Rosalind Extension

Solve Rosalind.info computational biology problems without leaving your editor. Browse the full problem list, read problems with rendered math, download timed datasets, and submit answers, all from the VS Code sidebar.

Features

Browse & Read Problems

Click Open Problem in the sidebar to pick from the full Rosalind problem catalogue. The problem loads directly in the sidebar panel with two tabs:

• **Problem: **the task statement, sample dataset, and sample output, with math rendered via KaTeX
• **Biological Context: ** the introductory biology background for the problem

Both are colelcted from rosalind.info

Timed Dataset Timer

Click Start Dataset Timer to download your personal dataset for the currently open problem and start a 5-minute countdown in the status bar. The dataset file opens automatically in your workspace. When the timer expires, the file is deleted and you receive a notification.

Submit Solutions

Click Submit Solution to send your answer to Rosalind. You can either paste the output directly or pick a .txt file from disk. The extension reports whether your answer was correct or incorrect via a VS Code notification.

Sign In Once, Stay Signed In

Your session is encrypted and stored in VS Code's native Secret Storage, you only sign in once per machine. The session survives VS Code restarts indefinitely.

Sign In

Automatic (Chrome, Brave, Edge, Arc, Vivaldi, Opera, Chromium)

If you are already signed in to Rosalind in any supported Chromium-based browser, click Sign In with Browser. The extension reads your session cookie directly from your browser's local cookie store.

Note: macOS will show a Keychain access prompt the first time. This is required to decrypt the browser's cookie database and is read-only.

Safari / Manual fallback

If you use Safari or the automatic method does not work:

1. Click Paste Session Key in the sidebar.
2. Follow the on-screen instructions to copy your sessionid cookie value from Safari's Web Inspector.
3. Paste it into the input box.

Your session is verified immediately and stored securely.

Google / OpenID accounts

Sign in to Rosalind in your browser first (via Google or any provider), then use Sign In with Browser or Paste Session Key as described above. Username and password are never required.

Requirements

On Windows and Linux, use the Paste Session Key command to sign in. Automatic browser cookie extraction is currently macOS-only.

Commands

All commands are accessible from the Rosalind panel in the activity bar or via the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P).

Privacy

The extension communicates only with rosalind.info. Your session cookie is stored locally in VS Code's encrypted Secret Storage and is never sent anywhere else. No telemetry is collected.