Replace GUIDs

Right-click any file in the VS Code Explorer and choose Replace GUIDs to write a copy of the file with every UUID/GUID replaced by a configurable value. GUIDs embedded inside longer strings (ARM resource ids, machine names, connection strings, ...) are replaced too. The original file is never modified.

Useful for anonymizing Azure resource/template exports (subscription ids, appliance ids, BIOS GUIDs) before sharing them or checking them in as test data.

Usage

1. Right-click a file in the Explorer.
2. Choose Replace GUIDs.
3. A copy named <prefix><original name> (default 0guid-<original name>) is written next to the original, and a notification reports how many GUIDs were replaced.

The command is also available from the Command Palette and then applies to the file open in the active editor.

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
replaceGuids.replacementGuid	00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000	The value every detected UUID/GUID is replaced with.
replaceGuids.filePrefix	0guid-	Prefix added to the original file name for the scrubbed copy.
replaceGuids.excludedGuids	[]	GUIDs that are left untouched instead of being replaced.

Excluding GUIDs

Some GUIDs are well-known and worth keeping readable — Azure built-in role definition ids, tenant ids of public services, fixed schema/namespace ids. Add them to replaceGuids.excludedGuids and they survive the scrub.

Settings UI: Settings → Extensions → Replace GUIDs → Excluded Guids → Add Item. Or edit settings.json directly to paste a batch:

"replaceGuids.excludedGuids": [
    "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
    "b24988ac-6180-42a0-ab88-20f7382dd24c", // Azure Contributor role
    "{8e3af657-a8ff-443c-a75c-2fe8c4bcb635}" // braces are fine
]

Matching ignores case and optional {} braces, so a GUID only needs to be listed once no matter how it is formatted in your files. The notification reports how many GUIDs were kept because of this list.

Building the VSIX from Github source

cd replace-guids-extension
npx --yes @vscode/vsce package

Installing the VSIX from Github source

code --install-extension replace-guids.vsix

Or in VS Code: Extensions view → ... menu → Install from VSIX...

Requirements

VS Code ^1.85.0.

License

MIT