Isolated development environment | VS Code Profile Selector

[demnaty-dev]

The idea I want to deliver is that while I appreciate VS Code for its lightweight and customizable nature, a drawback arises when working on multiple project types. Each project type requires specific plugins and configurations, leading to clutter and the need to constantly adjust settings when switching between projects. This can disrupt workflow and diminish the sense of control and cleanliness that initially attracted me to VS Code.

I would appreciate it if, before starting VS Code, it prompted me to select a profile. Each profile, such as 'Angular environment' or 'Flutter environment', is created and customized by me and includes specific extensions (which me who download those extension). This means that if I open VS Code with the 'Angular environment' profile selected, I would only see the extensions that I installed while using this profile. Similarly, if I specify that JSON files should be formatted by extension A, it should remain consistent only for the profile where I set this preference. In other words, each profile has an isolated environment where my extensions, preferences, and VS Code theme should exist solely within that environment and not affect other profiles as if they never existed.

I can create a new profile named 'Flutter environment,' which starts with a welcome page to set themes and necessary extensions. Similar to when you install VS Code on a new machine, this VS Code environment profile can be shared from trusted individuals.

If I select the 'React environment' profile, I would only see the extensions installed for that environment, and any extensions installed while using the 'Angular environment' profile would not be present.

project called EXEMPLE123 I can open it with profile 'Angular environment 1' or 'Angular environment 2' or 'Web environment 1', by this I ensure the VS code it run only we needed extensions and pre-configured preference.

docker (><) VS code.

[demnaty-dev]

I'm not sure if this idea is good, but I decided to share it anyway. I hope this idea garners support from the VS Code community and is taken into consideration because the mentioned drawbacks can be quite annoying.

[alefragnani]

Hi @demnaty-dev ,

Besides the recommended profile feature you proposed, the isolated characteristic of settings and extension list is already built in on the Profiles feature (https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/profiles). So, you can have separate settings, themes and extensions for each Profile you create.

I did a quick look in VS Code repo and didn't find any open request about a recommended profile feature. The closer I found was microsoft/vscode#164251, but it was closed because it was still on the early stages of the Profiles development. That begin said, I would suggest you to open a new feature request in the VS Code repo (https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/new?assignees=&labels=&projects=&template=feature_request.md), describing your idea, so the team could take a look and evaluate it properly.

By the way, for future feature requests about VS Code usage, please use the VS Code repository instead (https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/new/choose). This Discussions repo is focused for extension development for now.

Hope this helps.

[demnaty-dev]

Hi @alefragnani,

Thank you so much for your thorough response and guidance! I really appreciate you taking the time to explain the existing features of VS Code, particularly the Profiles feature. I'll definitely give it a try and see if it aligns with the intended idea I posted. If it doesn't quite match up or meet the needs, I'll take your advice and open a new feature request using the suggested link.

Thanks again for your help!