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Release Notes — Hexana for VS Code

This page tracks releases of the VS Code extension.

0.5.0

Released 2026-06-24.

Added

  • Virtualized WAT view. The WAT tab now uses virtual scrolling for faster section navigation in large modules. Previously the full text was rendered at once; 0.5.0 renders only the visible portion.
  • Java .class and Android DEX file viewing. The custom editor now opens .class and .dex files directly by file-type detection, in addition to recognising them as entries inside JAR/ZIP archives (0.3.0). Files open in the hex viewer.
  • ZIP64 archive support. Large archives using the ZIP64 format now open in the Hexana editor.

Changed

  • NodeJS debugging stability. Improved reliability of the CDP-backed debug path for Node.js, introduced in 0.4.0.

0.4.0

Released 2026-06-16.

Added

  • In-place byte editing in the hex viewer. You can now edit individual bytes directly in the hex viewer — select a byte, type a new value — and write the result back to the original file with the overwrite-file action. Editing is overwrite-only: the file size never changes (you cannot insert or remove bytes). Earlier versions were inspection-only.
  • Debugging on the Node.js and browser runtimes. Node.js and the browser — run-only since 0.3.0 — are now debuggable. Hexana drives them over the Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP): Node.js is launched with --inspect-brk, Chrome with --remote-debugging-port, and Hexana translates DAP ↔ CDP so VS Code's debugger can set breakpoints, step, and inspect state. This complements the existing lldb-backed Wasmtime / WAMR debug path (LLVM 22.1+). GraalVM remains run-only.

0.3.0

Released 2026-06-11.

Added

  • Node.js and browser runtimes. The Run picker can now target Node.js and the browser in addition to Wasmtime, WAMR, and GraalVM. These are run-only in VS Code — debugging is not yet wired for the Node.js or browser paths.
  • JAR / ZIP support. .jar, .zip, .war, and .apk archives open in the Hexana editor with the hex viewer on top and a sortable, searchable entry list below. Click an entry that is itself a recognised binary (.wasm, .class, a nested archive, a native binary) to open it in a new editor tab.

Changed

  • More reliable Windows debugging. Better breakpoint detection and overall stability for the lldb-backed Wasmtime / WAMR debug path on Windows.

0.2.0

Released 2026-05-27.

Added

  • Native binary support (experimental). ELF, Mach-O, and PE binaries open in the Hexana custom editor by magic-byte detection. Common extensions (.elf, .so, .dylib, .bundle, .exe, .dll, .sys) are matched first, but extensionless binaries with matching magic also open through Hexana. The hex viewer is identical to the .wasm case; the structure tab surfaces format-specific information (sections / segments / dynamic symbols for ELF, load commands for Mach-O, sections / exports / imports for PE).

Changed

  • Improved discovery of lldb-dap on Linux. The debug path now picks up lldb-dap from a wider set of paths and version-suffixed names, reducing the cases where a user has LLVM 22.1+ installed but Hexana fails to find it.
  • MCP server improvements. Various correctness and ergonomics improvements to the bundled MCP tools.

0.1.0

Released 2026-05-20.

First release in the 0.1.x line.

Added

  • Experimental WASM debugging. Set breakpoints, step, and inspect local variables when running a module through Wasmtime or WAMR. Requires LLVM 22.1 or newer; uses lldb under the hood. Works only with targets debuggable through lldb (typically Rust, C/C++, and Emscripten builds with debug symbols). Supports debugging nested modules inside Component Model binaries (Wasmtime only). Breakpoints resolve across multiple source languages.
  • Runtime picker for Run / Debug. Choose between Wasmtime, WAMR, and GraalVM when launching a module. The Run / Debug dialog is always shown so you can pick the runtime and tweak arguments before execution.
  • WAMR runtime support for both running and debugging modules.
  • GraalVM runtime support with built-in detection of an installed GraalVM. Native-access warnings suppressed during execution.
  • MCP server integration. Hexana now ships a Model Context Protocol server that AI tools (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Codex, etc.) can connect to for inspecting the currently open WASM file. The server is downloaded on demand from GitHub Releases on first use; subsequent launches re-use the cached install. Stale download locks are detected and recovered automatically.
    • Hexana: Reinstall MCP Server command — re-runs the download to recover from a corrupted install or pin to a new release tag.
    • hexana.mcp.javaHome setting — point Hexana at a specific Java runtime when JAVA_HOME / PATH do not surface a suitable JDK. Java 21 or newer is required for the MCP server to start.
  • Submodule → parent backreference. When you open a nested module inside a component, the editor toolbar shows a clickable link back to the containing component's editor tab. (Shared with the JetBrains plugin.)

Changed

  • VS Code requirement raised to ^1.102.0 to take advantage of the platform's stable MCP-server-registration API.
  • Run / Debug dialog is now always shown before launching a module — previously it was sometimes auto-dismissed on simple cases.
  • Run-configuration logic deduplicated between the VS Code extension and the JetBrains plugin; both products now share the same Kotlin core for command-line construction.
  • Display name on the marketplace remains Hexana WebAssembly and Hex Viewer; homepage URL points at https://jetbrains.github.io/hexana/.

Fixed

  • WAMR debugging stability fixes.
  • Path resolution for debug sessions (mapping source paths to compiled units).
  • Breakpoint resolution for nested-module scenarios.
  • Sorting-arrow rendering glitch in the analysis tables.
  • Various UI-test flakes; timeouts increased and editor-ready waits tightened.

0.0.2

Added

  • Setting to specify a custom Wasmtime path (hexana.wasmtimePath) — for cases where Wasmtime is not on PATH or you want to pin to a specific build.
  • Setting to disable statistics collection (hexana.enableStatistics) — independent of VS Code's global telemetry toggle; both must be on for any event to be sent.
  • Consent notice on first activation — required disclosure of the anonymous analytics path.
  • Submodule → parent backreference in the editor toolbar — opening a nested module from a component shows a clickable link back to the containing component's editor tab.
  • Marketplace listing improvements — removed the broken image link, fixed the license link in the README, marked the extension as preview, refined the displayName and category list.

Changed

  • Display name on the marketplace: Hexana WebAssembly and Hex Viewer (more searchable).
  • Categories simplified — Programming Languages, Visualization.

Fixed

  • Various stability and UX polish across the analysis tabs.

0.0.1

Initial public preview release. Shipped:

  • Custom binary editor registered for *.wasm files.
  • Hex viewer with byte selection, keyboard navigation, and text search.
  • Binary-kind detection for Core Wasm, Component Model, and generic Wasm.
  • 11 analysis tabs: Summary, Exports, Imports, Functions, Data, Custom, Top, Monos, Garbage, Modules, WAT — surfaced per binary kind.
  • Sortable + searchable tables across all analysis surfaces.
  • WAT view in a native VS Code editor tab via a WASM-based wat printer.
  • Run support via Wasmtime — core modules with auto-generated import stubs, components with dependency resolution and wasm-tools compose / wac plug composition.
  • Component Model navigation — nested modules openable in separate editor tabs via a virtual filesystem provider.
  • .wat language association so other extensions can target WAT files.

Versioning policy

Contract changes (settings, editor URIs, MCP transport) may still happen between minor versions while the extension stabilises; we will call them out explicitly in this changelog. The 0.0.x line is closed.

Compatibility

VS Code version Compatible? Notes
1.102+ ✓ Required for 0.1.0 and later (MCP-server registration API).
1.85 – 1.101 ✓ for 0.0.x only 0.0.1 and 0.0.2 still work on 1.85+.
1.84 and older ✗ Missing Custom Editor + Webview APIs.

VS Code forks (Cursor, Code OSS / VSCodium, Windsurf, Continue.dev) are supported as long as they expose the equivalent VS Code APIs at the listed version. Some terminal- or filesystem-provider-dependent features may behave differently across forks.

Runtime requirements

  • wasmtime (optional) — needed for Run / Debug via Wasmtime.
  • WAMR (optional) — needed for Run / Debug via WAMR.
  • GraalVM with GraalWasm (optional) — needed for Run via GraalVM.
  • wasm-tools or wac (optional) — used for component composition when running Component Model binaries with unresolved imports.
  • Java 21 or later (optional) — needed for the Hexana MCP server. The server is downloaded on demand; set hexana.mcp.javaHome if Java is not available through JAVA_HOME or PATH.
  • LLVM 22.1 or newer (optional) — required for the experimental WASM debugging path.

Distribution channels

  • Visual Studio Marketplace — marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=JetBrains.hexana-wasm.
  • Open VSX — open-vsx.org/extension/JetBrains/hexana-wasm.
  • GitHub Releases — .vsix artefacts attached to each release tag.

See also