There are over 40,000 VS Code extensions. Most “best extensions” articles list 30 of them, and you end up installing a bunch that slow down your editor and never get used. I’ve been curating my setup for two years, and these are the ones that survived.
The Non-Negotiables (Install These Now)
GitLens
Adds git blame inline, shows commit history for any line, and lets you compare branches visually. I use the inline blame feature constantly – hover over any line and see who changed it and why. Saves me from opening a terminal for git blame a dozen times a day.
Error Lens
Shows errors and warnings inline, right next to the code that causes them. No more squinting at squiggly underlines or checking the Problems panel. The error is right there, in red, impossible to miss.
Prettier
Auto-formats code on save. End all formatting debates with your team forever. Set it up once in your project’s .prettierrc, enable format-on-save, and never think about indentation again.
The Productivity Boosters
GitHub Copilot
Controversial opinion: Copilot is genuinely useful if you treat it as autocomplete on steroids, not as an AI developer. It’s great for boilerplate, test cases, and repetitive patterns. I accept maybe 30% of its suggestions, but those saves add up.
Thunder Client
A lightweight REST client built into VS Code. I stopped using Postman entirely. Test APIs without leaving your editor. Saves request history, supports environments, and doesn’t require a login.
Todo Tree
Scans your codebase for TODO, FIXME, HACK, and BUG comments and shows them in a tree view. Great for keeping track of technical debt and things you need to come back to.
Language-Specific Must-Haves
- Python: Pylance (type checking, better autocomplete than the default)
- JavaScript/TypeScript: ESLint + the TypeScript error translator
- Rust: rust-analyzer (it’s incredible)
- Go: The official Go extension
- Docker: Docker extension (syntax highlighting, container management)
Keyboard Shortcuts Worth Memorizing
Extensions are great, but knowing your shortcuts is faster:
Ctrl+P– Quick file open (type any part of the filename)Ctrl+Shift+P– Command palette (access any command)Ctrl+D– Select next occurrence of current wordAlt+Up/Down– Move line up/downCtrl+/– Toggle commentCtrl+Shift+L– Select all occurrences of current selection
What I Deliberately Don’t Use
Themes with too many colors (distracting), bracket colorizers (built into VS Code now), most snippet extensions (just write your own), and anything that adds notifications or popups. Your editor should help you focus, not compete for your attention.
Start with the non-negotiables, add others as you find genuine needs. A lean, fast editor beats a bloated one every time.