To write extensions you have to install the extensibility workload. That’s technically all you need, but this set of documentation make use of the community driven extension called Extensibility Essentials. Each version of Visual Studio has its own version: Extensibility Essentials2019 or Extensibility Essentials2022.
Install extensibility workload
Open the Visual Studio Installer from Tools -> Get Tools and Features… top menu inside Visual Studio and make sure to install the Visual Studio extension development workload found toward the bottom.
Install Extensibility Essentials
Install the Extensibility Essentials by going to Extensions -> Manage Extensions and search for extensibility.
- For Visual Studio 2019 install Extensibility Essentials2019
- For Visual Studio 2022 install Extensibility Essentials2022
Install the Extensibility Template Pack
The recipes and walkthroughs in this cookbook use project and item templates from the Extensibility Template Pack. Install it from Extensions -> Manage Extensions and search for extensibility template.
- For Visual Studio 2019 install Extensibility Template Pack 2019
- For Visual Studio 2022 install Extensibility Template Pack 2022
These templates use the Community.VisualStudio.Toolkit NuGet package and give you ready-made project and item templates for commands, tool windows, options pages, and more.
That’s it, you are now ready to start developing your first extension.