Tag Browser

The Tag Browser brings the Ignition tag tree into VS Code: browse tag providers, watch live values and quality codes update inline, and create, write, or delete tags without switching to the Designer. It is a live view — every read and write goes through your running Designer session, so what you see is exactly what the gateway sees.

Prerequisites

The Tag Browser requires the Flint Designer Bridge module installed on your gateway and a running, connected Designer. All tag operations ride the Designer bridge — a configured gateway alone is not enough. See Connecting the Designer and Module Installation.

Opening the Tag Browser

The Tag Browser appears in the Flint for Ignition Activity Bar container, below the Project Browser. The view is available once the extension is activated; its contents load when a Designer is connected.

What the tree shows

The tree mirrors the Designer's tag structure:

Node type	Description
Provider	Each tag provider visible to the connected Designer (e.g. default)
Folder	Tag folders, expandable to any depth
Tag	Atomic tags, with live value and quality shown inline
UDT Definition	UDT type definitions, expandable to their member structure
UDT Instance	UDT instances, expandable to their member tags

Live values

Visible atomic tags display their current value and quality inline, in the form value [quality] — for example 42.5 [Good]. Values refresh automatically about every 5 seconds while the view is visible. Polling stops when the view is hidden, so it adds no load while you work elsewhere.

Tag operations

Right-click a node in the Tag Browser for context actions. All commands are in the Flint category.

Action	Command	Available on
Read Value	flint.readTagValue	Tags
Write Value	flint.writeTagValue	Tags
Get Configuration	flint.getTagConfig	Any node
Create Tag	flint.createTag	Providers and folders
Delete	flint.deleteTag	Tags, folders, UDT definitions and instances
Copy Tag Path	flint.copyTagPath	Any node
Refresh Tag Browser	flint.refreshTagBrowser	View title bar

Read and write

Read Value performs an on-demand read of the selected tag, independent of the polling cycle. Write Value prompts for a new value and writes it through the Designer's gateway connection.

warning

Writes go to the live gateway. In a production environment, a tag write from the Tag Browser has the same effect as a write from the Designer or a running client.

Get configuration

Get Configuration fetches the full tag configuration and opens it as formatted JSON in an untitled editor — useful for inspecting bindings, alarm setups, or UDT parameters, or for copying configuration between environments.

Create and delete

Create Tag on a provider or folder walks you through three prompts:

1. Name of the new tag.
2. Type — Atomic Tag, Folder, UDT Definition, or UDT Instance.
3. Data type (atomic tags only) — Int1, Int2, Int4, Int8, Float4, Float8, Boolean, String, or DateTime.

Delete asks for confirmation before removing the tag, folder, or UDT node from the provider.

Copy tag path

Copy Tag Path puts the fully qualified path (including the [provider] prefix) on the clipboard, ready to paste into scripts, bindings, or system.tag.* calls.

How it connects

The Tag Browser does not talk to the gateway directly. It sends JSON-RPC requests over the local WebSocket bridge to your connected Designer, and the Designer performs the tag operations through its existing gateway session — using the Designer's authenticated user and its permissions. See Module Overview for the full architecture.

Limitations

• A connected Designer is required. If no Designer is connected, the tree is empty and tag commands fail. A gateway configured in flint.config.json with an API token is not sufficient for this view.
• Values poll at a fixed ~5 second interval. The Tag Browser is not a substitute for the Designer's subscription-based tag browser when you need sub-second updates.
• Only tags visible while the view is expanded are polled; collapsed branches are not read.

Related pages

• Script Console — run system.tag.* calls interactively against the same Designer session.
• Connecting the Designer — establish the bridge connection this view depends on.