Visual Studio Code (VS Code) has become the go-to editor for developers building cloud applications. It’s lightweight, extensible, and integrates deeply with Azure, making it an excellent choice for cloud-native development.
In this post, we’ll walk through how to set up VS Code for Azure development, the essential extensions we need, and some practical examples at the end.
👉 As of the 2025 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, VS Code is used by roughly 75% of developers, making it the most popular editor in that ecosystem. Microsoft reports that millions of developers use VS Code for Azure, especially when working with Python and JavaScript, the two most common Azure-supported languages outside .NET. VS Code is the most popular Python editor, used by more than 50% of Python developers globally (per JetBrains’ State of Developer Ecosystem report).
🌐 Why Use VS Code for Azure?
- Community & adoption: Used by ~75% of developers globally (Stack Overflow 2025), ensuring wide support, tutorials, and an active ecosystem.
- Free & open-source: No license cost, unlike Visual Studio’s paid editions.
- Extension-rich: Marketplace offers hundreds of Azure-related extensions (Functions, App Service, Storage, Kubernetes, Terraform, etc.).
- Integrated experience: Deploy, debug, and manage Azure resources without leaving the editor.
- Python & JavaScript support: Excellent support for two of the most common non-.NET Azure languages.
- Lightweight yet powerful: Fast startup, low resource usage, but can scale into a full IDE with the right extensions.
- Remote development ready: Built-in SSH, Dev Containers, and GitHub Codespaces support coding directly in the cloud or on Azure-hosted environments.
- Cross-platform: Runs smoothly on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
⚙️ Step 1: Install Prerequisites
Before configuring VS Code for Azure, make sure you have:
- Visual Studio Code → Download and install the latest version.
- Azure subscription → Use your existing account, or create a free account with free credits.
- Azure CLI (recommended) → Install the Azure CLI on your local machine to interact with Azure services from your terminal. For a step-by-step guide, see our blog post: Getting Started with Azure CLI on Your Local Machine.
💡 Tip: Verify installations by running code --version and az --version in your local terminal (not in VS Code).
📦 Step 2: Install Essential Extensions
For Azure development, start with the Azure Tools for Visual Studio Code pack (listed in the VS Code Marketplace simply as Azure Tools). Installing this one pack currently will automatically bring in 12 Azure extensions maintained by Microsoft:
- Azure App Service → Deploy and manage web apps/APIs.
- Azure Static Web Apps → Build, preview, and deploy full-stack static web apps.
- Azure Functions → Create, run, and debug serverless functions.
- Azure Storage → Manage blobs, queues, tables, and file shares.
- Azure Cosmos DB → Connect, query, and manage Cosmos DB databases.
- Azure Virtual Machines → Create, view, and manage Azure VMs.
- Azure Container Apps → Build, deploy, and manage containerized apps.
- Azure Developer CLI → Use the
azdCLI inside VS Code to scaffold, provision, and deploy applications. - GitHub Copilot for Azure → Ask @azure questions and get guided help on Azure services directly in VS Code.
- Azure MCP Server → Provides Model Context Protocol (MCP) integration for Azure.
- Azure Load Testing → Create and run load tests from VS Code.
- Azure AI Foundry → Work with AI Foundry service.
Note: When you do this, if you feel the list has changed, please inform as a comment and we will update the list here.
➕ Recommended Add-ons (not included in the pack)
- Bicep / ARM Tools (Microsoft) → Author infrastructure-as-code templates with IntelliSense, validation, and visualization.
- Azure CLI Tools (Microsoft) → Adds IntelliSense, snippets, and support for
.azcliscripts directly inside VS Code.
⚠️ Note: The standalone Azure Account extension is deprecated. VS Code now uses built-in Microsoft authentication for all Azure extensions.t extension is being deprecated; most extensions now use VS Code’s built-in Microsoft authentication.
🔑 Step 3: Connect to Azure
Once extensions are installed:
- Open the Azure sidebar (icon on the left).
- Sign in using →
Azure: Sign In. If it ask for passkey, you may go ahead with that or cancel to get additional options such as passcode and email a code. - After login, you may have to login again to the tenant (directory) like we did in the previous step, after that, we can browse our subscriptions, resource groups, and services directly in VS Code.
From here, you can create resources, deploy code, and monitor apps without switching to the portal.
🛠️ Step 4: Optimize Your Workflow
- Use Command Palette (
Ctrl+Shift+P/Cmd+Shift+P) for Azure commands. - Group/filter subscriptions to reduce clutter.
- Store secrets in Azure Key Vault, not in code.
- Test locally using Azurite (Azure Storage emulator).
💡 Best Practices
- Keep extensions updated.
- Use RBAC (role-based access control) for secure access.
- Standardize naming conventions for resources.
- Leverage Application Insights for monitoring once deployed.
✅ Wrap-Up
With VS Code and the right Azure extensions, you get a one-stop shop for cloud development. From coding to deployment, everything can be done without leaving your editor.
Now that your setup is ready, try building your first Function, deploying a web app, or managing storage — all directly inside VS Code.