Open local DICOM files and folders in dcmview directly from VS Code.
dcmview is a fast, temporary DICOM inspection tool for research and
development workflows. The extension starts a local loopback dcmview server
from the selected file or folder and displays the viewer in a VS Code webview.
dcmview is intended for developer and research inspection on secure networks,
not clinical diagnosis. Avoid public-facing server binds; the extension launches
the bundled server on loopback and displays it in a VS Code webview.
Do not include PHI or sensitive DICOM content in public issue reports. Report security issues privately to the maintainers before public disclosure.
For common install, binary resolution, VS Code interception, startup, tunnel, and annotation CSV problems, see the main troubleshooting guide. For settings, binary resolution order, and bridge environment variables, see the configuration reference. For Python scripts and notebooks that may route through the VS Code bridge, see the Python reference. The main documentation index links the user, configuration, troubleshooting, API/debugging, development, and release references.
Marketplace builds currently bundle dcmview binaries for:
- Linux x64
- macOS x64
- macOS arm64
- Windows x64
On unsupported platforms, or when you need to test a locally built binary, set
dcmview.binaryPath to an absolute path to a compatible dcmview executable.
Use the Explorer context menu command Open with dcmview on DICOM files or
folders. The extension launches dcmview --no-browser --port 0, waits for the
local server URL, and opens the viewer beside your current editor.
For files named *.dcm, *.dicom, or *.ima, use VS Code's Reopen With...
command and choose dcmview to open the file in a readonly dcmview editor tab.
Set dcmview as the default editor for those patterns if you want double-clicks
to open matching DICOM files directly in dcmview. Extensionless DICOM files and
folders should still use the Explorer context menu command.
The command dcmview: Open Workspace with dcmview opens a selected workspace
folder. The command dcmview: Stop All dcmview Sessions terminates extension
managed viewer sessions.
When dcmview.terminalInterception.enabled is true, new integrated terminals
route dcmview, dcmview-py, and python -m dcmview_py invocations into VS
Code webview panels. Set DCMVIEW_VSCODE_BYPASS=1 in a terminal to bypass that
integration for a single shell session.
dcmview.binaryPath: absolute path to adcmviewbinary override.dcmview.defaultRecursive: recursively scan selected folders by default.dcmview.extraArgs: additional command-line arguments passed todcmview.dcmview.startupTimeoutSeconds: seconds to wait for startup.dcmview.terminalInterception.enabled: route integrated terminal launches into VS Code webviews.
See the main configuration reference for binary
resolution order, environment variables, and how these settings map to
dcmview CLI arguments.
