microsoft / microsoft/vscode-edge-devtools
Reconsider the Sidebar
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- Dominant language
- TypeScript
- Stars
- 827
- Forks
- 358
- Avg merge
- 20h 32m
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 10
Description
The "Microsoft Edge Tools" sidebar shows very prominent in VS Code:
However, I think it takes too much space for the functionality it offers and I do think that the functionality it offers can be offered in other places.
One core idea of VS Code is that you have one tool for all tech stacks. I think this sidebar goes against that, by showing a web-dev tool even when the developer works on a non-web-dev project.
When I showed this extension to other users (who casually debug websites), they found the extension extremely cool, but uninstalled later, because the sidebar permanently reminded them that the extension is installed.
As for the targets section, it is not very clear to me what purpose it serves.
I think it is reasonable to bind the target to the life-cycle of the webview - the target is created when the user opens a new browser view and it is destroyed when the user closes this web view.
The target meta information could be shown in the browser webview somehow.
What user-workflow would require interaction with this section?
"Generate launch.json" could also be offered in the debug pane.
I think the helpful links can all be shown in the editor context menu instead:
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by reviewing the current Microsoft Edge Tools sidebar, including its targets section, Generate launch.json action, and helpful links. Clarify the intended user workflow and decide whether these functions belong in the browser webview, debug pane, or editor context menu. Done means an agreed, concrete redesign scope rather than general sidebar feedback.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- typescript
- Domain
- developer-experience
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Needs clarification
- Newbie friendliness
- 20/100