1. Scaffold the project

We start from an empty extension and grow it. The minimal preset gives us a clean slate — no sample panel to delete later.

Run it

vsceasy create \
  --name todo-demo \
  --displayName "Todo Demo" \
  --description "A todo list built with vsceasy" \
  --publisher demo \
  --ui react \
  --preset minimal

Output:

✓ Created todo-demo at todo-demo

Next steps:
  cd todo-demo
  bun install
  bun run launch        # builds + opens Extension Development Host

create then asks whether to init git and install dependencies. Say yes to both (or pass --git --install to skip the prompts). Then:

cd todo-demo

What got generated

todo-demo/
├─ .vscode/launch.json        F5 launches the Extension Development Host
├─ package.json               extension manifest + build scripts
├─ vsceasy.config.ts          per-project defaults (publisher, ui, …)
├─ scripts/gen.ts             the code generator (`bun run gen`)
├─ vite.config.ts             builds the React webviews
└─ src/
   ├─ extension/extension.ts  the activate() entry point
   ├─ commands/hello.ts       one sample command
   ├─ webview/styles.css      shared webview styling
   └─ shared/
      ├─ api.ts               RPC contracts (empty for now)
      └─ vsceasy/             the runtime (bootstrap, rpc, define, client)

The pieces worth knowing up front:

File	What it does
src/extension/extension.ts	Calls bootstrap(registry) — the single activate hook. You rarely edit it.
src/shared/vsceasy/	The vendored runtime: definePanel, defineJob, the typed RPC bridge, the webview client. Generators import from here.
src/shared/api.ts	One TypeScript interface per panel. This is the contract shared by the extension host and the React UI — the source of end-to-end type safety.
scripts/gen.ts	Scans src/panels, src/commands, src/menus, src/jobs, builds a registry, and writes the contributes block of package.json. You run it via bun run gen.

Nothing here is locked away — every generated file lands in your src/ and is yours to edit.

The build scripts

package.json ships a handful of scripts you’ll use:

Script	Purpose
bun run gen	Regenerate the registry + package.json contributions. Run after adding panels/commands/jobs.
bun run dev	Watch-build the extension and webviews. Press F5 in VS Code for the dev host.
bun run launch	One-shot build + open the Extension Development Host in a new window.

Note

create requires --name; it has no positional argument (vsceasy create todo-demo errors). All other fields fall back to sensible defaults or prompts.

Next: add the database and the Todo model →