reader, dark-pages, or inverted.
pdf-preview.appearance.pageGap	normal	compact, normal, or wide.
pdf-preview.copy.autoCopySelection	false	Opt-in clipboard write when selected PDF text is released with the mouse.
pdf-preview.printCommand	empty	Restricted custom print command; {{file}} is the PDF path. Runs without a shell and is ignored in untrusted workspaces.

Settings prefixed pdf-preview.default.* and appearance/copy settings can be overridden per workspace folder or resource. Reload settings are global because they control file watching rather than rendering defaults.

Commands

Command	Behavior
vscode-pdf Next: Open Preview	Open the selected PDF with this viewer.
vscode-pdf Next: Open Externally	Open the active PDF with the system PDF handler.
vscode-pdf Next: Refresh Preview	Refresh without losing page, zoom, scroll, or sidebar state.
vscode-pdf Next: Open in System Viewer for Printing	Open the PDF in your default PDF app for native printing.
vscode-pdf Next: Print Directly to Default Printer	Advanced: run pdf-preview.printCommand or submit to the default CUPS printer.
vscode-pdf Next: Reset View State	Clear saved page, zoom, scroll, and sidebar state for the active PDF.

The toolbar also provides one-click controls for external open, appearance mode cycling, sidebar toggling, printing, manual refresh, and an auto-reload toggle.

Security model

Rendering untrusted PDFs deserves real sandboxing, so this extension treats security as a feature:

• Current runtime: pdfjs-dist@6.4.299 (Mozilla's PDF.js), kept up to date with upstream security fixes.
• Webview scripts are nonce-bound with scoped localResourceRoots.
• No dynamic code execution: the vendored PDF.js 6 runtime contains no eval or new Function (verified by an automated check on every build), and the CSP forbids unsafe-eval anyway — a malicious PDF cannot run arbitrary code. The CSP allows WebAssembly (wasm-unsafe-eval) only so PDF.js can run its JBIG2 and JPEG 2000 image decoders, which scanned pages need. Those two .wasm files ship in the package, and the release scanner rejects any other .wasm file.
• PDF parsing runs in a sandboxed worker thread, keeping documents off the UI thread; the extension verifies at test time that the real worker spawns.
• The default print path performs no shell execution; the optional custom print command runs without a shell and is restricted under VS Code Workspace Trust.
• Every release VSIX passes an automated package scanner that rejects stray source files, maps, tests, and scratch files before publishing.
• No telemetry, no network access — everything renders locally.

The codebase was security-audited with Claude Opus 4.7 (April 2026), and release automation is hardened too: CI actions pinned by commit SHA and publishing gated behind a protected environment. Details in SECURITY.md.

Identity (same family as vscode-diff Next)

	vscode-pdf Next	vscode-diff Next
Repository	machine-made/vscode-pdf-next	machine-made/vscode-diff-next
Display name	vscode-pdf Next	vscode-diff Next
Package name	pdf-preview-next	diff-next
Install id	RicardoFrantz.pdf-preview-next	RicardoFrantz.diff-next
Command prefix	vscode-pdf Next: …	vscode-diff Next: …

Publisher for both: RicardoFrantz. Both repos share the same conventions: main branch, vX.Y.Z tags, tag-driven release workflow with attached VSIX, eslint 9 flat config, and a documented security model.

Coming from tomoki1207.vscode-pdf?

You'll feel at home — this project started as a security-hardened fork of that much-loved extension. What you gain:

• PDF.js upgraded from an aging bundle to the current PDF.js 6 line, with rendering in a real worker thread.
• Live reload that survives TeX-style delete-and-recreate builds.
• View-state restore, dark reading modes, outline/thumbnail sidebars.
• Active maintenance, a documented security model, and automated releases.

This extension is intentionally a previewer, not a PDF editor: editing, persistent annotations, page rearranging, and cloud sync are out of scope — it stays small, fast, and auditable.

Contributing & development

Issues and PRs are welcome at machine-made/vscode-pdf-next. See docs/RELEASING.md for building from source and the release process, and docs/MAINTENANCE.md for the maintenance playbook.

Credits & license

Built on Mozilla PDF.js and the original vscode-pdf by tomoki1207. MIT licensed — see LICENSE.

Disclaimer

This software is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind. To the extent permitted by law, the authors and contributors are not liable for any damage, loss or claim arising from its use or misuse. You are responsible for how you use it and for following the laws and rules that apply to you. The full terms are in LICENSE.

This extension is not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft or Mozilla. Visual Studio Code is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. PDF.js is © Mozilla and contributors, under the Apache License 2.0.