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owidowid/etl/.claude/skills/develop-vscode-extension/SKILL.md

develop-vscode-extension

Skill160 starsChanged 6 months agoMITView on GitHub

Develop, build, and test VSCode extensions in this repo. Use when editing extension source code, compiling TypeScript, packaging .vsix files, or installing extensions for testing.

We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent

1 rule. About 0 are common, 0 are distinctive, and 1 is very specific to this project.

  • ≈0

    Common · estimate

    Many files like this have a rule of this kind.

  • ≈0

    Distinctive · estimate

    This author's own choices. Worth a look.

  • 1

    Very specific

    Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.

  • Common
  • Distinctive
  • Very specific
  1. Very specific:

    Version conflicts: If the installed .vsix version matches, VSCode may cache.

    line 39

≈ “Common” is an estimate: at least 1 in 5 of the 308,232 skill files we read have a rule of the same kind, not the same words. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.

Keep what fits and drop the rest. Your version, ready for your agents.
Files
SKILL.md

VSCode Extension Development

Extension locations

Extensions live in vscode_extensions/<name>/. Each has:

  • src/extension.ts — main source code
  • dist/extension.js — compiled output (esbuild)
  • install/<name>-<version>.vsix — packaged extension
  • package.json — manifest with activation events, commands, config

Build & install workflow

CRITICAL: VSCode runs the installed .vsix from ~/.vscode/extensions/, NOT the dist/ in the repo. After every code change you MUST:

  1. Compile: cd vscode_extensions/<name> && npm run compile
  2. Package: npx @vscode/vsce package --out install/<name>-<version>.vsix
  3. Install: code --install-extension install/<name>-<version>.vsix --force
  4. Tell user to reload: Cmd+Shift+P → "Developer: Reload Window"

Verifying installed code

To check what code is actually running:

# Check installed extension has your changes
grep "some_unique_string" ~/.vscode/extensions/<publisher>.<name>-<version>/dist/extension.js

Common pitfalls

  • esbuild watch mode: npm run compile may start a watcher that blocks. This is fine for compilation but you still need to package + install.
  • Version conflicts: If the installed .vsix version matches, VSCode may cache. Use --force flag on install.

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