Open Pawn — Cross-platform Pawn compiler & tools for VS Code (no Wine on macOS)
Open Pawn is a VS Code extension for SA-MP / open.mp Pawn development that bundles a native pawncc compiler for all three desktop platforms, allowing gamemodes to be compiled directly from the editor with no extra setup and no Wine/CrossOver on macOS.
Background
On Apple Silicon Macs there was no clean way to compile: the official pawn-lang macOS release ships a 32-bit i386 binary that cannot run on modern macOS, so the common workaround was running the Windows pawncc.exe under Wine. Wine is not actually required — building pawncc natively (with the default 32-bit cells) produces output the open.mp server accepts (AMX magic 0xF1E0). This extension bundles that native compiler for each OS.
Features
How it compares
vs the existing Pawn Development Tool extension:
Both can coexist, but running them together may produce duplicate autocomplete/hovers — Open Pawn will offer to help disable the other.
Platform support
Install(Also works in Cursor / VSCodium via Open VSX.)
Source & issues
github.com/Mac-Andreas/vscode-open-pawn — MIT licensed. Bug reports and pull requests welcome.
This is an early (0.1) release. The compiler pipeline is tested on all three platforms and verified against a real open.mp server; feedback is welcome, particularly from Windows and Linux users.
Open Pawn is a VS Code extension for SA-MP / open.mp Pawn development that bundles a native pawncc compiler for all three desktop platforms, allowing gamemodes to be compiled directly from the editor with no extra setup and no Wine/CrossOver on macOS.
Background
On Apple Silicon Macs there was no clean way to compile: the official pawn-lang macOS release ships a 32-bit i386 binary that cannot run on modern macOS, so the common workaround was running the Windows pawncc.exe under Wine. Wine is not actually required — building pawncc natively (with the default 32-bit cells) produces output the open.mp server accepts (AMX magic 0xF1E0). This extension bundles that native compiler for each OS.
Features
- Native pawncc bundled — Windows x64, macOS (Apple Silicon), and Linux x64. All verified producing open.mp-compatible AMX.
- Compile workflow — compile command, Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+B build task, compile-on-save, errors/warnings in the Problems panel.
- IntelliSense — autocomplete, hovers, signature help, go-to-definition, document/workspace symbols (indexed live from .inc / .pwn files).
- Syntax highlighting — Pawno-equivalent colours, including format placeholders and tags.
- Snippets — common callbacks and constructs (OnPlayerConnect, command handlers, dialogs, enum+data arrays, timers, etc.).
- Folding & a dependency-free formatter — no astyle WASM, so none of the extension-host crashes that affected other formatters.
- Smart compiler discovery — finds pawncc in qawno/, pawno/, on PATH, or uses the bundled one; legacy SA-MP layouts work out of the box. Falls back to a Wine wrapper only if desired.
How it compares
vs the existing Pawn Development Tool extension:
| Feature | Pawn Development Tool | Open Pawn |
| Syntax highlighting | Yes | Yes |
| Snippets | Yes | Yes |
| Autocomplete / IntelliSense | Yes | Yes |
| Hover / Go-to-definition | Yes | Yes |
| Document / workspace symbols | Yes | Yes |
| Code folding | Yes | Yes |
| Document formatter | Yes (astyle WASM) | Yes (dependency-free, no host crashes) |
| Build task → pawncc | Yes | Yes |
| Problems-panel diagnostics | Partial | Yes |
| Bundles a compiler | No (bring your own) | Yes — Windows / macOS / Linux |
| Native macOS (no Wine) | No | Yes |
Both can coexist, but running them together may produce duplicate autocomplete/hovers — Open Pawn will offer to help disable the other.
Platform support
- Windows 10/11 (x64) — pawncc.exe runs natively, works out of the box.
- macOS Apple Silicon — native pawncc bundled, no Wine.
- Linux x64 — native pawncc bundled.
- Intel Mac — build once with the included script.
Install
- Microsoft Marketplace
- Search "Open Pawn" in the VS Code Extensions panel
- or:
Code:
code --install-extension Mac-Andreas.open-pawnSource & issues
github.com/Mac-Andreas/vscode-open-pawn — MIT licensed. Bug reports and pull requests welcome.
This is an early (0.1) release. The compiler pipeline is tested on all three platforms and verified against a real open.mp server; feedback is welcome, particularly from Windows and Linux users.