README Preview on Startup

This opens the workspace README.md in preview mode as soon as VS Code finishes loading. Use it as a starting point when you want users to see project documentation right away.

How It Works

• Activates on onStartupFinished.
• Searches for README.md variants in the first workspace folder and opens the file.
• Executes VS Code commands to show the markdown preview to the side and close other groups for a focused view.

Feel free to tweak src/extension.ts if you need additional behavior (e.g., supporting multiple folders or different file names) and send me a pull request!

Quick Start [only for development]

1. Install dependencies:

   npm install
   

2. Compile once (or run the watch task) so VS Code picks up the output:

   npm run compile
   

3. Press F5 (Run Extension) to launch a new Extension Development Host window. When it opens, the README.md should appear in the markdown preview pane.

CI Publish Workflow

• Create a VSCE_PAT secret in the repository containing a Visual Studio Marketplace personal access token.
• Trigger the GitHub Actions workflow Publish VS Code Extension manually and provide the version number to publish.
• The workflow compiles the project, packages it with vsce, unpublishes the existing version (ignoring failures), and then publishes the new version.

Build & Install Locally

1. Ensure dependencies are installed and the extension is compiled:

   npm install
   npm run compile
   

2. Install the VS Code Extension Manager if you have not already:

   npm install -g @vscode/vsce
   

3. Package the extension (generates a .vsix file in the project root):

   vsce package
   

4. Install the packaged extension in your primary VS Code instance:

   code --install-extension readme-preview-on-startup-0.0.1.vsix
   

   Replace the filename with the .vsix generated in the previous step.

Package & Publish

• Prerequisites:
  • A Microsoft or GitHub publisher account configured in the VS Code Marketplace.
  • A Personal Access Token (PAT) with at least Marketplace (publish) scope.
  • vsce installed globally (npm install -g @vscode/vsce).
• Verify before publishing:
  • Run eslint/tests if applicable.
  • Execute npm run compile and confirm the extension activates correctly in an Extension Development Host.
• Publish workflow:
  1. Log in to your publisher if needed:

     vsce login <publisher-name>
     

  2. Package and publish in one step (bumps version manually in package.json first):

     npm version patch
     vsce publish
     

     Use vsce publish minor or vsce publish major to bump the version automatically, or supply an explicit version number.
  3. To test the Marketplace build locally without publishing, generate the .vsix and install it as shown in the previous section.