Visual Studio Extensions

MSDN / Tutorials / Visual Studio / Extensions / Publishing to Marketplace
Table of Contents

Overview

Publishing a Visual Studio extension to the Marketplace allows millions of developers to discover, install, and rate your tool. This tutorial walks you through creating a publisher profile, packaging your extension, publishing it, and maintaining your listing.

Prerequisites

Step 1 – Create a Publisher

A publisher represents the organization or individual that owns the extension.

  1. Navigate to the Marketplace Management Portal.
  2. Click New Publisher and fill in:
    • Publisher name – unique identifier (e.g., mycompany).
    • Display name – shown to users.
    • Publisher profile – optional logo and description.
  3. Save. The portal will provide a Personal Access Token (PAT) for publishing via the CLI.
/* Example of generating a PAT in the portal */

Step 2 – Package Your Extension

Ensure your package.json and vss-extension.json are correctly configured.

{
    "name": "my-sample-extension",
    "publisher": "mycompany",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "targets": [{ "id": "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Services" }],
    "categories": ["Coding"],
    "icon": "images/icon.png",
    "files": [
        { "path": "README.md" },
        { "path": "bin/Debug/**" }
    ]
}

Run the VSCE packaging command:

vsce package

The command creates my-sample-extension-1.0.0.vsix in the current directory.

Step 3 – Publish the VSIX

Use the PAT from Step 1 to upload the package.

vsce publish --pat YOUR_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN

Once the command succeeds, the extension appears in your publisher's list and is searchable in the Marketplace.

Step 4 – Manage the Marketplace Listing

After publishing, you can edit the public listing:

  1. Open the Marketplace Management Portal.
  2. Select your extension and fill out:
    • Title, description, and marketing images.
    • Installation instructions.
    • Pricing (free or paid).
  3. Save changes and optionally submit for Microsoft verification if you want a “Verified Publisher” badge.

FAQ

Additional Resources