Skip to main content

Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.canton.network/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Daml Studio is the Visual Studio Code extension for Daml development. It provides real-time feedback as you write Daml code, including type errors, syntax highlighting, and integrated test visualization.

​
Installation

​
Via dpm

The extension is installed automatically when you set up the Daml SDK. Launch it from any Daml project directory: 
dpm studio
This opens VS Code with the Daml extension activated and your project loaded. You need VS Code 1.87 or above.

​
From the VS Code Marketplace

You can also install the extension manually from the VS Code Marketplace:
  1. Open VS Code
  2. Go to the Extensions panel (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X)
  3. Search for “Daml”
  4. Install the Digital Asset Daml extension
After installing manually, make sure the Daml SDK is on your PATH so the extension can find the compiler.

​
Features

​
Syntax Highlighting

Daml files (.daml) get full syntax highlighting for keywords, types, template definitions, choices, and expressions. The color scheme follows VS Code’s active theme.

​
Type Checking and Inline Errors

The extension runs the Daml compiler in the background as you type. Type errors, missing imports, and authorization issues appear as red squiggles in the editor. Hover over an error to see the full diagnostic message. For example, if you reference a party that is not in scope: 
template MyContract
  with
    owner : Party
  where
    signatory missingParty  -- Error: Variable not in scope
The extension underlines missingParty immediately, before you even save the file.

​
Go-to-Definition

Ctrl+Click (Cmd+Click on macOS) on any identifier to jump to its definition. This works across files within the same package and for standard library functions.

​
Code Navigation

  • Find all references — Right-click an identifier and select “Find All References” to see every usage
  • Outline view — The sidebar shows the structure of the current file (templates, choices, functions)
  • Breadcrumbs — The editor header shows the current module and definition path

​
Script Results

When you open a file containing Daml Script functions, a “Script results” code lens appears above each script. Click it to run the script and see the results in a side panel. The results panel has two views:
  • Table view — Shows active contracts at the end of the script, with columns indicating which parties can see each contract
  • Transaction view — Shows every transaction in order, including sub-transactions, useful for understanding authorization flows

​
Hover Information

Hover over any expression to see its inferred type. This is helpful when working with complex expressions or unfamiliar library functions.

​
Troubleshooting

​
Extension Not Loading

If the extension does not activate when you open a .daml file:
  • Verify the Daml SDK is installed: run dpm --version in a terminal
  • Check that the daml binary is on your PATH
  • Reload VS Code (Ctrl+Shift+P, then “Reload Window”)
  • Check the Output panel (View > Output, select “Daml” from the dropdown) for error messages

​
SDK Version Mismatch

The extension uses the SDK version specified in your project’s daml.yaml. If you see unexpected errors after upgrading or switching projects:
  • Run dpm install to ensure the correct SDK version is downloaded
  • Close and reopen VS Code to pick up the new SDK
  • If errors persist, check the sdk-version field in daml.yaml matches what you have installed

​
Slow Performance on Large Projects

For projects with many packages or large dependency trees, the background type checker may take a few seconds to catch up after edits. If you experience delays:
  • Build the project first with dpm build so the compiler can reuse cached artifacts
  • Close files you are not actively editing to reduce the number of files the extension monitors
This section was copied from existing reviewed documentation. Source: docs-website:docs/replicated/daml/3.4/sdk/component-howtos/smart-contracts/daml-studio.rst Reviewers: Skip this section. Remove markers after final approval.

​
Daml Studio

Daml Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) for Daml. It is an extension on top of Visual Studio Code (VS Code), a cross-platform, open-source editor providing a rich code editing experience.

​
Install

Install Daml Studio by installing the DPM, and ensuring you have Visual Studio Code version 1.87 or above installed.

​
Configure

With Daml Studio open, navigate to Extensions on the left (Ctrl+Shift+X). Search for Daml and click the Cog icon on the first result, then press settings. The options available are listed in the Reference.

​
Operate

Navigate to the root of your package (directory containing daml.yaml) or project (directory containing multi-package.yaml) and run dpm studio. This will open Visual Studio Code with the Daml extension installed and running.

​
Go to definition

Press F12, or right click a Daml definition and select “go to definition” to see where a value/type is defined. This will work for dependencies and data-dependencies. Visual Studio Code Documentation.

​
Peak definition

Use ⌥F12 on Macos, or Ctrl + Shift + F10 on Windows/MacOS, to peak inline at the definition of a value value/type. Visual Studio Code Documentation.

​
Hover tooltips

Hovering over a Daml value will display its source location and type. Hovering over a Daml type will display its source location. Visual Studio Code Documentation.

​
Diagnostics

Errors or warnings that would be raised by calling dpm build will be shown in-line in the IDE. These diagnostics are affected by the flags provided in build-options, See Daml Yaml Build Options.

​
Daml Snippets

Daml IDE provides a set of autocomplete snippets for common daml patterns, such as default template and choice definitions. Typing the start of these definitions (such as the word “template” or “choice”) will show these snippets. You can develop your own snippets by following the instructions in Creating your own Snippets to create an appropriate daml.json snippet file.

​
Daml script results

Above any top level definition that would be run as part of dpm test (See dpm test), a “Script Results” button will appear. Clicking this will open a side panel, with the result of running that test, along with information about logging and the ledger state. Changing the Daml code for that test will update the side panel in real time, and will show an error if the code does not compile. At the top of the panel is a toggle button between table and transaction view. Table view Table view shows all contracts that were created during the test, as well as their payloads and which parties observed them. There are also check boxes on the top for showing contracts that were archived, and for more information about which parties they were divulged to. When using the Show detailed disclosure checkbox, the party observed contract column will show one of the following:
  • S, the party sees the contract because they are a signatory on the contract.
  • O, the party sees the contract because they are an observer on the contract.
  • W, the party sees the contract because they witnessed the creation of this contract, e.g., because they are an actor on the exercise that created it.
  • D, the party sees the contract because they have been divulged the contract, e.g., because they witnessed an exercise that resulted in a fetch of this contract.
Transaction view Transaction view shows the generated transaction, logs and test result. Various IDs within this view, such as template names, contract IDs, transaction IDs, etc. will be links to their respective source.

​
Multi-package environments

Daml Studio will create a separate compiler environment for each package, based on the contents of each daml.yaml. If a multi-package.yaml is present (in the directory that Daml Studio was opened in), Daml Studio will allow Jump To Definition to jump to packages listed in this file, rather than unpacked from the package-database. Package environments will be reloaded whenever the relevant daml.yaml file is changed, or any dependencies DARs are updated. As a result, running dpm build --all will usually cause every package environment to reload. For changes across dependencies (i.e. change to a datatype defined in one packaged and used in another), the former packages .dar file must be rebuilt for the latter to use these changes. Package environments do not need to use the same SDK version as your main package, Daml Studio will use the version specified in the relevant packages daml.yaml to give diagnostics for that file. See Automatic SDK Installation for how Daml Studio helps with packages using non-installed Daml SDK Versions. If Daml Studio is unable to start a package environment for a package, for example an unparsable daml.yaml, or missing dependency .dar, Daml Studio will show this diagnostic at the top of the package’s daml.yaml file. Saving this file will trigger Daml Studio to try again. Root Multi-package SDK As discussed above, each package runs its own environment, these environments are managed by the root environment, which if not specified, will be the most recent SDK on your system. You can override this version by providing a daml.yaml file at the root of your project (i.e. next to the multi-package.yaml) containing only the following: 
sdk-version: <root-sdk-version>

​
Jump to definition for dependencies

Daml Studio supports unpacking dependencies to allow the user to jump to their source code. However, Daml Studio can only do this is the packages DAR is available. A .dar file will hold the source code it the main package it contains, but not to any dependencies that have been bundled with it. If you wish to jump to the source code on these transitive dependencies, their .dar paths can be listed either in the daml.yaml of your main package, or under the dars: field in the multi-package.yaml, which exists only for this purpose. An example is given below: 
packages:
- my-package
- libs/my-lib
dars:
- ./dars/my-transitive-dependency-1.0.0.dar

​
Automatic SDK installation

If you open a .daml file for a package using an SDK version you do not have installed, Daml Studio will show a notification for installing this SDK version. This notification will then show status for the installation, and includes a cancel button. Daml Studio cannot provide diagnostics to a package for which the SDK version is not installed.

​
Directory Envrionment Tools (direnv)

Tools like direnv are commonly used to set up dependencies and import environment variables for use with environment variable interpolation support. To make this work in Daml Studio, you need a VSCode extension that sets this up for other extensions. In the case of direnv specifically (i.e. you have a .envrc file), we recommend using this direnv extension by Martin Kühl, which we have verified is compatible. Other direnv extensions may not correctly pass environment information to the Daml Studio extension. If the Daml extension detects a .envrc file, it recommends this extension within the IDE with the following message: 
Found an .envrc file but the recommended direnv VSCode extension is not installed. Daml IDE may fail to start due to missing environment variables.
Would you like to install the recommended direnv extension or attempt to continue without it?
It also provides a link to the extension on the VS Code extension marketplace.

​
Limitations

  • Jumping to non-local dependencies does not currently retain the build-options and module-prefixes for that package. This means that if you jump to a dependency that requires either of these to build, the editor shows errors in the source code.
  • Some links in the Script Results tab may not resolve correctly cross-package.
  • Packages with symlinks between the daml.yaml and source files may not give correct intelligence.

​
Upgrade

Daml Studio will upgrade as Daml Assistant upgrades, and as new versions of the extension are published to VSCode marketplace. See Daml Assistant Upgrade and the --replace flag in Reference for more details.

​
Decommission

Open Visual Studio Code (not dpm studio), navigate to Extensions on the left (Ctrl+Shift+X). Search for Daml and click the top result. This will open the Extension: Daml page, which includes an uninstall button to the right of the Daml Extension icon. Follow the Daml Assistant Decomission for removal Daml itself.

​
Troubleshoot

  • Error loading webview: Error: Could not register service worker ... when clicking Script Results This can occur when you have multiple VSCode instances in the same project. Fix this by closing VSCode, and killing all processes:
    • Linux/MacOS: killall code
    • Windows: Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) and kill all VSCode processes.
  • Issues with processes left behind, or read/write lock errors on build with Daml Studio open
    Please report this on the GitHub Issues page, then disable Multi-IDE support as shown in the Reference.
  • Any other issues It may help to read the Daml Studio output logs, and include them in a bug report on GitHub Issues page. On the top bar, click View->Output, the on the drop-down menu on the top right of the new window (May currently say Tasks), select Daml Language Server.

​
Contribute

See the open source GitHub repository: https://github.com/digital-asset/daml

​
References

​
Daml Studio Extension options

The Daml Studio Extension contains the following options:
  • Autorun All Tests Default: false Run all tests in a file once it’s opened, instead of waiting for the user to select individual tests.
  • Extra Arguments Extra arguments passed to damlc ide. This can be used to enable additional warnings via --ghc-option -W Consider using the build-options field in the daml.yaml before resorting to this option, as these options are more difficult to distribute.
  • Log Level Default: Warning Sets the logging threshold of the daml-ide and multi-ide
  • Multi Package Ide Support Default: true Enables support for multi-package projects in the IDE
  • Profile Default: false Profile the daml ide plugin, may effect performance
  • Telemetry Default: From consent popup Controls whether you send Daml usage data to Digital Asset

​
Daml Studio CLI options

The dpm studio CLI command (which opens the Daml Studio editor) takes the following flags:
  • --replace Value: published, always, never Default: published This flag controls when the dpm studio command replaces the VSCode extension in your editor.
    • published will always use the most recent published (to the VSCode marketplace) version of the Daml Studio VSCode extension.
    • always will use the extension bundled with whichever SDK version is being used (as selected by the daml.yaml, See Daml Assistant version management.
    • never will not change the extension that is installed.
    If you need to use a much older version of Daml, you may need to use --replace=always to launch Daml Studio correctly.