ABAP Development Tools for VS Code: Everything You Need to Know

[thomasalexander_ritter]

Introduction

We are excited to announce that we have started working on a VS Code extension for ABAP. We understand that the community has high expectations, and we want to communicate transparently about what you can expect from ABAP Development Tools for VS Code. In this article, we will share details about the scope of the first release and what’s planned for the future.

See related article: Behind the Design: How We Transformed the ABAP Development Tools Architecture to Support More IDEs

Primary focus will be support for the ABAP Cloud Development Model

The goal is to fully support all developer flows related to the ABAP Cloud development model. It is not planned to support classic programming models such as Dynpro or Web Dynpro.

Scope of the First Release: Focus on RAP UI Services

The primary focus of the initial release is the development of RAP UI services. One of the biggest requests from our users has been to bring SAP Fiori frontend development and RAP UI service development into the same tool. We know this group of developers will benefit the most when all development tasks can be performed within VS Code. That’s why this is the starting point.

First Release Targeted at Early Adopters

The initial set of object types will include everything needed to build a RAP UI service from scratch, along with the basic develop/test/debug flow that VS Code supports. This includes editors for classes and interfaces. We plan to ship around 12+ object types. However, for many tasks outside of development flows for creating RAP UI services, developers will still need to switch between ABAP Development Tools for Eclipse and ABAP Development Tools for VS Code.

ABAP developer tools for VS Code will gradually catch up with ABAP developer tools for Eclipse one Client Release at a Time

It took us 16 years to reach the current feature scope of the Eclipse plug-in. The technical implementation of our VS Code extension uses an architecture that allows us to reuse much of the existing Eclipse codebase. However, we must migrate all existing tools to the Language Server Protocol and design/build the necessary UIs on the VS Code side. While we expect a much faster development timeline, this transition will not happen overnight but gradually with each new client release.

Same Backend Support as ABAP Development Tools for Eclipse

Since we are reusing our existing codebase, all features available for a given release in Eclipse can potentially be offered in VS Code. We plan to support all releases down to SAP NetWeaver 7.3 EHP1 SP04.

Early Release Means You Can Help Shape the Roadmap

Just like the Eclipse plug-in, which was not feature-complete when we started, we will actively engage with the ABAP developer community to help us prioritize the features you miss the most.

File-based development first

As the name already implies Visual Studio Code is a code editor optimized for editing source code files. Additionally, all AI tools work best in a file-based environment. In order, to ensure that ABAP developers get the most out of VS Code in combination with AI tools all object type editing is completely file based utilizing the ABAP file formats.

SAP Joule for Developers Features Coming to VS Code

We are planning to bring the Joule for developers features to VS Code, including predictive code completion and other intelligent development capabilities.

ABAP Development Tools for VS Code Unlock Access to Cutting-Edge AI Tools

One of the reasons ABAP in VS Code is so appealing is that most cutting-edge AI development innovations happen in VS Code. Thanks to the new extension, you can leverage the available AI VS Code extensions. Please note that ABAP development objects are still stored on the server side. The file system had to be implemented using the “virtual workspace” technology. Not all AI tools currently support this file system, so compatibility may vary.

[Frank_Haschick]

That sounds great, looking forward to give it a try!

[pokrakam]

Fantastic news, been waiting a looong time for this!

[kennyhml]

What is your stance on direct community involvement with this project?

I believe that passionate developers are extremely finicky over their development tools. It would be great for people who want to improve their work environment and have an interest in the involved technologies to be able to actively contribute to the development eco-system.

Now, of course, with your linked design blog post in mind, most of the magic still happens inside the Eclipse ADT Plugin which is not technically open source. But its likely still be possible to "inject" some improvements into the layer in between. 

At the very least, it would be great if the extension exposes the language client as part of its API for other extensions to use and thus be able to communicate with headless eclipse.

[Tahemmout]

Very cool and already excited to try it out, y'all better not forget about ABAP debugging!

[wegnerdan]

Awesome news! 

[AbdulRahiman]

Big applause to the SAP team for delivering ABAP for VS Code!

This is a huge step toward the future of ABAP development — excited for what’s next! 💡

[sh4il3sh]

Kudos to the team for making it happen! 
Although I must say that the Data Browser/Table Content Viewer in eclipse is not at all good and lacks many features compared to SE16N.
It would be great if VSCode can do something about it. 

[SivaKalai]

Great news which we have been waiting for years. We have raised a product influence request with SAP on Q3,25  about the VS Code extension for ABAP.

Will the new VS Code plugin,  available for SAP ABAP onprem applications too ?

[houndmx]

Thank you! Finally!

This is great news, please do consider supporting/integrating open source and existing tools already for VSCode such as abaplint and the current extensions, these tools are great and make abap development in VSCode possible today, so, please do work together where possible and not make it an either/or.

Thanks again!

[Prakash_SAP]

It’s going to be milestone for SAP developers 

[Sam-Fischler30]

Wow the hurdle of leaving SAP GUI will be significantly reduced now.
Good job.

[christophelanno48]

That sounds great.  When will you be able to share the roadmap ?

[Muhammad-Adil]

Great to see ABAP development moving into VS Code! Focusing first on RAP UI services makes a lot of sense, especially for teams working end-to-end with Fiori and RAP. Excited to see how the tooling evolves and how the community can influence the roadmap over time.

[ing-cgonzalez]

Well, that's great news! I'm really looking forward to trying it, especially in combination with AI tools (I'm pretty sure it will be easier and smoother than in Eclipse.).

[sreekanthgo]

This is great news! Does VS Code now support SSO with SAP?

Previously, while it supported Fiori development, authentication was always limited to basic credentials.

[Satish_Kumar63]

The most thrilling update for ABAP developers worldwide.

[BrendanFarthing]

Hi @thomasalexander_ritter 

Great news! I see it mentions it will eventually support down to NW 7.31 releases. This implies it will work for on-prem ABAP systems too. 

Can you clarify if the ABAP VS Code extension will support on-prem or not. And with or without SAP's AI offerings.

Regards,

Brendan

[rb]

Did you check out the existing plugins like Standalone ABAP Development Extension Pack - Visual Studio Marketplace Or ABAP remote filesystem - Visual Studio Marketplace

I think some cool ideas and concept are already exiting today. I did use it for clonen abap code from a GIT repo and work with Copilot agents on the ABAP code. 

So I hope for some backward compatibility for older ABAP Versions to ease technical migration. 

[thomasalexander_ritter]

@kennyhml

> What is your stance on direct community involvement with this project?
> At the very least, it would be great if the extension exposes the language
> client as part of its API for other extensions to use and thus be able to
> communicate with headless eclipse.

We had internal discussions on a possible open source story. But as you said without the Java client layer it does not make much sense and open sourcing that layer would need a lot of investment. By design, the VS Code extension layer is very thin because all the model/controller logic needs to be in the language server. Otherwise, re-use in other IDEs is impossible. Therefore, it does not provide much value open sourcing the extension.

However, as pointed out by you the language server as a standalone component is an extremely interesting technology. We see this as our ADT SDK 2.0. After the first release of the VS Code extension we are planning to work on releasing the language server on its own. I can't wait to see what the community does with it e.g. building custom CLIs should be much easier.

@SivaKalai

Yes, the VS Code extension will support any server release which currently supports ABAP development tools for Eclipse. In other words, if you are currently using Eclipse then you will be able to use VS Code, too. We know how important this is for the ABAP community so we are going the extra mile and putting in some extra technical work to make this possible.

@christophelanno48

> That sounds great. When will you be able to share the roadmap?

You can expect the extension to be available in Q2 2026. Afterwards, just like with Eclipse, there will be a new release every three months.

@sreekanthgo

> This is great news! Does VS Code now support SSO with SAP?

Yes, logon to the ABAP system via SSO will be supported.

@BrendanFarthing

Yes, on-prem systems will be supported. Joule functionality will come to VS Code.

@rb

> Did you check out the existing plugins?

Yes, we have a lot of respect for what the community already did on their own. As much as technically possible, we will try to ensure that the community extensions will work with our extension.

[REGIS_MATSUOKA]

Wow!!! I have been waiting this good news for LOOONNNGGG time! Excited to get it!

[mkoval-ben]

> File-based development first

I'm really curious how this is going to be implemented. Is this going to be similar to semanticFS in Eclipse?

[jrtr]

Exciting news. Looking forward to give it a try 👍

[joachimrees1]

[*Joking* - (but only half?) ]

Only recently, I had to learn eclipse, and now something new - VS Code - again?
😉

[Balu483]

Does BAS also will support ADT?

means using BAS IDE can be able to do ABAP Developments as well?

[Peter_Inotai]

Hi,

One of the pain point for working Eclipse is when you have a huge class with lot of methods, you can only open the whole class, not a single method. Checking version history is for that method is not possible, pretty printer will be valid for whole class, etc.  Previously locking and transport management was also for the whole class, which as far as I know is not the case anymore.  However method level editing is possible in SAPGUI SE24/SE80.

Is there any chance to have method level editing option (plus locking, pretty printing etc ) in VSCode or it will be the same as in Eclipse because of the same backend?

Thanks,

Peter

[lp_end]

Hi all, how to early access this feature, interested to try, 
thanks,

[cfsmarques]

Que notícia excelente!!!

Eu já tenho essa expectativa a algum tempo.

Quase todas as outras linguagens que utilizo eu já uso o VSCODE.

Agora, com o ABAP adotando oficialmente, ainda que gradativamente, eu já me sinto bastante feliz.

Obrigado, time do SAP/ABAP.

-----

What excellent news!!!

I've had this expectation for some time now.

I already use VSCODE in almost all the other programming languages ​​I use.

Now, with ABAP officially adopting it, albeit gradually, I'm already very happy.

Thank you, SAP/ABAP team.

[bill_kroll]

Hello. I like to apply for early access for my team. Who can I reach out to. 

Thank You,

[JanKrieg]

Any updates on this? During TechEd in Berlin, this was announced for delivery by the end of last year. Really looking forward to this!

[Aravindh_Ganapathi95]

Marcello Urbani’s ABAP Remote filesystem extension has been the standard for ABAP development in VS Code. I’ve now enhanced it with complete AI integration as well as features like embedded SAP GUI (HTML version), diagrams, cross system comparison and a lot more. A pre-release version 2.0.0 is now available. Complete documentation is available in the Git repo. Please check it out and provide feedback!! 

Repo: https://github.com/marcellourbani/vscode_abap_remote_fs

[ravishgarg]

Really keen to try the preview version

[robinrajawat]

I’d like to register my interest as an early adopter for ABAP Development Tools for VS Code, focused on RAP UI service development. I actively work with RAP on ABAP Cloud / S/4HANA and am happy to provide feedback.

Kind regards,

Robin

[DaveInSydney]

Hi @thomasalexander_ritter , any updates? (possible ETA)...

[Evaristo_EBC]

Over the past years, the SAP development ecosystem has progressively expanded its tooling landscape—from the classical SAP GUI to Eclipse-based tools, and now towards integration with modern editors like Visual Studio Code.

From one perspective, this evolution reflects SAP’s effort to align with industry standards and meet developers where they already are. VS Code, with its lightweight architecture, extensibility, and widespread adoption, undoubtedly offers a compelling developer experience.

However, this raises an important question for the SAP community:

Are we moving toward greater flexibility, or increasing fragmentation?

Today, SAP developers find themselves navigating multiple environments:
- SAP GUI for traditional tasks
- Eclipse (ABAP Development Tools) for modern ABAP development
- VS Code for emerging integrations and cloud-centric workflows

While each tool brings advantages, the lack of a unified development environment can introduce complexity, context switching, and inconsistencies in the developer experience.

If we look at companies like Apple, they have built a cohesive and unified development ecosystem (e.g., Xcode), continuously evolving it while maintaining a strong identity and tight integration with their platform.

This leads to a broader reflection:

Should SAP continue embracing external tools and adapting them to its ecosystem?
Or should it invest in consolidating a unified, SAP-native development environment that evolves with modern standards while preserving consistency?

Of course, openness and integration are valuable. But so is coherence—especially in an ecosystem as complex and enterprise-critical as SAP.

Perhaps the real opportunity lies in finding the right balance:
- Leveraging modern, widely adopted tools
- While ensuring a seamless and consistent developer experience across the SAP landscape

I’m curious to hear how other developers perceive this shift.
Do you see VS Code integration as a step forward, or as another layer of fragmentation?

[joo_fernandes461]

Looking forward to testing this!

Is there somewhere I can check the status of these developments?

[Mehh]

I'm eagerly awaiting this 😃, really looking forward to implementing it. Is the release date decided on? If so, what is it?.

Regards,

[nuttakorn]

Waiting to see it launch.

[erpendergrass]

Count me in! We have been recently trying out VS Code for better AI tool integration, and having good early results but finding limitations with breadcrumb failure and other things making working in large classes nearly impossible. If we can just break through a little further, the experience in VS code is so much better than eclipse & its agent mode with GH Copilot is so much easier to operate (probably thanks due to ABAP FS exposing the right tools?) that it's going to be a huge win. 

Has anyone else run into those limitations around context/breadcrumbs/sticky scroll (I am sorta new to VS Code) in VS Code with ABAP FS extension? 

Looking forward to collaborating with this community and an official SAP extension!

[Aravindh_Ganapathi95]

Breadcrumbs/sticky scroll/outline issues have been fixed in the latest release of ABAP FS. Please report if issues persist! 

[Aght]

Could you please tell me when the official version will be available?

[Aravindh_Ganapathi95]

I think it’s coming on 29th May

[manish_kn]

It's there finally:   ABAP Development Tools for VS Code - Visual Studio Marketplace

[manish_kn]

And the HELP page is also working now: ABAP Development Tools for Visual Studio Code | SAP Help Portal

[VXLozano]

Skipping system configuration 'XXX YYYYYYYYY' because non-SSO configurations are not yet supported

So. Not yet.

And the two first lines of the ADT Communication Log...

!SESSION 2026-06-01 14:51:21.087 -----------------------------------------------
eclipse.buildId=4.38.0.v20251201-0920

Priceless...

[Mehh]

You can make connection with an ABAP BTP (confirmed - did it myself ) or a Public Cloud system (assumption - didn't confirm this myself). I think there is some necessary config which isn't highlighted anywhere in the documentation for onprem/private cloud.

[Attila]

Dear @thomasalexander_ritter ,

since it tis officially released, would it be possible to add here 😊 ?

https://tools.hana.ondemand.com/#abap

Thank you

[qdw-010203_gmail]

Will support for programs and functions be developed in subsequent updates?

[gavin_dong231]

When editing include files,  there is an error:

------------ Response ----------------------

HTTP/1.1 500 Internal Server Error

~server_protocol: HTTP/1.1

X-sap-adt-profiling: server-time=3847

Content-Type: application/xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><exc:exception xmlns:exc="http://www.sap.com/abapxml/types/communicationframework"><namespace id="com.sap.adt"/><type id="invalidMainProgram"/><message lang="EN">Select a master program for include ZFI_R_080_SUB in the properties view</message><localizedMessage lang="ZH">Select a master program for include ZFI_R_080_SUB in the properties view</localizedMessage><properties><entry key="LONGTEXT"/></properties></exc:exception>

--------------------------------------------

at com.sap.adt.communication.internal.resources.RestResource.createResourceException(RestResource.java:172)

at com.sap.adt.communication.internal.resources.RestResource.createResultFromResponse(RestResource.java:86)

at com.sap.adt.communication.internal.resources.RestResource.invoke(RestResource.java:76)

at com.sap.adt.communication.internal.resources.AbstractRestResource.post(AbstractRestResource.java:61)

at com.sap.adt.tools.abapsource.internal.sources.codeelementinformation.AdtCodeElementInformation.getCodeElementInformation(AdtCodeElementInformation.java:73)

at com.sap.adt.ls.internal.hover.AbapLsHoverService.getHover(AbapLsHoverService.java:59)

at com.sap.adt.ls.internal.textdocument.AdtTextDocumentService.lambda$8(AdtTextDocumentService.java:339)

at com.sap.adt.ls.internal.AdtLsAsyncHelper.runWithProgress(AdtLsAsyncHelper.java:111)

at com.sap.adt.ls.internal.AdtLsAsyncHelper.lambda$2(AdtLsAsyncHelper.java:86)

at java.base/java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture$AsyncSupply.run(CompletableFuture.java:1768)

... 6 more

[HarshPatelV]

Exciting news for the ABAP developer community! Bringing RAP development, SAP Fiori frontend, and ABAP Cloud workflows into VS Code is a significant step toward a modern, AI-enabled development experience. The gradual rollout and focus on community feedback are especially encouraging. Looking forward to seeing Joule integration and additional object type support in future releases. Thanks for sharing the roadmap!

[HarshPatelV]

Interesting scenario. From my understanding, the "Confirm Immediately" and "Propose Confirmation" settings in the Warehouse Process Type are primarily intended for foreground processing and may not be triggered when a Warehouse Task is created via the A2X API. It would be helpful to know whether the API supports automatic confirmation as part of the create request, or if a separate confirmation step with additional context (such as a resource) is always required. Looking forward to insights from others who have implemented this in SAP EWM.