docs/content/code-security/codeql-for-vs-code/using-the-advanced-functionality-of-the-codeql-for-vs-code-extension/setting-up-a-codeql-workspace.md

title, shortTitle, versions, topics, type, intro, allowTitleToDifferFromFilename

title	shortTitle	versions	topics	type	intro	allowTitleToDifferFromFilename
Setting up a CodeQL workspace	CodeQL workspace setup	fpt ghec ghes * * *	Code Security Code scanning CodeQL	reference	When you're working with {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %}, you need access to the standard libraries and queries.	true

Setting up a {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} workspace

There are several different ways to give the extension access to the standard libraries and queries from the github/codeql repository:

• Use the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} starter workspace, which contains a series of directories named in the format codeql-custom-queries-LANGUAGE. These are ready for you to start developing your own custom queries for each language, using the standard libraries. There are also some example queries to get you started. This is the recommended method.

• Update an existing workspace for {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %}. This is recommended for advanced users.

• {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql_cli %} users can open the directory containing their extracted {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql_cli %} archive.

Option 1: Using the starter workspace (recommended)

Note

The {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} repository is included as a submodule in the starter workspace. You should use git submodule update --remote regularly to keep the submodules up to date, and ensure that they remain compatible with newer versions of the {% data variables.product.prodname_vscode_shortname %} extension and the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql_cli %}.

1. Clone the vscode-codeql-starter repository to your computer. Make sure you include the submodules, either by using git clone --recursive, or by using git submodule update --init --remote after cloning.

2. In {% data variables.product.prodname_vscode_shortname %}, click File then Open Workspace from File... to open the vscode-codeql-starter.code-workspace file from your checkout of the workspace repository.

Option 2: Updating an existing workspace for {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} (advanced)

1. In {% data variables.product.prodname_vscode_shortname %}, select File then Add Folder to Workspace..., and find your local checkout of the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} repository.

2. Create one new directory per target language to hold custom queries and libraries, using either the New Folder or Add Folder to Workspace... options.

3. Create a qlpack.yml file in each target language directory (the main branch of github/codeql already has these files). This tells the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql_cli %} the target language for that directory and what its dependencies are. {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} will look for the dependencies in all the open workspace directories, or on the user's search path.

   For example, to make a custom {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} directory called my-custom-cpp-pack depend on the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} standard library for C++, create a qlpack.yml file with the following contents:

   name: my-custom-cpp-pack
   version: 0.0.0
   libraryPathDependencies: codeql/cpp-all
   

   For more information about why you need to add a qlpack.yml file, see AUTOTITLE.

Option 3: Open the directory containing the extracted {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql_cli %} archive

Note

For this option, you need to set up the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql_cli %}. For more information, see AUTOTITLE.

In {% data variables.product.prodname_vscode_shortname %}, open the directory where you extracted the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql_cli %} .zip archive to create a {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} directory (for example codeql-home).