Introduction

Welcome to ACoord — Atomic Coordinate Toolkit for VS Code.

ACoord is a powerful extension for visualizing and editing atomic, molecular, and crystal structures directly within Visual Studio Code.

What is ACoord?

ACoord provides:

• Interactive 3D visualization — Render atomic structures with full rotation, zoom, and pan controls
• Multi-format support — Open and save common molecular, crystallographic, and simulation formats
• Editing capabilities — Add, delete, move atoms; create and measure bonds; edit unit cells
• Trajectory visualization — Animate molecular dynamics trajectories from simulation output files
• Precise selection — Select individual atoms or use box selection for complex structures
• Customizable display — Color schemes, atom sizes, bond styles, and lighting controls

Quick Example

Open any supported structure file (e.g., .cif, .xyz, POSCAR) in VS Code, and ACoord will offer to open it in the 3D Structure Editor.

Supported File Formats

Format	Extensions	Description
XYZ	.xyz	Simple atomic coordinates
CIF	.cif	Crystallographic Information File
VASP	POSCAR, CONTCAR, .vasp	VASP input/output structures
VASP Trajectory	XDATCAR	VASP molecular dynamics trajectories
VASP Output	OUTCAR	VASP output with structure data
PDB	.pdb	Protein Data Bank format
Gaussian	.gjf, .com	Gaussian input files
ORCA	.inp	ORCA input files
Quantum ESPRESSO	.in, .pwi, .out, .pwo, .log	QE input and output files
ABACUS	.stru	ABACUS STRU format
OpenMX	.dat	OpenMX input files
ACoord Native	.acoord	Native format with full metadata

Next Steps

• Getting Started — Install and open your first structure
• Installation — Detailed installation instructions
• File Formats — Complete format reference