Discover, browse, and use Azure specification templates for your projects with this comprehensive VS Code extension. Powered by the Azure-Samples/Spec2Cloud repository.
Features
🎨 Gallery View
Browse templates with a beautiful gallery interface featuring:
- Full-featured template cards with thumbnails
- Real-time search across all template properties
- Multiple filter options (category, industry, services, languages, frameworks)
- Sorting by name or date
- Video previews and detailed information modals
📋 Templates Tree View
Quick access to templates in a hierarchical view:
- Sort by name (A-Z/Z-A) or date (newest/oldest)
- View template details on GitHub
- One-click template usage
- Refresh to get latest templates
📚 Resources View
Configurable quick links to documentation and helpful resources.
Programmatic access for AI assistants via the spec2cloud-select-template tool.
Getting Started
Install the Extension
- Install from VS Code Marketplace or VSIX file
Open Spec2Cloud
- Click the Spec2Cloud icon in the Activity Bar
- Browse the gallery or use the tree view
Find Templates
- Search by keywords, services, languages, or frameworks
- Use filters to narrow down options
- Watch demo videos to preview templates
Use a Template
- Click "Use Template" on any template
- Confirm to download all files to your workspace
- Existing files are never overwritten
Configuration
Templates Repository
Configure the GitHub repository containing templates:
{
"spec2cloud.templatesRepo": "https://github.com/Azure-Samples/Spec2Cloud"
}
Custom Resources
Add your own resource links:
{
"spec2cloud.resources": [
{
"name": "Azure Documentation",
"description": "Official Azure docs",
"url": "https://learn.microsoft.com/azure",
"icon": "Azure"
}
]
}
Commands
| Command |
Description |
spec2cloud.openGallery |
Open the template gallery |
spec2cloud.refreshTemplates |
Refresh templates from repository |
spec2cloud.sortTemplatesByName |
Toggle name sorting (A-Z/Z-A) |
spec2cloud.sortTemplatesByDate |
Toggle date sorting (newest/oldest) |
spec2cloud.viewTemplateOnGitHub |
Open template on GitHub |
spec2cloud.viewTemplateInGallery |
View template in gallery |
spec2cloud.useTemplate |
Download template to workspace |
Template Structure
Templates in the repository should follow this structure:
template-name/
├── README.md
├── thumbnail.png (16:9 aspect ratio)
├── demo.mp4 (optional)
└── ... (template files)
The repository must include a templates.json file:
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "template-folder-name",
"title": "Template Display Name",
"description": "Template description",
"category": "AI Apps",
"industry": "Healthcare",
"thumbnail": "thumbnail.png",
"video": "demo.mp4",
"services": ["Azure OpenAI", "Azure Cosmos DB"],
"languages": ["Python", "TypeScript"],
"frameworks": ["LangChain"],
"tags": ["chat", "rag"],
"authors": [
{
"name": "Author Name",
"githubHandle": "githubusername"
}
],
"version": "1.0.0",
"lastCommitDate": "2025-11-12"
}
]
}
Icons
The extension includes SVG icons for:
- 60+ Azure Services (blue badges)
- 5 Programming Languages (orange badges)
- 4 Frameworks (purple badges)
Icons are located in:
resources/services/resources/languages/resources/frameworks/
Requirements
- VS Code 1.85.0 or later
- Internet connection to fetch templates
Extension Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
spec2cloud.templatesRepo |
https://github.com/Azure-Samples/Spec2Cloud |
GitHub repository URL |
spec2cloud.resources |
[...] |
Custom resource links |
Known Issues
- Template downloads require internet connection
- Large templates may take time to download
- Private repositories require authentication (not yet supported)
See TROUBLESHOOTING.md for solutions to common issues.
Documentation
Release Notes
0.3.0
Added:
- Gallery view with banner image and open button
- Templates tree view with sorting and actions
- Full-featured template gallery page with search and filters
- Resources tree view for documentation links
- MCP tool:
spec2cloud-select-template
- Support for 60+ Azure service icons
- Template download functionality with overwrite protection
- Video preview support
- Author links to GitHub profiles
- Real-time filtering and search
Features:
- 🎨 Modern UI with theme support (light/dark)
- 🔍 Powerful search across all template properties
- 🏷️ Multiple filter dimensions (category, industry, technology)
- 📊 Flexible sorting (name, date)
- 🎬 Video previews for templates
- 📱 Responsive gallery layout
- 🔒 Safe template downloads (no overwrites)
- 🤖 AI assistant integration via MCP
License
MIT
Acknowledgments
- Template repository: Azure-Samples/Spec2Cloud
- Azure icons and branding: Microsoft Corporation
- Built with ❤️ for the Azure community
Enjoy building with Spec2Cloud templates! 🚀
