Oxc for VS Code: lint and format JavaScript 50× faster than ESLint

Your linter shouldn't take two and a half minutes. For most mid-size JavaScript or TypeScript projects running ESLint with type-aware rules, it does. [cite:1|Migrated from ESLint + Prettier to Oxlint + Oxfmt [Benchmarks] — Reddit|[https://www.[reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/1rkmt1k/migrated_from_eslint_prettier_to_oxlint_oxfmt/]]](https://reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/1rkmt1k/migrated_from_eslint_prettier_to_oxlint_oxfmt/]]](https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/1rkmt1k/migrated_from_eslint_prettier_to_oxlint_oxfmt/]]))

The Oxc VS Code extension connects VS Code to oxlint and oxfmt — both written in Rust, both multi-threaded, both part of the Oxidation Compiler project that VoidZero is building as a unified JavaScript toolchain. Install the extension and you get inline lint squiggles and on-save formatting in your editor without touching your CI config.

What oxlint and oxfmt actually do

oxlint is a JavaScript/TypeScript linter. It ships with 650+ built-in rules covering ESLint core, TypeScript, React, Jest, and jsx-a11y. By default, 107 rules are enabled out of the box — no config file needed to start catching real issues. 1

oxfmt is the companion formatter, meant to replace Prettier for JS/TS files. Like oxlint, it's multi-threaded and does not require configuration to run.

The extension bundles both binaries. When you open a .js, .ts, .jsx, or .tsx file in VS Code, oxlint runs in the background and surfaces diagnostics; if you set oxc as your default formatter, oxfmt formats on save.

The speed gap

Real-world numbers from a developer who migrated an NX monorepo (M3 MacBook Pro, 5,360 files): [cite:1|Migrated from ESLint + Prettier to Oxlint + Oxfmt [Benchmarks] — Reddit|[https://www.[reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/1rkmt1k/migrated_from_eslint_prettier_to_oxlint_oxfmt/]]](https://reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/1rkmt1k/migrated_from_eslint_prettier_to_oxlint_oxfmt/]]](https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/1rkmt1k/migrated_from_eslint_prettier_to_oxlint_oxfmt/]]))

Tool	Time	Notes
ESLint	~2m 27s	Single-threaded, type-aware rules
oxlint	~1.3s	5,360 files, 134 rules, 11 threads
Prettier	~13.9s	6,111 files
oxfmt	~2.1s	6,111 files, 11 threads

That's 113× faster for linting and 6.5× faster for formatting. Oxlint's own benchmark repo puts the headline figure at 50–100× on the VS Code codebase using standard rules. 2 The difference comes from Rust's execution speed plus native thread-per-core parallelism — ESLint processes one file at a time.

The speed matters for editor UX. ESLint extensions often introduce a noticeable lag before squiggles appear; oxlint's results show up near-instantly on every keystroke save.

Install

Search for Oxc in the VS Code Extensions panel (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X), or run:

ext install oxc.oxc-vscode

The identifier is oxc.oxc-vscode. The extension is also available on Open VSX for VS Codium and other compatible editors.

Enable oxfmt as your default formatter

After installing, add this to your settings.json to enable format-on-save:

{
  "[javascript]": {
    "editor.defaultFormatter": "oxc.oxc-vscode",
    "editor.formatOnSave": true
  },
  "[typescript]": {
    "editor.defaultFormatter": "oxc.oxc-vscode",
    "editor.formatOnSave": true
  },
  "[javascriptreact]": {
    "editor.defaultFormatter": "oxc.oxc-vscode"
  },
  "[typereactscript]": {
    "editor.defaultFormatter": "oxc.oxc-vscode"
  }
}

oxfmt's formatting style is intentionally close to Prettier. Most codebases need zero extra configuration.

Add type-aware linting (optional)

Standard oxlint rules run without a TypeScript server — that's most of the speed advantage. If you also want type-aware rules (the equivalent of typescript-eslint's recommended-type-checked), install the separate oxlint-tsgolint package:

npm install --save-dev oxlint-tsgolint

Then enable it in your VS Code settings:

{
  "oxc.typeAware": true
}

Type-aware mode uses tsgo (the Go-based TypeScript port) instead of the full tsc pipeline. Even with type checking on, oxlint benchmarks at 20–40× faster than ESLint + typescript-eslint. 1

Migrating from ESLint without breaking CI

oxlint can run alongside ESLint during a transition. The automated migration tool handles most of the conversion:

# For ESLint v9 flat config projects
npx @oxlint/migrate

# For projects that depend heavily on ESLint plugins
npx @oxlint/migrate --js-plugins

# For type-aware rules
npx @oxlint/migrate --type-aware

Rules that oxlint doesn't support yet get flagged — you keep running ESLint only for those. Once coverage satisfies your team, drop ESLint entirely. 1

Limitations worth knowing

ESLint plugin ecosystem: oxlint supports most ESLint v9 API surface, but "experimental" is the honest label for plugin compat. Complex in-house ESLint plugins may need adaptation.
oxfmt is still young: Prettier has years of edge-case handling in its AST formatting logic. oxfmt produces cleaner diffs for most code, but very unusual formatting patterns may differ.
650+ rules, not unlimited: ESLint's full ecosystem has thousands of community rules. oxlint prioritizes correctness and coverage of the most commonly-used rule sets first.

Install link: Oxc on VS Code Marketplace · Identifier: oxc.oxc-vscode