How can I trigger the hover info widget in VS Code using commands or a keyboard shortcut?

Question

How to trigger a popup with documentation for identifier under the cursor?

Normally it appears when hovering the identifier using the mouse pointer:

I would like to achieve this effect using a command or keyboard shortcut.

The only related commands I found are: trigger completion (which doesn't show the function doc) and trigger parameters hint (which only works when the cursor is inside function call - parameters list).

Answer 1

This is the editor.action.showHover command. It is bound to cmdk cmdi by default.

Note: Shortcut works by holding down the cmd [ctrl in windows], then while holding press k then i

You can change the keyboard shortcut with a keybinding such as:

{
    "key": "cmd+k ctrl+space",
    "command": "editor.action.showHover",
    "when": "editorTextFocus"
}

Answer 2

The default shortcut for Trigger Parameter Hints is Ctrl+Shift+Space

Answer 3

You also have, with VSCode 1.40 (Oct. 2019):

Definition Preview Hover from the keyboard

There is a new command Show Definition Preview Hover for better accessibility of the definition preview hover widget, which can be triggered by hovering a symbol with the mouse and pressing a modifier key dependent on the platform and configuration.

Previously, only the command Show Hover was provided, which is equivalent to hovering the mouse cursor over a symbol.
Now, with Show Definition Preview Hover, the detailed hover information can be shown via the keyboard.

Answer 4

To make this more graphic, check these steps:

Answer 5

In Visual Studio 2019 for Mac, I couldn't find anything about "hover" in the Key Bindings setting. The relevant command seems to be called "Show quick info" and is bound by default to Cmd + F1.

I know this question is about VSCode but I could only find this question when trying to search for an answer. Therefore I would also like to leave the information here in case somebody finds it useful.

Answer 6

There are multiple ways to trigger the documentation popup:

First: Using shortcut ctrl + space

Second: Using vscode extension:

Here is the documentation:

Answer 7

Each answer here demonstrates a different function. Below is a consolidation of every type of helpful popup, the context in which they come up and all the ways I know to trigger them.

These assume default settings.

Function: Display documentation

Shortcut: Ctrlk Ctrli

Scope: Works over named elements - variable and function names (does nothing over literals).

• Can display function documentation:
• or variable or even property information:
• This is the same pop-up you get when you hover over the element briefly.

---

Function: Display parameter hints.

Shortcut: CtrlShiftSpace

Scope: Works inside a function call.

• The cursor must be inside the parenthesis that contain the passed arguments. Does nothing outside that scope.
• Can also be triggered by typing a comma, as if passing another argument.
• Up/Down arrows can be used to cycle through overloaded definitions (instead of moving the cursor up and down the document).

---

Function: Display the code completion menu

Shortcut: CtrlSpace

Scope: Anywhere. Will adapt to the context. In strings will display words only. In code will offer symbol hints - function names, variable names within the current scope, known properties, etc.

• Is case insensitive.
• Matches all contained characters - they do not have to be consecutive (see image above).
• Tab or Enter accepts the currently selected suggestion.
• Symbol hints can be triggered by just typing letters. Inside strings you must use the keyboard shortcut.