My list of Microsoft Visual Code Studio Extensions

I have been a huge fan of Microsoft Visual Code Studio since it was introduced to me about a year ago and has been my default editor of choice (outside of vi for quick edits and even Code has a vi extension which I had used for awhile but it had some quirks). Last week I had shared on Twitter a screenshot of all the extensions I personally use, since this was something I get asked about from time to time.

I had received a lot of positive feedback and I even learned about a few new extensions from a few folks. I figure I would provide the list of plugins I use as text which can then easily be searched directly in Code or via the Visual Studio Marketplace. Code itself supports a number of command-line options, including extension management and so I used the following command to generate the list of extensions I am currently using:

code --list-extensions

• CoenraadS.bracket-pair-colorizer
• DavidAnson.vscode-markdownlint
• HookyQR.beautify
• Kipters.codeshell
• PKief.material-icon-theme
• ban.spellright
• eamodio.gitlens
• formulahendry.code-runner
• gerane.Theme-Dark-Dracula
• himanoa.Python-autopep8
• humao.rest-client
• ipedrazas.kubernetes-snippets
• johnpapa.vscode-peacock
• mauve.terraform
• ms-azuretools.vscode-docker
• ms-kubernetes-tools.vscode-kubernetes-tools
• ms-python.python
• ms-vscode.powershell
• ms-vscode.powershell-preview
• oderwat.indent-rainbow
• pajdziu.trailingwhitespacehighlighter
• redhat.vscode-yaml
• remcoros.startanyshell
• ryu1kn.partial-diff
• streetsidesoftware.code-spell-checker
• waderyan.gitblame

You could even install or remove extensions via the command-line, which could be handy for automating the setup up new workstations for your administrators or developers.

UPDATE (05/10/20) - I was installing a couple of new VS Code plugins today and after switching to my work laptop, I realized my plugins had not been syncing for quite some time now 🙁 I also just learned VS Code Insiders edition just introduced a native sync feature which also supports plugins! You can connect using either your Microsoft or Github account. The latter is perfect for me, especially as I was using private Gist. I am going to give this version a try and see how it fairs over time.

One extension that I highly recommend is Settings Sync, which enables you to easily synchronize all settings (custom keymaps. customizations, etc) as well extensions that you have installed, across all your different systems. This is done by using Github's Gist, so you will need to have a Github account and then follow the simple instructions on creating an access token with just the Gist privilege. You no longer have to worry about having different plugins or configuration when you use a new system, especially for those of us who have both a personal and work computer that you frequently switch between. If there are other plugins that folks have also found useful, feel free to share by leaving a comment below.