IdeaSift

Developers struggle to tune editor spacing and visual density

Developers using VS Code and other editors want finer control over code spacing and the surrounding interface, including line height, indentation width, gutter space, and overall UI density. Personal readability and screen-space preferences can conflict with project formatting rules, and at least one user resorted to editing VS Code's installed CSS. These older, mostly narrow requests show real friction, but do not by themselves establish a large or current paid market.

For developers customizing their code editors. Mentioned from Mar 2013 to Dec 2022 on GitHub.

6 different people described this problem in 5 separate discussions.

Week of 2026-07-13: 0Week of 2026-07-20: 0Week of 2026-07-27: 0Week of 2026-08-03: 0Week of 2026-08-10: 0Week of 2026-08-17: 0Week of 2026-08-24: 0Week of 2026-08-31: 0Week of 2026-09-07: 0Week of 2026-09-14: 0Week of 2026-09-21: 0Week of 2026-09-28: 0
0 mentions in the last 12 weeks
Indie fit
4.0/10
Pain
4.0/10
Frequency
7.0/10
Willingness to pay
0.0/10
Momentum
5.0/10
Who pays
Professionals
Competition
Medium
Build difficulty
Medium

What people said

Quoted word for word. Follow a link to read the whole discussion.

  1. I'd like to have those 50 pixels available for useful space please. No need for empty, unused space. 😅 😜 In fact, it would be great if there was a "Concise Theme" or "Space Minimalism Theme" that removed as much empty space as possible across Tabs in the editor & terminal, the left & right-side gutters, etc
    pmeaney on GitHub (microsoft/vscode)Mar 2022Asked for a toolHas a workaround
  2. This feedback spans specific usability concerns like the activity bar being hard to understand without labels as well as broad feedback like the UI feeling overall cramped and harder to interact with given the close proximity of buttons and other elements
    daviddossett on GitHub (microsoft/vscode)Dec 2022+46 upvotesAsked for a tool
Build brief

See what to build and who will buy it

  • 1 product idea with the smallest useful version and pricing
  • 4 places to find your first customers
  • 4 more quotes from people who have this problem
  • Current workarounds, existing solutions and risks