Boreal is a VS Code extension for Unreal Engine workflows (UE 5.4+ on Windows-first).

Highlights

Zero-friction workspace setup — open a folder with a .uproject and Boreal does the rest. It resolves the engine root automatically, adds it as a second workspace folder, and transitions the window into a multi-root .code-workspace so project and engine source are always in sync — no manual configuration needed.

Integrated build, launch, and debug — UE Platform and UE Config selectors in the status bar mirror Visual Studio's combined configuration model. Ctrl+Shift+B kicks off a full UBT build that streams live output to the Task terminal and updates Problems incrementally. F5 / Ctrl+F5 trigger a pre-launch build then start a native debugger or no-debug launch, with Unreal log output tailed to the UnrealLog panel in real time.

C++ IntelliSense sync — Boreal: Scan Project Structure walks project and engine module trees and writes a Boreal-managed block into C_Cpp.default.includePath. This gives the C/C++ extension enough context to resolve Unreal headers without hand-crafting c_cpp_properties.json, reducing false-positive include warnings in the Problems pane.

Project Summary at a glance — a dedicated webview in the Boreal Activity Bar container shows project identity, engine path and distribution, active build selection, and cache-backed scan counts. Quick-action buttons for scan, engine association, opening the engine folder, and project-file generation are one click away.

MCP integration for AI agents — Boreal registers a Boreal MCP endpoint that AI coding agents can discover automatically. The MCP surface exposes Unreal-aware tools for project resolution, build-context discovery, and build/launch/debug intent execution — all backed by the live extension-host state.

Getting Started

Install the Boreal extension.
Open the Unreal project folder (workspace root containing your .uproject).
Boreal automatically scans the project and adds the resolved engine root as a second workspace folder (multi-root .code-workspace context).

Core Commands

UE: Find .uproject
UE: Show UBT Build Command
Tasks: Run Build Task (Boreal Unreal)
Tasks: Run Rebuild Task (Boreal Unreal)
Tasks: Run Clean Task (Boreal Unreal)
UE: Launch Target
UE: Debug Target
UE: Resolve Engine Location
UE: Open Engine Folder in Workspace
UE: Change Engine Association
UE: Generate Visual Studio Project Files
Boreal: Scan Project Structure
Boreal: Refresh Project Summary

Output and Diagnostics

Build output is task-terminal first and mirrored to the Boreal output channel.
Build diagnostics are streamed into Problems during execution.
Open output via View -> Output, then choose Boreal.

Configuration

boreal.logging.level: error | warn | info | debug
boreal.build.preferDirectUbt: false (default Build.bat-first) | true (direct UBT-first)
boreal.cppIncludePaths.level: none | public | generatedHeaders
boreal.unrealLog.compactRows: compact UnrealLog panel rows

Managed Unreal-focused exclusions are applied at startup:

Boreal additively updates C_Cpp.files.exclude and search.exclude.
Boreal leaves VS Code files.exclude untouched.
Boreal runs this startup sync only when the workspace contains a .uproject.

Notes

UE: DebugPlus Target is experimental and may be removed in a future cleanup.
For local development setup and deeper architecture notes, see the repository README.md and docs/development.md.

Trademark and Affiliation Notice

This is an independent, third-party project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Epic Games.

Unreal and Unreal Engine are trademarks or registered trademarks of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States of America and elsewhere.

Epic Games, Inc. has not reviewed or approved this project.