Scaffold a clean extension with generator-code
30 min
Create the publisher in Azure DevOps
30 min
Mint a Personal Access Token with the right scopes
15 min
Configure package.json for the Marketplace
1-2 hr
Minimise activationEvents (post-1.74 default)
1-2 hr
Write a README that doubles as the Marketplace listing
3-5 hr
Package and publish with vsce
30 min for first publish
Cross-publish to Open VSX for VSCodium + Cursor users
30 min
Set up CI to publish on tag + write a CHANGELOG
1-2 hr