🚀 Feature Request: Support extension version pinning in devcontainer.json

[jairrocha]

Problem

Currently, when defining extensions in devcontainer.json:

{
  "customizations": {
    "vscode": {
      "extensions": [
        "ms-dotnettools.csharp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

The latest version of the extension is always installed.

This creates issues in team environments because:

• Extension updates can introduce breaking changes
• Developers may end up with inconsistent environments
• Builds and development workflows become less predictable

---

Proposed Solution

Allow specifying a version when declaring extensions, for example:

{
  "customizations": {
    "vscode": {
      "extensions": [
        "ms-dotnettools.csharp@1.25.0"
      ]
    }
  }
}

---

Alternative Syntax (optional)

Another possible approach could be:

{
  "customizations": {
    "vscode": {
      "extensions": [
        {
          "id": "ms-dotnettools.csharp",
          "version": "1.25.0"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

---

Benefits

• Reproducible development environments
• Better stability for teams and CI/CD workflows
• Alignment with other ecosystems (e.g., npm, pip, Docker image tags)
• Eliminates need for manual .vsix workarounds

---

Current Workarounds

• Manually downloading .vsix files and installing them via scripts
• Using postCreateCommand to install specific versions (not always reliable)
• Maintaining custom Docker images with pre-installed extensions

These approaches add complexity and reduce maintainability.

---

Additional Context

This feature would significantly improve Dev Container usability in professional environments, especially for teams working with strict version control and reproducibility requirements.

---

Thank you 🙏

Thanks for the amazing work on Dev Containers! This feature would make it even more powerful for team-based development.