SDK Tools Reference

The Visual Studio SDK includes several tools for extension development.

Build Tools

VsixInstaller.exe

Command-line VSIX installation:

# Install an extension
VsixInstaller.exe /quiet MyExtension.vsix

# Uninstall by extension ID
VsixInstaller.exe /uninstall:MyExtension.UniqueGuid

# Install to experimental instance
VsixInstaller.exe /rootSuffix:Exp MyExtension.vsix

Location: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\Common7\IDE\VSIXInstaller.exe

CreateExpInstance.exe

Manage experimental instances:

# Reset experimental instance
CreateExpInstance.exe /Reset /VSInstance=17.0 /RootSuffix=Exp

# Create new experimental instance
CreateExpInstance.exe /Create /VSInstance=17.0 /RootSuffix=MyTest

devenv.exe Commands

# Reset experimental instance settings
devenv.exe /ResetSettings /rootsuffix Exp

# Clear VS cache
devenv.exe /ClearCache /rootsuffix Exp

# Run in safe mode
devenv.exe /SafeMode

# Generate activity log
devenv.exe /Log

# Run with experimental instance
devenv.exe /rootSuffix Exp

Design Tools

VSCT Compiler (vsct.exe)

Compiles .vsct command table files:

vsct.exe MyCommands.vsct MyCommands.cto -S MyCommands.cs

ResGen (resgen.exe)

Resource file generation:

resgen.exe Resources.resx Resources.resources

Debugging Tools

ActivityLog.xml

VS activity log location:

%APPDATA%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\17.0_<hash>\ActivityLog.xml

Enable verbose logging:

devenv.exe /Log
# Or set environment variable
$env:VSLOGENABLED = "1"

Error List Inspection

View MEF composition errors:

Help > About Microsoft Visual Studio
Click “Copy Info”
Check for extension errors

Package Development

PkgDef Files

Package definition file format:

; Package registration
[$RootKey$\Packages\{GUID}]
@="My Package"
"InprocServer32"="$PackageFolder$\MyPackage.dll"
"Class"="MyNamespace.MyPackage"

Generating PkgDef

The build process auto-generates .pkgdef files from attributes:

[PackageRegistration(UseManagedResourcesOnly = true)]
[Guid("...")]
public sealed class MyPackage : AsyncPackage { }

Registry Tools

RegPkg.exe

regpkg.exe /root:Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\17.0 MyPackage.dll

CreatePkgDef.exe

Generate .pkgdef from assembly:

CreatePkgDef.exe MyPackage.dll MyPackage.pkgdef

Template Tools

Project Template Structure

MyTemplate/
├── MyTemplate.vstemplate
├── MyProject.csproj
├── Program.cs
└── __TemplateIcon.ico

Item Template Structure

MyItemTemplate/
├── MyItemTemplate.vstemplate
├── MyClass.cs
└── __TemplateIcon.ico

Template Parameters

Parameter	Description
$safeprojectname$	Safe project name for identifiers
$projectname$	Project name as entered
$safeitemrootname$	File name without extension
$rootnamespace$	Root namespace
$guid1$ - $guid10$	Generated GUIDs
$time$	Current timestamp
$year$	Current year
$username$	Current user
$registeredorganization$	Organization name
$targetframeworkversion$	Target framework

Command Line Tools Summary

Tool	Purpose
`VsixInstaller.exe`	Install/uninstall VSIX
`CreateExpInstance.exe`	Manage experimental instances
`devenv.exe`	VS with command options
`vsct.exe`	Compile command tables
`regpkg.exe`	Register packages
`CreatePkgDef.exe`	Generate pkgdef

NuGet Packages

Essential Packages

Package	Purpose
`Microsoft.VSSDK.BuildTools`	Build tools for VSIX
`Microsoft.VisualStudio.SDK`	VS SDK reference assemblies
`Community.VisualStudio.Toolkit.17`	Community Toolkit
`Microsoft.VisualStudio.LanguageServer.Client`	LSP client

Installing SDK

<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.VSSDK.BuildTools" Version="17.0.*">
  <PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
  <IncludeAssets>runtime; build; native</IncludeAssets>
</PackageReference>