Building VS Code on Windows | Generated by AI

Home 2026.05 English 中文

---

Here’s the full picture for building VS Code on Windows:

Required tools:

1. Node.js 22.22.1 (exact version from .nvmrc)
2. npm (ships with Node)
3. Python 3.x — needed by node-gyp to compile native modules. node-gyp 11.2.0 is used (build/npm/gyp/package.json). Python must be on PATH.
4. Visual Studio Build Tools (or full VS) with the “Desktop development with C++” workload — provides MSVC compiler + Windows SDK that node-gyp invokes for native addon compilation. This is the most commonly missed dependency on Windows.
5. Git

How the build works:

• TypeScript is compiled via gulp (invoked as node --experimental-strip-types ./node_modules/gulp/bin/gulp.js)
• Key commands from package.json:
  • npm run compile — full compile (client + copilot extension)
  • npm run watch — incremental dev build
  • npm run gulp — direct gulp access
• Electron 39.8.8 is pulled as a devDependency and managed by build/lib/electron.ts
• The preinstall script (build/npm/preinstall.ts) enforces the exact Node version from .nvmrc

Quick setup on Windows:

# 1. Install Node 22.22.1 (via nvm-windows or direct installer)
nvm install 22.22.1
nvm use 22.22.1

# 2. Install Python 3
winget install Python.Python.3.12

# 3. Install VS Build Tools (C++ workload)
winget install Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.BuildTools
# During install, select "Desktop development with C++"

# 4. Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vscode
cd vscode
npm install        # preinstall checks node version, postinstall runs
npm run compile    # compile TypeScript
npm run watch      # or: incremental dev mode

Or to skip the native tools check (if you only need TypeScript compilation, not a full Electron build):

set VSCODE_SKIP_NODE_VERSION_CHECK=1
npm install

The official full guide lives on the wiki: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/wiki/How-to-Contribute — but the 4 tools above (Node, npm, Python, VS Build Tools) are the essentials. No separate Java, Rust, or Go needed for the main build.

---

Generated by AI. Curating and sharing still takes effort. If you find it useful, feel free to donate. WeChat: @lzwjava · X: @lzwjava · Say hi 👋

Back Donate