Blueport Developer Tools is a Visual Studio Code extension for authorized TechniCap users. It helps teams create and maintain applications in a Blueport Platform solution using approved templates, platform updates, and branding.
The extension is available in workspaces that contain Blueport.Platform.sln at the root. You must sign in to your Blueport Platform account before the tools are enabled. The extension is not available in untrusted workspaces.
Getting started
A walkthrough guides you through first-time setup. Open it from Welcome: Open Walkthrough... and choose Get Started with Blueport Developer Tools.
The extension also bundles user guides: a quick start, an example daily workflow, how-to guides, a Copilot Chat guide, a troubleshooting FAQ and a command, setting and view reference. Run Blueport: Open Documentation to read them, or use the book button in the Platform & Extension view.
Installation
Install the extension from the Visual Studio Code Marketplace when it is available to your organization. If you receive a .vsix package instead:
- Open Visual Studio Code.
- Open the Extensions view.
- Select Views and More Actions (
...).
- Select Install from VSIX... and choose the supplied package.
Features
- Sign in to your Blueport Platform account from Visual Studio Code. Templates, branding, and layout assets are only available to authorized users.
- Browse the applications, use cases, and use case groups of each open Blueport workspace in the Platform Instance view, and open the .NET and UI files of a use case directly.
- Create Blueport applications and user interfaces from approved templates, and add use cases to existing applications. Adding applications and use cases is unavailable while the platform is running.
- Delete an application and its local files, after confirmation. Protected applications and applications with a running dev server cannot be deleted.
- Run and debug the platform from the workspace node (requires C# Dev Kit), and stop it again.
- Build user interfaces, and start or stop their Vite development servers. A started dev server opens in the editor's browser.
- Update or upgrade user interfaces using the latest approved templates, and apply available Blueport branding.
- Find NuGet packages whose versions differ between projects in the References node, and align them to the highest version in use.
- Upgrade placeholder files to the latest format.
- Check the Platform & Extension view for asset and version status, and check for or refresh the latest assets.
- Configure and clear the certificate used for the local development platform. The endpoint and SHA-256 fingerprint must be confirmed before the certificate is trusted.
- Use the Blueport actions from the Blueport views and the Explorer context menu. The views refresh automatically when solutions, projects, settings, or use case files change.
- Use Blueport actions from GitHub Copilot Chat in agent mode. Type
# and pick a Blueport tool (for example #blueportListApplications), or ask in natural language, e.g. "run the Orders dev server". Tools can list applications, start or stop the platform and dev servers, build, add, update, upgrade or brand a UI, add applications or use cases (you complete the prompts), delete an application (with confirmation), align NuGet package versions, upgrade placeholder files, and check or refresh assets. Requires VS Code 1.95 or later.
Required templates, branding, and layout assets are refreshed automatically for authorized users. Use Blueport: Refresh Assets when you need to retrieve the latest available assets.
Usage
Open the Command Palette with Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows and Linux or Cmd+Shift+P on macOS, then run the required Blueport command.
Common commands include:
- Blueport: Sign In to Platform and Blueport: Sign Out of Platform manage your Blueport Platform session.
- Blueport: Add Application creates an application from an approved template.
- Blueport: Add UI adds a user interface to an application.
- Blueport: Add UseCase adds a use case to an application.
- Blueport: Build UI builds a user interface.
- Blueport: Run Dev Server starts a user interface development server.
- Blueport: Stop Dev Server stops a running development server.
- Blueport: Update UI (overwrite src/platform files) updates the platform files of an existing user interface.
- Blueport: Upgrade UI (merge current template) merges the latest template updates into an existing user interface.
- Blueport: Apply UI Branding applies a selected Blueport brand.
- Blueport: Delete Application deletes an application and its local files.
- Blueport: Upgrade Placeholder Files migrates placeholder files to the latest format.
- Blueport: Check for Asset Updates checks whether newer assets are available.
- Blueport: Refresh Assets retrieves the latest available templates and assets.
- Blueport: Configure Local Development Certificate and Blueport: Clear Local Development Certificate manage the local development certificate.
- Blueport: Open Blueport Settings opens the extension settings.
- Blueport: Open Documentation opens the bundled user guides.
Running and stopping dev servers and the platform, and aligning package versions, are available from the Platform Instance view. You can also use the Explorer context menu to access actions for the current application.
Settings
The extension normally works with its default settings. Blueport: Open Blueport Settings provides access to optional settings, including the Blueport Platform URL, asset channel, template placeholder values, and automatic asset-refresh behaviour. Use your team's guidance before changing advanced settings.
The Platform URL and placeholder settings apply to your machine only and cannot be overridden by a repository's workspace settings. The Platform URL must use HTTPS and a *.technicap.partners host (or localhost for local development).
Keybindings
No custom keybindings are provided by this extension.
Known Issues
There are currently no known issues with this extension.
License
This extension is provided under an Internal Use Only license. See the included license file for details.
Release Notes
See the included changelog for release notes.
