Migrating from GAMS Studio

If you are coming from GAMS Studio, welcome! GAMS-IDE in VS Code offers a different but powerful experience.

Terminology Mapping

GAMS Studio Feature	VS Code / GAMS-IDE Equivalent
Project (.gpr)	Workspace (Folder or .code-workspace file)
Project Settings	Workspace Settings (.vscode/settings.json)
Main File	Main GMS File setting
Reference Viewer	GAMS References Sidebar
GDX Viewer	GAMS Data Panel (integrated) or external tools
Process Log	Terminal / Output Panel

Detailed Differences

Projects vs Workspaces

In Studio, you create a Project file (.gpr). In VS Code, you simply open a folder.

• Best Practice: Create a .vscode folder in your project root to store settings (like mainGmsFile) that you want to share with your team.

Library & Model Library

• GAMS Studio: Has a built-in library browser.
• GAMS-IDE: Currently does not have a built-in Model Library browser. You can download library models using the command line gamslib or testlib in the VS Code terminal.

Editing

VS Code is a general-purpose editor, so you gain:

• Superior Find/Replace (Regex support).
• Multi-cursor editing (Alt+Click).
• Git integration built-in.
• Copilot / AI coding assistants.