Auto suggest vscode plugins for your team through the settings in your repo.

A less known feature is the ability to suggest what plugins should be installed to best work with your repo, by by using the extensions.json file in the /.vscode folder.

{
  "recommendations": [
    "dbaeumer.vscode-eslint",
    "esbenp.prettier-vscode",
    "mikestead.dotenv",
    "hediet.vscode-drawio",
    "github.vscode-github-actions",
    "github.vscode-pull-request-github",
    "hashicorp.terraform",
    "firsttris.vscode-jest-runner",
    "github.copilot-chat",
    "yoavbls.pretty-ts-errors",
    "prisma.prisma",
    "bradlc.vscode-tailwindcss",
    "orta.vscode-jest"
  ]
}

This works particular well for full stack web development by including tools such as eslint, prettier, prisma, jest, and even terraform.

It can also be a not so subtle hint to the engineers on your team that they should also try some tools such as GitHub.

Adding a Plugin

You can add the plugin directly into the extensions.json file, but there is an even easier way. If you go to your extensions and click on the cog next to one of them, there is the option to add work workspace recommendations.

Removing the Plugin

It works the same as above, you just have the option to remove it instead.

What happens next

When someone clones your repo and opens it up in vscode, they will be prompted to install the plugins that are on the recommendation list and they are missing.