How to not surround text if I press `*`

I have the setting "editor.autoSurround": "languageDefined", in vscode.

I want to replace selected text instead of surrounding if I press *.

how can I do that?

I have tried:

{
    "key": "*",
    "command": "extension.multiCommand.execute",
    "args": {
        "sequence": [
        "editor.action.clipboardCutAction",  // Cut (delete) the selected text
        {
            "command": "type",
            "args": { "text": "*" }             // Insert the asterisk `*`
        }
        ]
    },
    "when": "editorTextFocus && editorHasSelection"   // Ensure this only happens when text is selected
}

But it is not working.

It seems it is quite difficult to override the autoSurround options of a language. Here is one way.

Download and install this extension I wrote: Custom Language Properties.

It allows you to change the line and block comment characters for a language but unfortunately vscode does not support modifying the autoSurround properties of a language via an extension.

Run this command from the extension from an open markdown file:
Custom Language Properties: Show language configuration for current editor

It will open the language-configuration.json file that is built-in to vscode for markdown files.

In that file you will see a "surroundingPairs" key and one of its values is

[ "*", "*" ]

You can comment that out, save the file and reload vscode. And then * will no longer surround the selection but will replace the selection as you want.

• If that language-configuration.json file is ever updated (or the builtin markdown language support is changed) that file might be overridden and the change you made lost. You would just have to make the simple change again.

Does this keybinding work for you:

{
  "key": "shift+8",
  "command": "type",
  "args": {
    "text": "*"
  },
  "when": "editorTextFocus && editorHasSelection"
}

I used shift+8 since on my keyboard that is an *.

I see from using the Toggle Keyboard Shortcuts Troubleshooting command that if you just use * as your "key" that it looks for a keybinding of shift+8 and can't find one - so just use shift+8 as the "key".