Multi-version targeting

The Community Visual Studio Toolkit ships as several NuGet packages, each targeting a different minimum Visual Studio version. Picking the right one determines which versions of Visual Studio can run your extension.

Available packages

Note: Visual Studio 2026 continues to use the 17.x version line, so the .17 package covers both VS 2022 and VS 2026.

Recommendation: If you only need to support Visual Studio 2022 and later, use Community.VisualStudio.Toolkit.17. It provides the cleanest experience and access to the latest APIs.

Choosing your target

Ask yourself: What is the oldest version of Visual Studio my users need?

• VS 2022 / 2026 only - Use the .17 package. Both VS 2022 and VS 2026 share the 17.x version line and are 64-bit.
• VS 2019 + 2022 + 2026 - Use the .16 package. Your extension will work in all three, but you won’t have access to VS 2022-only APIs.
• VS 2017 and later - Use the .15 package.
• VS 2015 and later - Use the .14 package.

Install the package

Install the package matching your target:

dotnet add package Community.VisualStudio.Toolkit.17

Or via the NuGet Package Manager in Visual Studio, search for Community.VisualStudio.Toolkit and pick the version matching your target.

VSSDK version alignment

Your Microsoft.VSSDK.BuildTools and Microsoft.VisualStudio.SDK package versions should match the Visual Studio version you’re targeting:

Make sure your .vsixmanifest declares the correct InstallationTarget version range:

<Installation>
  <InstallationTarget Id="Microsoft.VisualStudio.Community"
                      Version="[17.0, 18.0)" />
</Installation>

Supporting both VS 2019 and VS 2022

VS 2022 moved to 64-bit, which means a single .vsix cannot target both VS 2019 (32-bit) and VS 2022 (64-bit). If you need to support both:

1. Use the .16 toolkit package.
2. Create two VSIX projects in your solution - one for VS 2019, one for VS 2022.
3. Share code via a shared project or class library.
4. Each VSIX project references the appropriate Microsoft.VisualStudio.SDK version.
5. Publish them as separate extensions on the Marketplace, or use the same extension ID with different version ranges in the .vsixmanifest.

API differences between versions

Most toolkit APIs work identically across all versions. However, some features are only available in newer packages:

• The .17 package can use APIs introduced in VS 2022 (e.g., newer editor APIs).
• The .14/.15/.16 packages are limited to APIs available in those older VS versions.

The toolkit uses #if directives internally to handle version differences, so you generally don’t need to worry about it - just choose your minimum version and the toolkit handles the rest.

Additional resources

• Get the tools - setting up your development environment
• Your first extension - creating a new extension project