Code Intelligence

Phoenix Code helps you write code faster with code hints, parameter hints, documentation popups, jump to definition, and live error checking. Most of it works out of the box with no setup.

This page explains what each feature does and how to tune it. For what you get in a specific language, see JavaScript & TypeScript, PHP, JSON, and Python.

Code Hints

As you type, a popup suggests what could come next: HTML tags, CSS properties and values, JavaScript symbols, JSON keys, file paths, and more.

• Hints appear automatically as you type.
• Press Ctrl + Space to open them any time, or use Edit > Show Code Hints.
• Use the arrow keys to pick one, then press Enter or Tab to insert it.
• Press Esc to close the popup.

Documentation Beside Hints

For languages with full code intelligence, the selected hint shows a documentation popup next to the list, with a short description of the function, property, or symbol. This lets you confirm it is the right one before you insert it.

Parameter Hints

When you type inside a function call, right after ( or ,, a popup shows the function's parameters and highlights the one you are on. It follows your cursor as you move between arguments.

Press Ctrl + Shift + Space to show it any time, or use Edit > Show Parameter Hint.

Hover Info

Hold your cursor over any symbol to see its type signature and documentation. The popup also has two buttons, Go to Definition and Find Usages.

Jump to Definition and Find Usages

Place your cursor on a symbol and press Ctrl/Cmd + J to go to where it is defined, even in another file. This is also in Navigate > Jump to Definition.

Press Shift + F12 to list every place the symbol is used across the project. This is also in Find > Find All References.

Both are in the right-click menu too.

Error Checking

Phoenix Code checks your code as you type and shows problems in two places:

• Squiggly underlines in the editor, under the exact code with the problem. Hover over the underline to read the message.
• The Problems panel at the bottom of the window, listing every problem in the file with its line number. Click a row to jump to it.

Problems come in three levels: Error (red), Warning (yellow), and Info (blue).

Two kinds of problems also change how the code looks, so you can spot them at a glance:

• Unused code, like a variable that is never read or an import that is never used, is drawn faded.
• Deprecated code, like calling a function marked @deprecated, is drawn with a strikethrough.

These still get their underline and their row in the Problems panel. The styling is an extra hint on top.

Quick Fixes

When a problem can be fixed automatically, a Fix button appears next to it in the Problems panel. Use Fix All to apply every fix in the file at once.

Language Support

Works Everywhere

These hints work in the desktop app and in the browser:

Language or context	What you get
HTML	Tag names, attribute names and values
HTML entities	Special characters like & and  
CSS, LESS, SCSS	Property names and property values
SVG	Tag and attribute hints
JavaScript	Symbol completion
URLs	File path completion inside href, src, and url()
Preferences files	Hints for every setting name and value while editing Phoenix Code's own settings files

Desktop App

The desktop app also runs language servers. A language server understands your whole project, not just the open file, so you get context-aware completion, documentation popups, parameter hints, jump to definition, and project-wide error checking.

Language server	Languages	What you get
TypeScript	JavaScript, TypeScript, JSX, TSX	Type-aware completion, parameter hints, docs on hover, jump to definition, type errors, unused and deprecated detection. Respects your jsconfig.json or tsconfig.json. See JavaScript & TypeScript.
JSON	JSON	Schema-based key and value completion and validation for well-known config files. In package.json, dependencies with known security problems are flagged. See JSON.
Intelephense	PHP	Completion, docs on hover, parameter hints, jump to definition, error checking. See PHP.
Pyrefly and Ruff	Python	Type-aware completion, docs on hover, parameter hints, jump to definition, type checking with Pyrefly, and formatting with Ruff. See Python.

The PHP and Python language servers download and set themselves up the first time you open a PHP or Python file. There is nothing to install by hand.

Language servers run on your own machine as background processes, so your code is not sent anywhere. Because they need those processes, they run in the desktop app only. In the browser, the hints in the table above still work.

Extensions can add language servers for more languages. Each one gets its own on and off setting automatically, see Language Servers below.

JavaScript type checking

By default, JavaScript files get completion, docs, and navigation, but not full type checking. This matches what other editors do. To also get type errors and unused variable warnings in plain .js files, add "checkJs": true to your project's jsconfig.json, or put a // @ts-check comment at the top of the file.

Settings

You can turn every part of this on or off from your preferences file. See Editing Preferences to learn how to open and edit it. Preferences files get code hints too, so Ctrl + Space works while you edit them.

General

Setting	Default	What it does
showCodeHints	true	The master switch. Set it to false to turn off all code hint popups.
showCodeHintDocs	true	Set to false to hide the documentation popup shown beside code hints.
showParameterHints	true	Set to false to turn off the parameter hint popup, including Ctrl + Shift + Space.
insertHintOnTab	true	Set to false if you don't want Tab to insert the selected hint. Enter still works.
maxCodeHints	50	How many suggestions the popup shows at once.

Per-Language Hints

Turn hints off for one language and keep the rest:

Setting	Default	What it controls
codehint.TagHints	true	HTML tag hints
codehint.AttrHints	true	HTML attribute hints
codehint.SpecialCharHints	true	HTML entity hints
codehint.CssPropHints	true	CSS, LESS, and SCSS property and value hints
codehint.SVGHints	true	SVG hints
codehint.JSHints	true	JavaScript hints
codehint.UrlCodeHints	true	File path and URL hints
codehint.PrefHints	true	Hints in Phoenix Code settings files

Language Servers

Each language server has its own switch. Turning one off stops it right away, so completion, docs, parameter hints, jump to definition, and error checking for that language all stop, and any simpler built-in checker takes over. Turning it back on restarts the server. You don't need to restart the app.

Setting	Default	What it controls
codeIntelligence.typescript	true	JavaScript and TypeScript code intelligence
codeIntelligence.json	true	JSON code intelligence
codeIntelligence.php	true	PHP code intelligence. Set to false before you open a PHP file and the server is never downloaded.
codeIntelligence.python	true	Python code intelligence. Set to false before you open a Python file and the server is never downloaded.
codeIntelligence.<id>	true	Any language server added by an extension gets its own setting. Look for the codeIntelligence. prefix in the default preferences file to see what is available.

Examples

Turn off the popups but keep error checking:

{
    "showCodeHints": false,
    "showParameterHints": false
}

Keep the hints, but make them quieter:

{
    "showCodeHintDocs": false,
    "maxCodeHints": 20
}

Settings for One Project

To change a setting for a single project only, create a .phcode.json file in the project folder and put the same settings in it. Project settings win over your global ones.

For example, to turn off JavaScript and TypeScript code intelligence in one project:

{
    "codeIntelligence.typescript": false
}

Troubleshooting

Q. Why don't I see any code hints?

Check that showCodeHints is not set to false, both in your preferences file and in the project's .phcode.json.

Q. Why do HTML and CSS hints work, but JavaScript feels basic or JSON validation is missing?

Those come from language servers, so they need the desktop app. If you are already on the desktop app, check that codeIntelligence.typescript and codeIntelligence.json are not set to false.

Q. Why don't I see parameter hints inside a function call?

Check showParameterHints. Parameter hints come from a language server, so they also need the desktop app and that language's codeIntelligence.* setting turned on.

Q. Why are unused variables in my .js file not flagged?

Plain JavaScript is not type-checked by default. Add "checkJs": true to jsconfig.json, or put a // @ts-check comment at the top of the file.

Q. How do I stop Tab from inserting a hint?

Set insertHintOnTab to false. Enter still inserts the selected hint.