Look around. Try a small click.

This lesson works as a written guide with interactive examples. You can explore here before opening the real application or provider dashboard. A recorded video has not been added yet.

Read the short lesson

What will make more sense

Use a simple decision card to connect each extension to a clear task, source and checked result.
A purpose and check explain why the tool is useful in this workspace.
The connector course separates service interfaces, account access and session tools.

One idea to keep

Use a simple decision card to connect each extension to a clear task, source and checked result.

The short lesson

Read the explanation at your pace

You now have a practical way to choose and manage an extension. Begin with the task. Check whether the editor already provides what you need. If an add-on is useful, identify its publisher and setup requirements. Try one recognizable improvement and check the result. Keep enough information to understand the decision later.

Our final decision-card.md is filled in for a fictional document-preview need. It names the intended benefit, the source to verify, the optional trial and the evidence of success. It also separates editor installation from a provider account. You do not need to build a technical inventory system. A few clear notes can explain why a capability belongs in your workspace.

Imagine handing the setup to a new staff member. “Install all these things because I did” gives them little understanding. “This capability previews our customer guide; this one provides the approved assistant; the rest is built in” is a more useful explanation. It connects software choices to work people actually do and makes later changes easier to assess.

An assistant can help maintain that map. Ask it to read the approved list and explain a missing piece before proposing installations. If a business task requires information from another application, the API and MCP Connectors course goes deeper into service access and session tools. Installing an editor extension is only one possible part of that connected workflow, not a substitute for it.

If you want to teach an assistant how your team prefers to work, the Agent Files and Reusable Skills course covers written guidance. That guidance is different from installing an extension. A skill can describe a workflow, while a tool or connection supplies a capability. Understanding those roles helps you choose the next piece without filling the workspace with unrelated add-ons.

Choose the final activity answer that describes the completed trial honestly. A useful extension is one that meets a clear need in your actual environment, with understood requirements. You can leave this course with no new software installed and still have learned the essential decision-making skill. When a real task calls for an addition, the process will be familiar and the result easier to review.

Try it here

Try it here · no installation needed

Choose the next small step

Follow the prepared example, then select a response to see why it fits. Nothing is connected or changed.

This is a local learning example with prepared responses. It does not run VS Code or contact an AI service.

STEP 1Name the task and intended benefit

STEP 2Verify the source and setup requirements

STEP 3Check the small result and keep the useful note

What belongs on a useful extension decision card?

Choose an option to see the explanation. You can try every option.

A prompt you can keep

These are example words to copy into your own AI chat when you want to try them. Copying does not send a request.

Read the prepared example for this lesson. Explain the proposed action, its target and the expected result. Keep this as an explanation; do not change files or connect accounts.

A tiny next step, if you want one

Optional: try 2 small actions at your own pace

You can finish this lesson by exploring the example above. These real-app actions are optional, and there is nothing to submit.

Optional: open decision-card.md and review its filled example.
Optional: keep a note of one existing extension’s purpose and official documentation link.

A quick confidence check

These checkmarks are a personal reminder. Choose what feels familiar, and come back whenever you want.

Use a simple decision card to connect each extension to a clear task, source and checked result.
I can explain why the matching choice fits this example.
I know which small action I could try later, if useful.

Your place is saved in this browser when storage is available. There is no grading or account sync.

Try a short question

Choose an answer to see why it fits. You can try again or explore every explanation.

What belongs on a useful extension decision card?

Choose an option to see the explanation. You can try every option.

Which course explains access to external business services?

Choose an option to see the explanation. You can try every option.

If something looks different

My assistant or VS Code uses a different label.

Use the official help for your selected assistant and version. The course teaches the decision; the exact menu or capability can differ.

I do not have the account or feature used in the example.

Use the prepared browser example and downloaded notes. No account connection or paid service is required to complete this course.

Keep learning

Keep learning with another focused course. Each has its own written lessons, examples and prepared files.

Understand your agent

How Your Agent Uses Tools

Understand file tools, the terminal, connectors, extensions and plugins while keeping your own role simple: describe the outcome and review the evidence.

10 written lessons · Guided browser activities · Free to read

Explore this course

Connect your tools