package

name	package
description	Guide for increasing the version and packaging a VSIX extension, used when creating a new package release

Plus One Publish

Increment the extension version and create a VSIX package.

Steps

1. Read the current version from package.json
2. Increment the patch version by 0.0.1 (e.g., 0.1.4 → 0.1.5)
3. Update package.json with the new version
4. Create the .vsix folder if it doesn't exist
5. Generate release notes from commits since the last version tag
6. Run vsce package to create the VSIX file in the .vsix folder
7. Commit the version bump and create a version tag

Commands

# Ensure .vsix folder exists
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path ".vsix"

# Get the previous version tag (format: v0.1.4)
$previousTag = git describe --tags --abbrev=0 2>$null

# Generate release notes from commits since last tag
if ($previousTag) {
    $commits = git log "$previousTag..HEAD" --pretty=format:"- %s" --no-merges
} else {
    $commits = git log --pretty=format:"- %s" --no-merges
}

# Save release notes to .vsix folder
$version = (Get-Content package.json | ConvertFrom-Json).version
$releaseNotesPath = ".vsix/RELEASE_NOTES_$version.md"
@"
# Release Notes - v$version

## Changes

$commits
"@ | Out-File -FilePath $releaseNotesPath -Encoding utf8

Write-Host "Release notes saved to $releaseNotesPath"

# Package the extension into .vsix folder
vsce package -o .vsix/

# Commit version bump and tag the release
git add package.json
git commit -m "Bump version to $version"
git tag -a "v$version" -m "Release v$version"

Write-Host "Created tag v$version - push with: git push origin main --tags"

Notes

• Requires @vscode/vsce to be installed (npm install -g @vscode/vsce)
• The VSIX file will be named markco-<version>.vsix
• Commit the version bump before publishing