Setup configuration for required Extension in Visual Studio Project

Question

While working on Visual Studio for any projects which has any dependent packages from nuget as long as those are in packages.config file and checked-in source control, whenever other developer gets the code and try to build in Visual Studio it will download all the necessary dependent packages. I was curious if there was something already available in VS, if the project required specific extension from Visual Studio marketplace and it can be added in some sort of config file for the project source code, so that when the new developer gets the code, it downloads the necessary extension. e.g. Let's say if there was solution file with SSRS project, for this to work, one needs to have 'Microsoft Reporting Services' extension installed ahead of time otherwise the report project won't load. If the new developer tries to use the project for the first time, the developer might not have all the necessary extension installed and might have to go through bunch of hassle to find the right extension from marketplace. If this information can be saved in some sort of configuration file, it will end up saving time for new developer.

Answer 1

Hello @Sanjeev ,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

It’s not available in VS currently, I’m afraid. Developers still need to install necessary extensions manually. But it’s a good suggestion, and I have reported it. Here's the thread link. Please kindly follow up that thread.

Feel free to let us know if you have any other concerns, and thanks for helping us make Visual Studio better.

Best Regards,
Tianyu

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Answer 2

@Tianyu Sun-MSFT looks like both of us posted in Developer Community :) Here is mine: https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/t/extensionsconfig-similar-to-packagesco/10242058?q=extensions.config