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Document date-based VS Code Insiders targeting #10057

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Document date-based VS Code Insiders targeting
nohli Jul 22, 2026
d547c0e
Clarify date-tag support version
nohli Jul 22, 2026
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2 changes: 2 additions & 0 deletions api/working-with-extensions/publishing-extension.md
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Expand Up @@ -402,6 +402,8 @@ You can use the `engines.vscode` property to ensure the extension only gets inst

For example, imagine that the latest Stable version of VS Code is `1.8.0`. During the development of version `1.9.0`, a new API was introduced and made available in the Insider release through the version `1.9.0-insider`. If you want to publish an extension version that benefits from this API, you should indicate a version dependency of `^1.9.0`. In this way, your new extension version will only be available on VS Code `>=1.9.0` (in other words, users with the current Insiders release). Users with the VS Code Stable will only get the update when the Stable release reaches version `1.9.0`.

To target an Insiders build by date, append a date tag in `YYYYMMDD` format to the version. VS Code 1.57 and later enforce the date tag. Earlier versions evaluate only the numeric portion of the version. For example, `^1.56.0-20210428` targets VS Code 1.56 or later builds created on or after 0:00 UTC on April 28, 2021.

## Advanced usage

### Marketplace integration
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2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion release-notes/v1_57.md
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Expand Up @@ -641,7 +641,7 @@ export interface DebugSession {

### Improved VS Code Insiders version targeting

When working on extensions that use proposed APIs, it's possible that a new Insiders build is released with breaking changes. In order to provide a more seamless transition for users, you can now target Insiders versions precisely with a date tag. For example, setting `engines.vscode` to `^1.56.0-20210428` will target any VS Code 1.56 (or newer) build that was created on or after 0:00 UTC, April 28, 2020. This allows you to safely release post-dated extension updates before an upcoming Insiders version is released.
When working on extensions that use proposed APIs, it's possible that a new Insiders build is released with breaking changes. In order to provide a more seamless transition for users, you can now target Insiders versions precisely with a date tag. For example, setting `engines.vscode` to `^1.56.0-20210428` will target any VS Code 1.56 (or newer) build that was created on or after 0:00 UTC, April 28, 2021. This allows you to safely release post-dated extension updates before an upcoming Insiders version is released.

```json
"engines": {
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