Code Snippets

The ROS 2 extension includes comprehensive code snippets to accelerate development in Python, C++, and launch files.

How to Use Snippets

In your code editor, start typing the snippet prefix
Press Tab or Enter to expand the snippet
Use Tab to navigate between placeholders
Fill in the required values

Python (rclpy) Snippets

Node Development

Prefix	Description
`ros2node`	Complete ROS 2 Python node class template with main function
`ros2pub`	Create a publisher
`ros2pubtimer`	Create a publisher with timer callback
`ros2sub`	Create a subscriber with callback method
`ros2timer`	Create a timer with callback

Services

Prefix	Description
`ros2srv`	Create a service server
`ros2client`	Create a service client
`ros2call`	Make an async service call

Actions

Prefix	Description
`ros2actionserver`	Create an action server
`ros2actionclient`	Create an action client

Parameters

Prefix	Description
`ros2param`	Declare a parameter
`ros2getparam`	Get a parameter value
`ros2declgetparam`	Declare and get a parameter

Logging

Prefix	Description
`ros2debug`	Log a debug message
`ros2info`	Log an info message
`ros2warn`	Log a warning message
`ros2error`	Log an error message
`ros2fatal`	Log a fatal message

Quality of Service

Prefix	Description
`ros2qos`	Create a QoS profile

C++ (rclcpp) Snippets

Node Development

Prefix	Description
`ros2node`	Complete ROS 2 C++ node class template with main function
`ros2component`	ROS 2 component node template with registration macro
`ros2pub`	Create a publisher
`ros2pubtimer`	Create a publisher with timer callback
`ros2sub`	Create a subscriber with callback method
`ros2sublambda`	Create a subscriber with lambda callback
`ros2timer`	Create a timer with callback

Services

Prefix	Description
`ros2srv`	Create a service server
`ros2client`	Create a service client
`ros2call`	Make an async service call

Actions

Prefix	Description
`ros2actionserver`	Create an action server
`ros2actionclient`	Create an action client

Parameters

Prefix	Description
`ros2param`	Declare a parameter
`ros2getparam`	Get a parameter value
`ros2declgetparam`	Declare and get a parameter

Logging

Prefix	Description
`ros2debug`	Log a debug message (RCLCPP_DEBUG)
`ros2info`	Log an info message (RCLCPP_INFO)
`ros2warn`	Log a warning message (RCLCPP_WARN)
`ros2error`	Log an error message (RCLCPP_ERROR)
`ros2fatal`	Log a fatal message (RCLCPP_FATAL)

Component Registration

Prefix	Description
`ros2register`	Register a component node with RCLCPP_COMPONENTS_REGISTER_NODE

Quality of Service

Prefix	Description
`ros2qos`	Create a QoS profile

Python Launch File Snippets

Prefix	Description
`ros2launch`	Complete launch file template
`ros2launchnode`	Launch a node with full options
`ros2node`	Simple launch node
`ros2launchremap`	Launch node with topic remappings
`ros2launchinclude`	Include another launch file
`ros2launcharg`	Declare a launch argument
`ros2launchgetarg`	Get a launch argument value
`ros2launchexec`	Execute a process
`ros2composable`	Create a composable node container
`ros2launchgroup`	Create a group action with namespace
`ros2launchparam`	Set a parameter
`ros2lifecycle`	Launch a lifecycle node

XML Launch File Snippets

Prefix	Description
`ros2launch`	Complete XML launch file template
`ros2node`	Simple launch node
`ros2nodens`	Launch node with namespace
`ros2nodeblock`	Launch node as block element
`ros2arg`	Declare launch argument with default
`ros2argnodefault`	Declare launch argument without default
`ros2include`	Include another launch file
`ros2includeargs`	Include launch file with arguments
`ros2param`	Set a parameter
`ros2paramfile`	Load parameters from YAML file
`ros2remap`	Remap a topic
`ros2group`	Create a group block
`ros2namespace`	Push ROS namespace
`ros2env`	Set environment variable in node
`ros2setenv`	Set environment variable globally
`ros2let`	Define a variable
`ros2var`	Get a variable value
`ros2getenv`	Get an environment variable
`ros2findpkg`	Find package share directory
`ros2exec`	Execute a command

Examples

Python Node Example

Type ros2node and press Tab to get:

import rclpy
from rclpy.node import Node


class MyNode(Node):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__('my_node')


def main(args=None):
    rclpy.init(args=args)
    node = MyNode()
    rclpy.spin(node)
    node.destroy_node()
    rclpy.shutdown()


if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

C++ Node Example

Type ros2node and press Tab to get:

#include "rclcpp/rclcpp.hpp"

class MyNode : public rclcpp::Node
{
public:
    MyNode() : Node("my_node")
    {

    }

private:

};

int main(int argc, char * argv[])
{
    rclcpp::init(argc, argv);
    rclcpp::spin(std::make_shared<MyNode>());
    rclcpp::shutdown();
    return 0;
}

Python Launch File Example

Type ros2launch and press Tab to get:

from launch import LaunchDescription
from launch_ros.actions import Node


def generate_launch_description():
    return LaunchDescription([

    ])

Tips

All snippets use tab stops to navigate between placeholder values
Press Tab to move to the next placeholder
Press Shift+Tab to move to the previous placeholder
Some snippets include choice placeholders - use arrow keys to select options
Snippets work in both VS Code and VSCodium

Snippet Design Philosophy

These snippets are designed to:

Accelerate development - Reduce boilerplate typing
Promote best practices - Follow ROS 2 conventions
Be discoverable - Use intuitive prefixes starting with ros2
Be comprehensive - Cover common ROS 2 patterns
Be ergonomic - Use consistent tab stop ordering and sensible defaults