Publish Extension
Use when releasing the Cline VS Code extension, stable (standalone SDK build of main...
Install
npx skills add cline/cline --skill publish-extension -g -a claude-code -y- Repository
- cline/cline71.2k
- Category
- Git and review
- Updated
- 4d ago
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Context cost
- Mediumabout 3,000 tokens
- Runs scripts
- No, instructions only
What it does
Use when releasing the Cline VS Code extension, stable (standalone SDK build of main via ext-vscode-publish), nightly (ext-vscode-publish-nightly, manual dispatch), or an emergency legacy-branch hotfix (ext-vscode-publish-legacy). Guides version selection, changelog, workflow dispatch, environment approvals, tagging, post-publish verification, and the remaining retirement of the finished A/B rollout machinery.
VS Code Extension Release
Use this skill when the user asks to release, publish, or ship the VS Code extension, stable, nightly, or an emergency legacy hotfix, or to retire the leftover A/B rollout machinery.
Working directory: repo root. All workflows are dispatched from
main(GitHub requires the workflow file on the default branch; each workflow checks out the refs it actually builds).
The current era: standalone SDK extension from main
The legacy → SDK migration is complete. The PostHog flag ext-sdk-bundle-rollout reached 100% (verified empirically 2026-09-15: 200/200 /decide probes returned true), so every user on the combined VSIX runs the next (SDK, bun) bundle and the legacy/ half is dead weight. Stable releases now ship a plain build of main through ext-vscode-publish.yml, a copy of the A/B workflow with the loader, legacy/ bundle and stitching removed, and the same build-artifact-then-vsce publish --packagePath publish step. The combined A/B path (ext-vscode-ab-package.yml) is no longer used for releases and is pending deletion, see "Retiring the A/B machinery" at the bottom for what is still left to clean up and the one caveat (leave the flag at 100%).
Do not use ext-vscode-publish-stable.yml. Its publish step (bun run publish:marketplace → bare vsce publish, which re-runs vscode:prepublish and repacks the source tree) hung on all five attempts for v4.1.18 (2026-09-15/17), each exactly 180s after "Publishing ..." with Request timeout: /_apis/gallery. That path is the client's FIRST request (route discovery, no body), the VSIX was never uploaded, so nothing about the artifact is the cause. The same code line went out as 4.1.19 through the prebuilt-artifact path in seconds. Root cause is not established (see the gotcha at the bottom); the stable workflow is kept only until the new one has shipped a release, then deleted.
