Visual Studio Code 1.92 improves debugging experience

Microsoft has released Visual Studio Code 1.92, a new version of the company’s popular code editor that improves the debugging experience and lets developers configure which browser to use for opening links. The update also provides more control over updating extensions.

Visual Studio Code 1.92, also identified as the July 2024 version of the editor, was introduced August 1. Downloads for Windows, Mac and Linux can be accessed from the Visual Studio Code web page.

For debugging, Microsoft has added accessibility help dialogs for the Run and Debug view and Debug Console. Developers get a hint about accessing the accessible help dialog when either view is focused. Developers can configure this hint via the setting accessibility.verbosity.debug. Furthermore, developers can run the command “Open Accessible View,” via Alt+F2, to inspect Debug Console content character by character, line by line. And when debugging with a screen reader enabled, users now hear when watch variables change. This can be configured via accessibility.debugWatchVariableAnnouncements.

To configure which browser to open links, Visual Studio Code 1.92 provides a new setting, workbench.externalBrowser. Developers can configure this setting on a per-workspace level. The setting also is Settings Sync-enabled. The setting should specify the full path to the browser. Or, to ensure correct functioning across devices, browser aliases can be used, such as edge, chrome, or firefox.

Visual Studio Code 1.92 also brings improvements to the extension update experience that provide more control over updating extensions and makes it easier to manage auto-updating. The global extension auto-update action in the Extension view title area has been changed to “Enable Auto Update for All Extensions” and “Disable Auto Update for All Extensions” actions. These actions enable developers to enable auto update for all extensions simultaneously. For individual extension auto updates, the experience has been improved by showing the action to enable or disable auto update for the extension, Microsoft said. Also, user consent now is required when updating an installed extension version that has no executable code to a version that has executable code.

Other changes in Visual Studio Code 1.92:

• An issue with the Settings Editor, in which it used to jump after modifying a setting and changed focus to another one, has been fixed.
• The GitHub Copilot Chat view has been updated from OpenAI’s  GPT-4 Turbo model to OpenAI’s GPT-4o model. Experiments show that GPT-4o significantly enhances GitHub Copilot coding capabilities, Microsoft said.
• Users now can override an existing profile by creating a new profile with the same name.
• Extensions that use the HTTPS Node.js module now can use network proxies that require basic authentication.
• A diffEditor.experimental.useTrueInline setting has been introduced as a preview. When this setting is enabled and the inline view is enabled, single-line changes are rendered inline.
• Support is featured for the upcoming TypeScript 5.6 release.
• A proposed API on QuickInputButton has been introduced that enables extensions to choose where they want a button to be rendered. The options are Title or Inline.