How to setup Setting Sync extension to back / restore / share VS Code settings to / from Github

This post is about how to setup the Setting Sync extension to back / restore / share VS Code settings to / from Github. This post is written with reference to the article at the link below.

https://itnext.io/settings-sync-with-vs-code-c3d4f126989

However, the article above doesn't contain enough info. for a smooth setup, I've added my findings when trying to get this extension to work on my computer.

My Environment

- Visual Studio Code Version : 1.37.0;
- Code Sync Settings Version : 3.4.1;
- Operating System : Windows 8.1.

Install the Setting Sync extension

Press Ctrl+Shift+X to bring up the Extensions window. Enter "setting sync". Click on "Setting Sync" then click Install to install it.

Setting up the extension

Note, If you encounter the issue of "command 'extension.updateSettings' not found", please refer to the end of this post for info. on how to solve it.

Getting the Acccess Token

1. Click "LOGIN WITH GITHUB"

2. Click the green "Authorize shanalikhan" button.

3. Close the tab when you see this.

4. Click the "SKIP" button.

5. The Access Token will be filled in automatically into the Access Token field under Global Settings.

6. Open up the command palette with Ctrl + Shift + P , and type in sync: and you should see the following list of options. Click the first one: Sync: Update/Upload Settings.

This will upload the setting to the cloud.



7. The summary will be display via the OUTPUT window.



8. Visit your git. In my case it's "https://gist.github.com/wei48221"

A new "cloudSettings" gist has been created which contains the uploaded VSCode settings.



Getting the Gist ID

Gist ID is needed to download the saved VS Code settings from the gist in Github and there are 2 ways to get the Gist ID.

First - The Gist ID is at the end of the URL to the "cloudSettings" gist.

https://gist.github.com/<userid>/**GIST-ID**



Second - The Gist ID is in the output summary.

Copy the Gist ID and paste it into the Gist ID field.

Click "VIEW" to view the settings saved in gist.

Reference:

Take Your VS Code Configuration Anywhere Easily with Settings Sync
https://itnext.io/settings-sync-with-vs-code-c3d4f126989

========================================================================

How to solve the issue of "command 'extension.updateSettings' not found".

Issue the commands below:

cd C:\Users\*\.vscode\extensions\shan.code-settings-sync-3.4.1>
npm install @octokit/rest

In my case, they are:

cd c:\Users\WeiHsiungHuang\.vscode\extensions\shan.code-settings-sync-3.4.1>
npm install @octokit/rest

Restart / reload VSCode when done.

========================================================================

How to solve the issue of "invalid gist id".

Reference:

https://github.com/shanalikhan/code-settings-sync/issues/388

I had the same issue as @agne-a-t last described.

Solved by visiting https://gist.github.com/<your_userName>/<gist_id>
Then click on the gist called "cloudSettings"
And finally copied the token shown IN THE ADDRESS BAR!!!
That is the correct token!

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Very useful info. regarding how to setup "Settings Sync" plugin and how to share the save VSCode settings with other VSCode user

https://github.com/shanalikhan/code-settings-sync/issues/388#issuecomment-404633809

jcmarchi commented on Jul 13, 2018 • 

edited 

This is one more example of how great coders are horrible documenters.  Summarizing what @lizijie and @JeremyCCHsu eloquently pointed, simply IGNORE the official documentation and understand you will need TWO sets of keys: the TOKEN and the GIST-ID. The TOKEN is obtained from the "Personal access tokens" screen on Github, and it is needed to start the process and upload your VSCode Config to Gist. To download your settings in another machine, you MUST know your GIST-ID. There are three ways it can be done: Immediately after the first upload is complete, yet on the original machine, by looking into your User Settings (it is listed as "sync.gist") If you have your VSCode set to display Output Logs, after the upload is complete you can see all the ### keys in the OUTPUT Console as: CODE SETTINGS SYNC UPLOAD SUMMARY Version: 2.9.2 -------------------- GitHub Token: **TOKEN* GitHub Gist: **GIST-ID** GitHub Gist Type: Secret At any time by accessing https://gist.github.com/ and clicking on the Gist called "cloudSettings". Your GIST-ID will be the last element of the URL, after your /<userid>/. Example: https://gist.github.com/<userid>/**GIST-ID** On every other machine you want to sync, you can simply edit your USER SETTINGS and manually add the GIST-ID in the "sync.gist" variable before invoking the Sync Download using SHIFT+ALT+D for the first time. Then, if asked, enter the TOKEN. Most likely you WILL need the *TOKEN in the other machines to perform further uploads. It seems like a simple process, and it is!!! Sadly, a badly written documentation can deceive even the most experienced user. I was about to drop this valuable extension because of this mess. Thanks everyone for the tips. I hope someone fixes the documentation now (this thread is already 11 months old and it will be a shame to celebrate its first birthday yet having the problem bugging around). IMPORTANT: Do not follow @bluecondor's advise to make your Gist public. I know the intention was to help but you do not want this specific Gist to be public. If you did it, I strongly suggest you go back and revert your gist to private. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (TIP): I shared my "cloudSettings Gist" with a colleague at the office, and he was able to embbed my settings into his onw VSCode settings. Pretty cool, hum?  The process was very simple: First I obtained my Gist Sharing Link (some info and how-tos here: https://help.github.com/articles/forking-and-cloning-gists/) and send it to him. He then FORKED my "cloudSettings Gist". After that, as the GIST-ID was already created for the forked Gist, it was a simple matter of creating the TOKEN on Github. With both keys at hand, he installed the Settings Sync extension and pressed ALT+SHIT+D to start the download proccess. The extension asked for the TOKEN, and immediately after asked for the GIST-ID. We entered both and it worked flawlessly. I hope it also goes to the documentation (which, BTW, has all info we discussed around this thread, just "really messy" and "confusing" after the TOKEN creation).