Summary

Create

The quickest way to get up an running with a Hello World extension in VS Code without writing any code or reading the main docs.

1. Install Node.js.
2. Create a new project
   • Create an extension from scratch in a few steps - follow Start fresh steps.
   • Or click Use this template to add a copy of my template project your own repos.
3. Start the extension in debug mode and then use it- see Usage instructions. The extension is not installed globally yet.

Some recommended script commands.

{
  "scripts": {
    "watch": "tsc -watch -p .",
    "vscode:prepublish": "npm run compile",
    "build": "mkdir -p build && vsce package --out build/"
  }
}

Export

Here is how to export an extension and then install it globally, so you can use it.

1. Export your extension as a .vsix file using vsce.

    $ npm install --save-dev vsce
    $ mkdir -p build
    $ vsce package --out build/"
   

2. Install your extension globally in VS Code. With the path with a value like hello-world-0.1.0.vsix.

    $ code --install-extension VSIX_PATH
   

3. Restart VS Code.