Useful vscode extension patterns - Update Notification

Frederik Hudák — Sat, 30 May 2026 12:14:27 +0000

Basic problem - when you ship a new version, you want users to know and look at what's changed.

I will demonstrate a simple pattern you can reuse in your extension. The result is exactly this:

Don't wing it

Winging a notification on startup introduces two problems:

brand-new installs get a toast for software they just installed
the toast fires again on every window reload. your users will uninstall.

Proper solution

On activation, compare the running version against the last version you told the user about. The "last notified" version is persisted in globalState, which is shared across all windows and survives restarts.

stored == none     → fresh install   → store silently, never notify
stored == current  → reload/restart  → silent
current  > stored  → update          → store, notify if the bump clears the user's preference
current  < stored  → downgrade       → store, stay silent

We also introduce a user preference where they can set if they want to be notified about major/minor/patch versions.

Don't overcomplicate the changelog

It can and should be dead simple - you don't need a webview. Keep a CHANGELOG.md, bundle it with the extension, then have the "what's new" button open a preview.

const uri = vscode.Uri.joinPath(context.extensionUri, 'CHANGELOG.md');
await vscode.commands.executeCommand('markdown.showPreview', uri);

Side benefit

When your extension inevitably becomes compromised and the hackers publish a malicious new version for you, at least your users get a nice toast message.

I don't think they'll bother to add a changelog entry though.

Example code

Self-contained example extension can be found here:
https://github.com/FreHu/vscode-update-notification

The example was carved out from my larger extension, Fresh File Explorer

I have a few more up my sleeve and plan to turn this into a short series with similar self-contained examples.

Fresh File Explorer - vscode extension for navigating recent changes

Frederik Hudák — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 14:30:53 +0000

Do you have a large codebase where 98% of the files are not relevant at any given moment, but you have to scroll past them?

Maybe you use the SCM view to keep track, but after you make a commit, your context disappears?

That's my motivation behind making Fresh File Explorer — a VS Code extension that shows you a mix of your pending changes and recent history (x days ago, up to you), the way you'd see it in the file explorer.

A few highlights:

Multi-repo support.

Deleted files stay visible. You don't have to go through git history to find them again. Right-click → Resurrect to restore them in one step.

Search tools. Search scoped to only your fresh files. For not-so-fresh changes, there's Diff search (pickaxe), line/function history (git log -L), file history, and also searching inside search results.

Pinned section. Keep any file handy regardless of the time window. Readme on your desktop, a deleted file, or add short notes.

Grouping modes. Beyond the standard folder structure, you can group by author, commit, or moon phase.

Heatmap. Colorize files based on how recently they changed. This is not specific to the Fresh Files view and also works in the file explorer.

The extension currently has more features than users, so I'd appreciate your feedback.

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