We're excited to announce the release of version 1.14.0 of the Qt Extension for Visual Studio Code! This release introduces QML Live Preview with hot-reload capability, bringing real-time feedback directly into your editor.
QML Preview
The most impactful addition in this release is QML Preview, a feature that lets you see QML changes in real time without restarting your application. Edit your QML files and watch the results instantly reflected in the running application. The extension launches your CMake target with a QML Preview and monitors file changes. When you save a QML file, it automatically hot reloads the component with no manual restart needed. If a change requires a full restart (such as modifying a root component), the extension handles that seamlessly as well.
Key capabilities:
Real-time hot reload: Edit QML files and see changes reflected immediately in your running application
Editor toolbar integration: Start and stop preview directly from toolbar buttons on QML files
CMake project support: Works with qt_add_qml_module for automatic resource resolution
QRC-based resource support: Also supports projects using traditional QRC resource files
FPS monitoring: Live FPS display in the status bar to monitor rendering performance
Additional build directories: Configure extra build directories via qt-qml.preview.additionalBuildDirs
Here's QML Preview in action. Start the preview, edit a property, and see the change reflected instantly:
QML Preview also pairs naturally with AI-assisted workflows. In this example, Copilot generates QML code while the preview updates in real time, giving you immediate visual feedback as the UI takes shape:
You can find more details on using QML Preview in the documentation.
CMake Kit Improvements
The Qt C++ extension now generates architecture information directly in CMake Kit names, making it easier to distinguish between kits when working with multi-architecture setups (e.g., x86_64 vs arm64).
We've also added the qt-cpp.disableAutoKitGenerationOnOpen setting for users who prefer to manage their kits manually. When enabled, the extension will no longer automatically generate kits upon opening a workspace.
QML Language Server Improvements
QML Language Server now runs natively on arm64 architecture, improving performance on Apple Silicon and ARM-based Linux systems
Looking Ahead
We continue to work on bringing more Qt development features to VS Code. Stay tuned for upcoming releases featuring enhanced workflow improvements.
If you encounter any bugs or have feedback on usability, please report them via our bug tracker. If there's a feature you'd like to see, feel free to submit a suggestion there as well.
The full changelog details can be found on the marketplace pages:
qt-core changelog
qt-cpp changelog
qt-qml changelog
qt-ui changelog
qt-python changelog
For more information about using Qt extensions, go to Qt Extension for VS Code documentation.
