2.5k stars · MIT · v10.11.0 (2026-07-02) — added content health: readability scoring, link checks, freshness warnings · Track this in Scout
A content manager inside VS Code: every post in one list, a publishing calendar, and a health check on the post in front of you.
▶Repo detailsthe review · specs · pros & cons · install
What it is
Front Matter is an extension for Visual Studio Code that manages content for file-based websites. It works with Astro, Hugo, Jekyll, Next.js and others. Version 10.11.0, from 2 July 2026, added content health: readability scoring, link checks and freshness warnings.
What it is good for. Two earlier recommendations pointed in this direction, and neither lands in a daily habit on its own. Edition 10 covered textstat for readability. Edition 7 covered SiteOne Crawler for broken links, which runs once over a whole site. Front Matter puts both jobs in the window where you actually write, on the post in front of you, while you are writing it. That is the difference between a tool you run and a tool you use. The calendar matters too. A video channel and a blog both need a rhythm, and a list of what went out and when is how you keep one.
- One click to install and one click to remove. It touches nothing in how your site builds.
- The health check is the useful part: readability, dead links and old posts, all in one panel.
- It reads your existing folders. You do not restructure anything to start.
- It only exists inside VS Code. You cannot use it from a phone. #2 covers that.
- The readability scores are built for English. Do not trust the number on posts in another language. Treat those as a link check only.
- It writes a settings file into your project. If that file goes stale after you move folders, the panels quietly show the wrong thing.
code --install-extension eliostruyf.vscode-front-matter
