Launch catalog / Playbook
Visual Studio Marketplace
marketplace.visualstudio.com ↗
Free route directory
Researched from public pages — no submission was run · sources read 2026-09-25. Rules change — recheck the platform's own pages before submitting.
Requirements
- A built VS Code extension (or an item publishable via vsce)
- A publisher identity on the Visual Studio Marketplace, backed by Azure DevOps
- Extension icon in package.json cannot be SVG; badge images must come from trusted badge providers; README/CHANGELOG images must be HTTPS and non-SVG (except trusted badges)
- Publishing is free — vsce (npm i -g @vscode/vsce) handles packaging/publishing
Prepare before opening the form
- Node.js + vsce CLI (npm install -g @vscode/vsce)
- Azure DevOps organization + a registered publisher ID
- Authentication: global Personal Access Tokens in Azure DevOps are retired December 1, 2026 — set up Microsoft Entra ID workload identity federation / managed identity ('vsce publish --azure-credential') or a PAT until retirement
- Extension package.json with icon, categories, README, CHANGELOG
Workflow
- Develop and test the extension; verify package.json metadata (icon non-SVG, https image URLs)
- Create an Azure DevOps organization and register a publisher on the Marketplace
- Package with 'vsce package' to produce the .vsix
- Publish with 'vsce publish' (or via CI using managed identity per the docs' sample YAML)
- Confirm the extension page is live on marketplace.visualstudio.com and installable in VS Code
Watch for
- PAT-based publishing dies Dec 1, 2026 — pipelines need the Entra ID managed-identity setup (8 documented steps: service connection, managed identity, federated credentials, pipeline access, resource ID, marketplace authorization, CI config, publish)
- vsce refuses extensions containing user-provided SVGs — audit icon and badge URLs before publishing
- README images must resolve over https at publish time or packaging fails
- Unpublishing ('vsce unpublish') exists but is discouraged for mature extensions — prefer deprecating versions
What counts as live
The extension has a public page at marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=<publisher>.<name> and installs via the VS Code Extensions view
Not verified
- Whether there is human review for new publishers/extensions (the doc describes automated packaging checks, not a review SLA)
- Whether the marketplace listing backlink to the project site is dofollow