TypeScript 7 adds a workspace-symbol search scope

Published: August 7, 2026

Microsoft merged a workspace-symbol search scope for TypeScript’s native language service.

What changed

The new workspaceSymbols.scope preference has two values. allOpenProjects is the default and searches symbols across every open project. currentProject limits the search to projects that contain the supplied document.

The native VS Code extension now adds a supported TypeScript or JavaScript document to workspace/symbol requests. It prioritizes the active document and otherwise uses an open supported document. The language service uses that document only when workspaceSymbols.scope is currentProject; otherwise it keeps the all-open-project search.

Why it matters

In a workspace that contains multiple projects with similarly named symbols, currentProject can restrict the result set to the relevant project. The default preserves the existing behavior, so the change is opt-in.

Availability

The change was merged into the TypeScript native codebase after TypeScript 7.0. The source does not identify a stable npm version that includes it, so check the release notes for the installed version before relying on the setting.