Consider how Visual Studio Marketplace entry might be used to make Liberty Tools VS code more discoverable through the IDE.

[aparnamichael]

In vscode, we have option to set categories and tags and based on that vs code will suggest the extensions. We can make use of this for improving the visibility of Liberty Tools.

https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/extension-marketplace#_categories-and-tags
https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/extension-marketplace#_recommended-extensions

[dessina-devasia]

We can create a recommended list of extensions for a workspace with the Extensions: Configure Recommended Extensions (Workspace Folder) command using command palette in vscode.

The command creates an extensions.json file located in the workspace .vscode folder where we can add a list of extensions identifiers ({publisherName}.{extensionName}).

For eg: In extensions.json
"recommendations": [
"open-liberty.liberty-dev-vscode-ext"
]

Review the list with the Extensions: Show Recommended Extensions command. So the Liberty tool extension is displayed.

[dessina-devasia]

The feature already present in visual studio market place. The extension recommendations are already determined by the visual studio. It provides relevant suggestions for users based on the context of their projects.

Also, in the extension project we can add meta data in package.json. In liberty-tool-vscode, the meta data is already updated seems it's already working. The relevant keywords are already added in the meta data as below.

"keywords": [
"Java",
"Liberty",
"MicroProfile",
"Jakarta EE",
"Cloud Native"
]

[dessina-devasia]

Some factors that can contribute to why certain extensions are more visible in the recommendations section:

Relevance to User's Activity:
Extensions that are relevant to the user's current activity or the type of files they are working on are more likely to be recommended. Visual Studio Code may analyze the user's behavior, such as the types of files they frequently open or the programming languages they use, to provide personalized recommendations.

Categories and Tags:
Extensions categorized under specific tags or categories (as specified in the package.json file with the "categories" field) play a role in determining visibility. Users might see recommendations based on the categories they often explore.

Popularity and Installations:
Popular extensions with a higher number of installations are more likely to be recommended. Extensions with positive reviews and a large user base are seen as more valuable by the Visual Studio Code Marketplace.
For Liberty tools, there is only a single user review can be observed as shown below.

Recent Activity and Updates:
Extensions that are actively maintained and receive regular updates may be more visible in recommendations. Users are often more inclined to install extensions that are actively supported and compatible with the latest versions of Visual Studio Code.

Quality and User Ratings:
Extensions with higher user ratings and positive reviews are likely to be recommended. Good quality extensions that provide value and positive user experiences are favored in the recommendation algorithm.

[dessina-devasia]

Compared different package.json files from different extensions that's being showing currently as vscode recommendation. But there is no noticeable difference in the categories and keywords tags in package.json, as compared to liberty-tools extension. Also these recommended extensions has a wide range of installations and user ratings. These all affects the display of the liberty-tool as recommendation in vscode.

Here are some code links for the package.json files for recommended vscode extensions and its marketplace status.

vscode-docker
https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-docker/blob/main/package.json
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-azuretools.vscode-docker

Extension Pack for Java
https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-java-pack/blob/main/package.json
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=vscjava.vscode-java-pack

npm Intellisense
https://github.com/ChristianKohler/NpmIntellisense/blob/master/package.json
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=christian-kohler.npm-intellisense