Git Extensions: Git Extensions is a graphical user interface for Git that allows you to control Git without using the commandline. Reported by Vanessa Flores 10 hours ago visual studio for mac. I am unable to add any extensions on Visual Studio Community 2017 for Mac. The option to add an extension is not in the Tools dropdown.
Microsoft’s Visual Studio has long been a heavyweight Windows-only development environment. But it has evolved over the years to support cross-platform, web, and mobile development, adding more and more features. For a giant, it moves fast, but it remains focused on building large-scale Windows applications for client PCs and for servers, whether on-premises or in the cloud.
That’s all very well for many developers, but there’s a substantial number of developers today using a new generation of programming editors to write web and microservices code. Tools like GitHub’s Atom epitomize this trend, along with MacOS-only tools that have spurred a shift that’s led to row after row of glowing Apple logos in the seats at technology conferences.
Visual Studio Code is the new standard for modern development
Microsoft’s response took some time, but the 2015 launch of Visual Studio Code, its first cross-platform development tool, quickly got rave reviews and, more important, a rapidly growing number of users—and not only on Windows.
Built using GitHub’s cross-platform Electron framework, Visual Studio Code is a full-featured development editor that supports a wide selection of languages and platforms, from the familiar C and C# to modern environments and languages like Go and Node.js, with parity between Windows, MacOS, and Linux releases.
Visual Studio Code quickly became a standard part of my personal device setup, replacing Notepad as my default text editor, and its now one of the first tools I install on a new PC. With its support for IntelliSense code highlighting, it’s also now my standard code viewer for web content, and it’s where I build and test JSON and JavaScript, for working with microservices and for configuring containers.
Visual Studio Code has even added support for a command-line terminal, including the Windows Linux Subsystem, so you can use it to build and test Unix apps without having to leave your PC. With Visual Studio Code and tools like Deis’s Draft you can download and install the Seneca microservices framework, write a Node.js app, wrap it in a Docker container, and deploy it to Azure without having to leave your editor.
Setting up Visual Studio Code
That’s Visual Studio Code’s main strength: bringing together all the tools you’re likely to need in a JavaScript-powered extensible framework, making it easy for third parties to quickly add their own extensions to the editor. Microsoft has an online marketplace that hosts plug-ins, adding language support, and providing links to continuous integration and source control services, as well as customizing Visual Studio Code’s UI with tweaks to support coding standards and test.
A free download, Visual Studio Code is one of those tools that crosses the boundaries between structured development environment and freeform text editor. If you add Markdown support, it’s where you write your documentation. With Git and other source control integration and debugging options, it’s also where you build, manage, and test your code. Getting set up is easy, and new features are added every month with an auto-update to the latest version. (There’s a nightly build option if you want to run development releases.)
The initial download is only the bare-bones: a basic editor with support for a handful of technologies: JavaScript, TypeScript, and Node.js. That’s enough for most basic web development, along with its code completion, management, and refactoring tools, and support for Git. (However, Microsoft does recommend that one of the first things you install is Node.js.) There’s also a terminal that to handle deployment and tests, without leaving your code. Usefully, Visual Studeo Code always reopens in the state it was in when you closed it, making it easy to pick up and carry on without losing too much focus.
Visual Studio Code’s look and feel is familiar from generations of IDEs, an explorer pane on the left exposes your current project, and a main pane hosts your open documents as tabs. Underneath that is a console panel that displays debugging information or hosts the built-in terminal. Projects can be as simple as a directory or as complex as .Net’s Visual Studio solution files, with support for other common project-packaging formats.
But the real advantage of Visual Studio Code is its extensibility. Want to use it develop in Go, C#, Python, or even Salesforce? All you need to do is download the appropriate extension and get to work. Other extensions offer additional debugging tools, improve code hinting, tidy up your source code formatting, or the look and feel of the editor. And if the feature you want isn’t there, there are plenty of documented APIs to help you add it yourself—and share it through the Visual Studio Code marketplace.
Unlike the full Visual Studio, which is almost an entire development tool chain, Visual Studio Code is designed to fit into existing development processes and already-running tool chains. It’s a smart move on Microsoft’s part, because downloading and installing Visual Studio Code won’t break team and project methodologies that have been in place for years. Developers can move to Visual Studio Code from other tools, yet still use the same back ends and testing environments, and they can work against the same repositories and directories.
Visual Studio Code and PowerShell: Like peanut butter and jelly
If you’re not already using Visual Studio Code, it’s time to download it and get started. For one thing, it’s soon to become Microsoft’s preferred development environment for PowerShell, using the official PowerShell extension. With PowerShell now a cross-platform management scripting engine, having an IDE that works across Windows, Linux, and MacOS makes a lot more sense than a Windows-only development tool.
Visual Studio Code’s built-in terminal console gives it a similar feel to the PowerShell ISE (integrated script environment) it’s replacing, with a single, integrated, interactive development environment that includes debugging and script-analysis tools. Using an open source tool makes sense now that PowerShell itself has moved to an open source model, as has the PowerShell extension on GitHub.
If you’re using the PowerShell ISE, you’ll continue to find it in Windows. But it won’t be getting any more investment and, as PowerShell moves on, it’ll be left behind. With a more responsive development approach at Microsoft and support for third-party tools in the Visual Studio Code marketplace, a shift to a new platform makes a lot of sense. For you diehards, Visual Studio Code’s customization tools should let you skin it to look like the PowerShell ISE you love.
Visual Studio Code stands up well against an explosion of other programming editors, and it fits in well with modern development tool chains. With an ever-growing library of extensions, it’s also easy to quickly find the tools you need for the languages you want to use, and to add the development features you find most useful. You can even add Emacs-compatible key-bindings!
Increase the power of Visual Studio Code through Extensions
The features that Visual Studio Code includes out-of-the-box are just the start. VS Code extensions let you add languages, debuggers, and tools to your installation to support your development workflow. VS Code's rich extensibility model lets extension authors plug directly into the VS Code UI and contribute functionality through the same APIs used by VS Code. This topic explains how to find, install, and manage VS Code extensions.
Browse for extensions
You can browse and install extensions from within VS Code. Bring up the Extensions view by clicking on the Extensions icon in the Activity Bar on the side of VS Code or the View: Extensions command (⇧⌘X (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+X)).
This will show you a list of the most popular VS Code extensions on the VS Code Marketplace.
Each extension in the list includes a brief description, the publisher, the download count, and a five star rating. You can click on the extension item to display the extension's details page where you can learn more.
Note: If your computer's Internet access goes through a proxy server, you will need to configure the proxy server. See Proxy server support for details.
Install an extension
Click the Install button and after a successful install, you'll see a Reload button. Clicking on this will restart VS Code to enable the new extension.
Extension details
On the extension details page, you can read the extension's README as well as review the extension's:
- Contributions - The extension's additions to VS Code such as settings, commands and keyboard shortcuts, language grammars, debugger, etc.
- Changelog - The extension repository CHANGELOG if available.
- Dependencies - Lists if the extension depends on any other extensions.
If an extension is an Extension Pack, the Extension Pack section will display which extensions will be installed when you install the pack. Extension Packs bundle separate extensions together so they can be easily installed at one time.
Extensions view commands
You can run various Extensions view commands by clicking on the Extensions view's ...More Actions button.
There are commands to show:
- The list of currently installed extensions
- The list of outdated extensions that can be updated
- The list of currently enabled/disabled extensions
- The list of recommended extensions based on your workspace
- The list of globally popular extensions
You can sort the extension list by Install Count or Rating in either ascending or descending order. You can learn more about extension search filters below.
Search for an extension
You can clear the Search box at the top of the Extensions view and type in the name of the extension, tool, or programming language you're looking for.
For example, typing 'python' will bring up a list of Python language extensions:
If you know the exact identifier for an extension you're looking for, you can use the @id: prefix, for example @id:octref.vetur. Additionally, to filter or sort results, you can use the filter and sort commands, detailed below.
Manage extensions
VS Code makes it easy to manage your extensions. You can install, disable, update, and uninstall extensions through the Extensions view, the Command Palette (commands have the Extensions: prefix) or command-line switches.
List installed extensions
By default, the Extensions view will show the extensions you currently have enabled, all extensions that are recommended for you, and a collapsed view of all extensions you have disabled. You can use the Show Installed Extensions command, available in the Command Palette (⇧⌘P (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+P)) or the More Actions (...) drop-down menu, to clear any text in the search box and show the list of all installed extensions, which includes those that have been disabled.
Uninstall an extension
To uninstall an extension, click the gear button at the right of an extension entry and then choose Uninstall from the drop-down menu. This will uninstall the extension and prompt you to reload VS Code.
Disable an extension
If you don't want to permanently remove an extension, you can instead temporarily disable the extension by clicking the gear button at the right of an extension entry. You can disable an extension globally or just for your current Workspace. You will be prompted to reload VS Code after you disable an extension.
If you want to quickly disable all installed extensions, there is a Disable All Installed Extensions command in the Command Palette and More Actions (...) drop-down menu.
Extensions remain disabled for all VS Code sessions until you re-enable them.
Enable an extension
Similarly if you have disabled an extension (it will be in the Disabled section of the list and marked Disabled), you can re-enable it with the Enable or Enable (Workspace) commands in the drop-down menu.
There is also an Enable All Extensions command in the More Actions (...) drop-down menu.
Extension auto-update
VS Code checks for extension updates and installs them automatically. After an update, you will be prompted to reload VS Code. If you'd rather update your extensions manually, you can disable auto-update with the Disable Auto Updating Extensions command that sets the extensions.autoUpdatesetting to false. If you don't want VS Code to even check for updates, you can set the extensions.autoCheckUpdates setting to false.
Update an extension manually
If you have extensions auto-update disabled, you can quickly look for extension updates by using the Show Outdated Extensions command that uses the @outdated filter. This will display any available updates for your currently installed extensions. Click the Update button for the outdated extension and the update will be installed and you'll be prompted to reload VS Code. You can also update all your outdated extensions at one time with the Update All Extensions command. If you also have automatic checking for updates disabled, you can use the Check for Extension Updates command to check which of your extensions can be updated.
Recommended extensions
You can see a list of recommended extensions using Show Recommended Extensions, which sets the @recommendedfilter. Extension recommendations can either be:
- Workspace Recommendations - Recommended by other users of your current workspace.
- Other Recommendations - Recommended based on recently opened files.
See the section below to learn how to contribute recommendations for other users in your project.
Ignoring recommendations
To dismiss a recommendation, click on the extension item to open the Details pane and then press the Ignore Recommendation button. Ignored recommendations will no longer be recommended to you.
Configuring extensions
VS Code extensions may have very different configurations and requirements. Some extensions contribute settings to VS Code, which can be modified in the Settings editor. Other extensions may have their own configuration files. Extensions may also require installation and setup of additional components like compilers, debuggers, and command-line tools. Consult the extension's README (visible in the Extensions view details page) or go to the extension page on the VS Code Marketplace (click on the extension name in the details page). Many extensions are open source and have a link to their repository on their Marketplace page.
Command line extension management
Git Extension For Visual Studio
To make it easier to automate and configure VS Code, it is possible to list, install, and uninstall extensions from the command line. When identifying an extension, provide the full name of the form publisher.extension, for example ms-python.python.
Example:
You can see the extension ID on the extension details page next to the extension name.
Extensions view filters
The Extensions view search box supports filters to help you find and manage extensions. You may have seen filters such as @installed and @recommended if you used the commands Show Installed Extensions and Show Recommended Extensions. Also, there are filters available to let you sort by popularity or ratings and search by category (for example 'Linters') and tags (for example 'node'). You can see a complete listing of all filters and sort commands by typing @ in the extensions search box and navigating through the suggestions:
Here are the Extensions view filters:
@builtin- Show extensions that come with VS Code. Grouped by type (Programming Languages, Themes, etc.).@disabled- Show disabled installed extensions.@installed- Show installed extensions.@outdated- Show outdated installed extensions. A newer version is available on the Marketplace.@enabled- Show enabled installed extensions. Extensions can be individually enabled/disabled.@recommended- Show recommended extensions. Grouped as Workspace specific or general use.@category- Show extensions belonging to specified category. Below are a few of supported categories. For a complete list, type@categoryand follow the options in the suggestion list:@category:themes@category:formatters@category:linters@category:snippets
These filters can be combined as well. For example: Use @installed @category:themes to view all installed themes.
If no filter is provided, the Extensions view displays the currently installed and recommended extensions.
Sorting
You can sort extensions with the @sort filter, which can take the following values:
installs- Sort by Marketplace installation count, in descending order.rating- Sort by Marketplace rating (1-5 stars), in descending order.name- Sort alphabetically by extension name.
Categories and tags
Extensions can set Categories and Tags describing their features.
You can filter on category and tag by using category: and tag:.
Supported categories are: [Programming Languages, Snippets, Linters, Themes, Debuggers, Formatters, Keymaps, SCM Providers, Other, Extension Packs, Language Packs]. They can be accessed through IntelliSense in the extensions search box:
Note that you must surround the category name in quotes if it is more than one word (for example, category:'SCM Providers').
Tags may contain any string and are not provided by IntelliSense, so review the Marketplace to find helpful tags.
Install from a VSIX
You can manually install a VS Code extension packaged in a .vsix file. Using the Install from VSIX command in the Extensions view command drop-down, or the Extensions: Install from VSIX command in the Command Palette, point to the .vsix file.
You can also install using the VS Code --install-extension command-line switch providing the path to the .vsix file.
You may provide the --install-extension multiple times on the command line to install multiple extensions at once.
If you'd like to learn more about packaging and publishing extensions, see our Publishing Extensions topic in the Extension API.
Workspace recommended extensions
A good set of extensions can make working with a particular workspace or programming language more productive and you'd often like to share this list with your team or colleagues. You can create a recommended list of extensions for a workspace with the Extensions: Configure Recommended Extensions (Workspace) command.
In a single folder workspace, the command creates an extensions.json file located in the workspace .vscode folder where you can add a list of extensions identifiers ({publisherName}.{extensionName}).
In a multi-root workspace, the command will open your .code-workspace file where you can list extensions under extensions.recommendations. You can still add extension recommendations to individual folders in a multi-root workspace by using the Extensions: Configure Recommended Extensions (Workspace Folder) command.
An example extensions.json could be:
which recommends two linter extensions, TSLint and ESLint, as well as the Chrome debugger extension.
An extension is identified using its publisher name and extension identifier publisher.extension. You can see the name on the extension's detail page. VS Code will provide you with auto-completion for installed extensions inside these files.
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VS Code prompts a user to install the recommended extensions when a workspace is opened for the first time. The user can also review the list with the Extensions: Show Recommended Extensions command.
Next steps
Here are a few topics you may find interesting...
- Extension API - Start learning about the VS Code extension API.
- Your First Extension - Try creating a simple Hello World extension.
- Publishing to the Marketplace - Publish your own extension to the VS Code Marketplace.
Common questions
Where are extensions installed?
Github Extension For Visual Studio Mac Development
Extensions are installed in a per user extensions folder. Depending on your platform, the location is in the following folder:
- Windows
%USERPROFILE%.vscodeextensions - macOS
~/.vscode/extensions - Linux
~/.vscode/extensions
You can change the location by launching VS Code with the --extensions-dir <dir> command-line option.
Whenever I try to install any extension, I get a connect ETIMEDOUT error
You may see this error if your machine is going through a proxy server to access the Internet. See the Proxy server support section in the setup topic for details.
Can I download an extension directly from the Marketplace?
Some users prefer to download an extension once from the Marketplace and then install it multiple times from a local share. This is useful when there are connectivity concerns or if your development team wants to use a fixed set of extensions.
To download an extension, navigate to the details page for the specific extension within the Marketplace. On that page, there is a Download Extension link in the Resources section, which is located on the right-hand side of the page.
Once downloaded, you can then install the extension via the Install from VSIX command in the Extensions view command drop-down.
Can I stop VS Code from providing extension recommendations?
Yes, if you would prefer to not have VS Code display extension recommendations in the Extensions view or through notifications, you can modify the following settings:
extensions.showRecommendationsOnlyOnDemand- Set to true to remove the RECOMMENDED section.extensions.ignoreRecommendations- Set to true to silence extension recommendation notifications.
The Show Recommended Extensions command is always available if you wish to see recommendations.