This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Javier Morant
A few weeks ago, I was deep in coding flow when I caught myself doing something annoying for the hundredth time:
open browser → search DevPromptly → copy a prompt → paste into VS Code → tweak → finally continue coding.
That’s when I thought: “Why am I breaking my flow just to grab prompts? What if I could bring them straight into VS Code?”
That was the spark.
The First Steps (a.k.a. the overconfidence phase 😅)
At first, I thought building a VS Code plugin would be simple. “Just show a list of prompts, add a button, done.”
Spoiler: it wasn’t.
The moment I opened the docs, reality hit. Extensions have their own lifecycle, APIs, constraints, and the UX expectations are high. If it feels clunky, devs won’t use it.
But I was stubborn. I wanted something that felt smooth — browse, search, and insert prompts in a couple of clicks, without leaving the editor.
The Tough Parts 💥
Authentication
This was the first real boss fight.
I wanted people to log in with their DevPromptly account, but OAuth inside a VS Code extension is… not fun. Redirect flows, tokens, browser windows, it was messy.
After a few late nights of trial and error (and a couple of “why isn’t this token refreshing?!” moments), I finally got it working. Logging in now feels almost invisible.
UX: Less is More
Extensions can easily end up bloated. I didn’t want DevPromptly to feel like a second app living inside VS Code.
So I experimented:
- A sidebar to browse prompts by category.
- A search that feels instant.
- A single-click insert into the editor or Copilot Chat.
The goal was simple: no distractions, no clutter. Just prompts, when you need them.
// Detect dark theme var iframe = document.getElementById('tweet-1966084059542536604-589'); if (document.body.className.includes('dark-theme')) { iframe.src = "https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?id=1966084059542536604&theme=dark" }
Keeping Things in Sync
Another challenge was making sure what you see in VS Code is always fresh. Prompts get added, rated, improved all the time on DevPromptly
.
I had to figure out caching, rate limits, and syncing favorites across devices. Tricky, but worth it, now it just works.
The Moment of Truth ✨
Finally, after a lot of testing, debugging, and polishing, I hit Publish.
And there it was:
👉 The DevPromptly VS Code Plugin on the Marketplace
https://devpromptly.com/tools
Seeing it live, searchable, and installable by anyone was a surreal moment.
Looking Back
What started as a small itch turned into one of the most fun (and challenging) side projects I’ve done. I learned that building for developers means obsessing over the little details: smooth login, snappy UI, zero-friction sync.
And most importantly, I now use it every day myself, which was the whole point.
What’s Next?
This is just v1. I’d love to add:
- Better search & filtering.
- Ratings and usage stats inside VS Code.
- Integrations with other IDE like Cursor
If you try it, I’d love your feedback for example: what works, what feels off, what would make it better.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Javier Morant
Javier Morant | Sciencx (2025-09-17T05:16:37+00:00) From Idea to Marketplace: The DevPromptly VS Code Plugin story. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/09/17/from-idea-to-marketplace-the-devpromptly-vs-code-plugin-story/
Please log in to upload a file.
There are no updates yet.
Click the Upload button above to add an update.