TL;DR
Often, when working on HMPL.js, I use some extensions that help to make the code faster and easier. In this article, I would like to share a small list of what I once used and can tell you about.
Perhaps you have been using these extensions for a long time, and something will be a revelation for you - who knows. But for me, some of these extensions help a lot every day.
Well, let's get started!
1. 📂 Project Manager - Easily switch between projects
Let's start this list with one of the most useful extensions, in my opinion, which is not entirely obvious, but very interesting - this is Project Manager.
It helps you to easily access your projects, no matter where they are located. Don't miss those important projects anymore.
You can define your own Projects (also called Favorites), or choose for auto-detect Git, Mercurial or SVN repositories, VSCode folders, or any other folder.
2. 🌐 Live Server - Launch a development local Server with live reload feature for static & dynamic pages
Perhaps the most legendary, I'm not afraid to say this word, extension, which probably everyone who reads this article used. But, of course, I can't not include it in this list.
This application will allow you to launch your personal server for website development and more without the need to deploy XAMPP and other similar programs.
On sites that are launched from a folder using this application, the page will automatically update every time you change, for example, a file with the extension .html or .css or any other.
3. 📡 REST Client - REST Client for Visual Studio Code
Since we're talking about servers, it's worth mentioning probably one of my favorite extensions, which I use in the module very often.
REST Client allows you to send HTTP request and view the response in Visual Studio Code directly.
That is, you do not need to install additional programs like Postman, register in them, etc. If you need a simple client for testing your or someone else's API and you want to deploy an environment for this in a couple of seconds, then without leaving the text editor, you can simply install it.
4. ♦️ Prisma - Adds syntax highlighting, formatting, auto-completion, jump-to-definition and linting for .prisma files
Well, since we have already looked at the method of how to test work with the API, I could not help but miss the extension that is necessary for creating the API itself)
Prisma makes database management easier by providing schema modeling and query validation, compatible with databases like PostgreSQL, MySQL, and others.
At one time, I had to work a little with Prism when I was fixing server errors. At that time, of course, you can't do without the extension, because if you work with Vue, Pug or other tools, you need to highlight the syntax.
5. ↪ GitLens — Git supercharged - Visualize code authorship at a glance via Git blame annotations and CodeLens, seamlessly navigate and explore Git repositories
Often, when you work in huge companies, their projects have about 100,000 commits from thousands of people and you, as a junior, are put to figure it all out. It is clear that when a person sees all this, he is simply in shock, but this is normal. In order to understand what is happening, there is this extension.
GitLens enhances Git functionality in VS Code by adding annotations, commit details, and history directly into your editor.
This extension, to be completely honest, turns your VS Code into just some kind of airplane control panel, not a text editor. All these diagrams, commit lines and other similar things, make you from a programmer more like a designer at a large enterprise that makes equipment, well, at least for the person who first saw your desktop)
6. 🔄 Auto Import - Automatically finds, parses and provides code actions and code completion for all available imports
Auto Import automatically adds missing imports for classes, methods, or libraries as you use them.
Usually, VS Code has long been able to handle imports, but this plugin can also be installed just in case.
Of course, you don’t have to install it, but I’ve been installing it for about 6 years now, and it’s already just the default one in the build, if I may say so.
7. ⚙️ GitHub Copilot - Your AI pair programmer
Recently, with the development of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence, Copilot has become an indispensable assistant in VS Code, as it comes with Microsoft's AI.
GitHub Copilot adapts to your unique needs allowing you to select the best model for your project, customize chat responses with custom instructions, and utilize agent mode for AI-powered, seamlessly integrated peer programming sessions.
Previously, it didn't make much sense, but now it's so well integrated with the environment that it can already be considered part of VS Code. It only requires a registered account to work properly, but I think that's not a problem for such a benefit.
By the way, another advantage of this artificial intelligence is that it is based on GitHub repositories, so the code it produces is simply excellent.
8. 🔗 Auto Rename Tag - Auto rename paired HTML/XML tag
A very old extension, but nevertheless still quite good. If you are a web developer and work with HTML every day, then it is very suitable.
Auto Rename Tag updates the closing tag automatically when you edit the opening tag in HTML, XML, or other structured languages.
Of course, in 2025 this extension has already lost some of its relevance, but just like with import, it is simply recommended for installation.
9. 🔠 Code Spell Checker - Spelling checker for source code
A useful little plugin. If you've worked in Microsoft Word or Google Docs, there's a check for spelling errors, so with this plugin you'll be able to make fewer of them.
Code Spell Checker identifies typos in your code, comments, and strings to maintain quality and readability.
As an example of how it works:
10. 🧠 Tabnine - AI code assistant that accelerates and simplifies software development while keeping your code private, secure, and compliant
Before Cursor and ChatGPT, this is essentially one of the first such significant developments in the field of artificial intelligence and text editors. Also a powerful tool that can help you make code with AI without changing VS Code to something else.
Tabnine is the AI code assistant that you control — helping development teams of every size use AI to accelerate and simplify the software development process without sacrificing privacy, security, or compliance. Tabnine boosts engineering velocity, code quality, and developer happiness by automating the coding workflow through AI tools customized to your team.
And, this is one of the last extensions in this list that I can recommend. Of course, there are many other cool extensions, but we'll talk about them some other time.
✅ Conclusion
Using all these extensions for VS Code you can become a truly ultimate programmer, because you can program even in TextPad, but the speed of development is important, because clients will not wait until you finish writing components. Therefore, the development is more useful today, which gives such a range of opportunities.
Thank you all for reading the article ❤️!
What do you use besides these extensions? It will be interesting to know!
Useful links:
VS Code - The text editor itself
FAQ - Common questions about VS Code
GitHub repo - I will be grateful for your star :)
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