Add syntax highlighting for project symbol search #188

da-r-k · 2026-02-09T09:25:45Z

Summary

Implements label_for_symbol to provide syntax-highlighted labels in the project symbol picker (cmd-t). Currently, Java symbols appear as plain grey text with no highlighting, unlike Rust and other languages that already implement this.

Ref: zed-industries/zed#36383, zed-industries/zed#37176

Changes

Add label_for_symbol to the Extension for Java impl
Import Symbol and SymbolKind from the extension API
Generate Tree-sitter-parseable code snippets for each symbol kind so the Java grammar produces correct AST nodes and syntax highlighting
Wrap member-level constructs (methods, fields, constructors) inside class _ { } since Java's Tree-sitter grammar requires class context for these declarations
Display symbols in Java declaration order (type before name): void doWork(String, int), String fieldName
Show keyword prefixes for type declarations: class, interface, enum, package

Supported symbol kinds

Kind	Display example	Tree-sitter context
Class	`class MyClass`	`class MyClass {}`
Interface	`interface Runnable`	`interface Runnable {}`
Enum	`enum Status`	`enum Status {}`
Constructor	`MyClass(String, int)`	`class MyClass { MyClass() {} }`
Method	`void doWork(String, int)`	`class _ { void doWork() {} }`
Field	`String name`	`class _ { String name; }`
Constant	`MAX_SIZE`	`class _ { static final int MAX_SIZE; }`
EnumMember	`ACTIVE`	`enum _ { ACTIVE }`
Variable	`count`	`class _ { int count; }`
Package	`package com.example`	`package com.example;`

Screenshot:

Implement `label_for_symbol` to provide syntax-highlighted labels in the project symbol picker (cmd-t). Without this, Java symbols appear as plain grey text. Each symbol kind generates a Tree-sitter-parseable code snippet wrapped in the appropriate context (e.g. methods/fields inside `class _ { }`) so the Java grammar can produce correct AST nodes for highlighting. Supported symbols: - Class, Interface, Enum: keyword prefix + name - Method/Function: return type + name + params (Java declaration order) - Constructor: name + params - Field/Property: type + name (Java declaration order) - Constant, EnumMember, Variable: highlighted name - Package/Module/Namespace: keyword prefix + name Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

cla-bot · 2026-02-09T09:25:49Z

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da-r-k · 2026-02-09T09:27:11Z

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cla-bot · 2026-02-09T09:27:16Z

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da-r-k · 2026-02-09T09:29:33Z

@cla-bot check

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tartarughina · 2026-02-09T15:24:26Z

Thanks for the PR.

Please format the code with

cargo fmt --all

and push another commit

tartarughina · 2026-02-09T16:01:56Z

@da-r-k I've tried the extension but it doesn't seem to be working as intended.

For example, when searching for the symbol Media, see snippet below, I was just getting Media in the list without any of the additional information about it

@EqualsAndHashCode
public abstract class Media {

    public static final EmptyMedia EMPTY = new EmptyMedia();

}

Are these changes depending on a change to the grammar?

da-r-k · 2026-02-09T18:12:29Z

@tartarughina

Works for me as expected. The highlighting is based on the LSP response (SymbolKind). Could you check once if you built the correct branch?

tartarughina · 2026-02-09T18:43:30Z

@da-r-k@da-r-k, I’ve been using the wrong branch. I assumed gh would have retrieved the correct one, but apparently, it wasn’t the case.
I can now see the changes.

Is fuzzy search something that the LSP needs to support to be used or is it up to us to enable it?

da-r-k · 2026-02-09T19:22:53Z

@tartarughina Yes. JDTLS uses CamelCase fuzzy search. So if you search for EmpMe it would return EmptyMedia as one of the results. It works like the regex Emp*Me*

tartarughina · 2026-02-09T21:23:00Z

@da-r-k interesting, I didn't know that it was using CamelCase fuzzy. Since that might be new to a lot, do you mind adding a small entry in the README explaining how project symbol works?

The main points would be:

the LSP offers it
fuzzy search is available but it expects CamelCase queries

tartarughina · 2026-02-09T21:31:45Z

src/java.rs

+            SymbolKind::Class => {
+                // code: "class Name {}" → Tree-sitter: class_declaration
+                // display: "class Name"
+                let keyword = "class ";
+                let code = format!("{keyword}{name} {{}}");
+
+                Some(CodeLabel {
+                    spans: vec![CodeLabelSpan::code_range(0..keyword.len() + name.len())],
+                    filter_range: (keyword.len()..keyword.len() + name.len()).into(),
+                    code,
+                })
+            }
+            SymbolKind::Interface => {
+                let keyword = "interface ";
+                let code = format!("{keyword}{name} {{}}");
+
+                Some(CodeLabel {
+                    spans: vec![CodeLabelSpan::code_range(0..keyword.len() + name.len())],
+                    filter_range: (keyword.len()..keyword.len() + name.len()).into(),
+                    code,
+                })
+            }
+            SymbolKind::Enum => {
+                let keyword = "enum ";
+                let code = format!("{keyword}{name} {{}}");
+
+                Some(CodeLabel {
+                    spans: vec![CodeLabelSpan::code_range(0..keyword.len() + name.len())],
+                    filter_range: (keyword.len()..keyword.len() + name.len()).into(),
+                    code,
+                })


This code is pretty much the same if not for the keyword, cannot we simplify it removing repeated code?

tartarughina · 2026-02-09T21:37:29Z

src/java.rs

+                    })
+                } else {
+                    // No type info, just show the name
+                    let class_open = "class _ { int ";


Why does it default to int?

tartarughina · 2026-02-09T21:38:25Z

src/java.rs

+            }
+            SymbolKind::Constant => {
+                // Wrap in class; ALL_CAPS names get @constant from highlights.scm regex
+                let class_open = "class _ { static final int ";


Why using int?

tartarughina · 2026-02-09T21:38:46Z

src/java.rs

+                })
+            }
+            SymbolKind::Variable => {
+                let class_open = "class _ { int ";


Same comment as above regarding int usage

cla-bot bot added the cla-signed label Feb 9, 2026

style: formatted code with cargo fmt --all

195b59e

tartarughina reviewed Feb 9, 2026

View reviewed changes

src/java.rs

})

}

SymbolKind::Variable => {

let class_open = "class _ { int ";

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Same comment as above regarding int usage

Add syntax highlighting for project symbol search #188

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Add syntax highlighting for project symbol search #188

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Summary

Changes

Supported symbol kinds

Screenshot:

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da-r-k commented Feb 9, 2026 •

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