Todo Tree not working? Alternatives for VS Code in 2026
If Todo Tree's panel went empty after a VS Code update, you have three options: keep Todo Tree and point it at a separate ripgrep, switch to a maintained fork or another extension, or use a plain search. This page compares them using what we could check on 18 October 2026, including what each one needs to run, so you can pick in a few minutes.
First, why Todo Tree stopped working
Todo Tree (Gruntfuggly.todo-tree, about 7.9 million installs) finds comments by running a ripgrep binary that it expects to find inside the VS Code install. VS Code 1.122 (27 May 2026) moved that binary, and the extension's last Marketplace release is from April 2023, so many people see Failed to find vscode-ripgrep and an empty list. The details, with the exact setting name and the Remote SSH case, are in the fix guide. That fix works until VS Code moves ripgrep again, which is the thing to weigh when you choose below.
The options side by side
| Option | Cost | How it finds comments | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Todo Tree plus your own ripgrep (guide) | Free | Runs the ripgrep you installed and point it to | Keeping every Todo Tree feature and setting you already use | No Marketplace release since April 2023; you maintain the path on each machine, and over Remote SSH on the remote |
| Better Todo Tree (FanaticPythoner) | Free (donations) | A maintained fork that still uses ripgrep | Closest to Todo Tree; imports its settings; updated July 2026; about 41,000 installs | One user in the Todo Tree issue thread reported the same ripgrep error with it |
| TODO Tree Pro | Free | Uses the @vscode/ripgrep package | Tree and list views, highlighting | Small (about 500 installs) |
| TodoAge (jaytankdev) | Free | Git blame | Seeing how old a TODO is, inline | Age only, no full tree; scans 300 files by default |
| Loose Ends (ours) | Free list; Pro key $9 once | VS Code's own file APIs, no binary | A list that updates can't break; Pro adds age, owner, due date, overdue warnings and a report | New and small; not on the Marketplace or Open VSX yet, so you install a VSIX by hand |
| VS Code's built-in Search | Free | Its own bundled search | A one-off look; nothing to install | No tree, no highlighting in the editor, you rerun it |
No extension at all: a regex search
For a quick look, open Search (Ctrl+Shift+F or Cmd+Shift+F), turn on Use Regular Expression (Alt+R) and search for \b(TODO|FIXME|HACK|XXX)\b. Results are grouped by file and every line is clickable. It does not keep a live list, but it never depends on an extension.
How to choose
- You only need the old setup back: set the ripgrep path as in the guide. Two minutes, no new software, but it will break again the next time the bundled path moves, and it is unmaintained upstream.
- You want the same features, maintained: try Better Todo Tree, and check that it works on your machine before you uninstall Todo Tree, because it still relies on ripgrep.
- You work over Remote SSH, WSL or dev containers, or lose time to ripgrep paths: pick an extension that does not run a binary. Loose Ends is built that way; it is also the only one in this table that is brand new, so read its limits above.
- You mostly care about how old your TODOs are: TodoAge shows age inline and is free.
Switching from Todo Tree
Loose Ends reads Todo Tree's todo-tree.general.tags setting until you set its own, so your tags carry over. You can disable Todo Tree and keep its configuration. Install steps: download the free VSIX (26 KB), open the Extensions view, click the … menu and choose Install from VSIX… (the same in Cursor and VSCodium). It is free to use; the $9 Pro key is optional.
Install counts and dates are from the VS Code Marketplace and the Todo Tree GitHub issues, checked 17 and 18 October 2026, and will change. Loose Ends is made by the publisher of this site, so weigh our row accordingly.