| --- | 
 | title: The VS Code Go extension joins the Go project | 
 | date: 2020-06-09 | 
 | by: | 
 | - The Go team | 
 | summary: Announcement of VS Code Go’s move to the Go project. | 
 | --- | 
 |  | 
 |  | 
 | When the Go project began, “an overarching goal was that Go do more to help the | 
 | working programmer by enabling tooling, automating mundane tasks such as code | 
 | formatting, and removing obstacles to working on large code bases” | 
 | ([Go FAQ](/doc/faq#What_is_the_purpose_of_the_project)). | 
 | Today, more than a decade later, we continue to be guided by that same goal, | 
 | especially as it pertains to the programmer’s most critical tool: their editor. | 
 |  | 
 | Throughout the past decade, Go developers have relied on a variety of editors | 
 | and dozens of independently authored tools and plugins. Much of Go’s early | 
 | success can be attributed to the fantastic development tools created by the Go | 
 | community. The | 
 | [VS Code extension for Go](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-go), built using | 
 | many of these tools, is now used by 41 percent of Go developers | 
 | ([Go developer survey](https://blog.golang.org/survey2019-results)). | 
 |  | 
 | As the VS Code Go extension grows in popularity and as | 
 | [the ecosystem expands](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFJfdWzBHwE), it | 
 | requires | 
 | [more maintenance and support](https://twitter.com/ramyanexus/status/1154470078978486272). | 
 | Over the past few years, the Go team has collaborated with the VS Code team to | 
 | help the Go extension maintainers. The Go team also began a new initiative to | 
 | improve the tools powering all Go editor extensions, with a focus on supporting | 
 | the | 
 | [Language Server Protocol](https://microsoft.github.io/language-server-protocol/) | 
 | with [`gopls`](/s/gopls) and | 
 | [the Debug Adapter Protocol with Delve](https://github.com/go-delve/delve/issues/1515). | 
 |  | 
 | Through this collaborative work between the VS Code and Go teams, we realized | 
 | that the Go team is uniquely positioned to evolve the Go development experience | 
 | alongside the Go language. | 
 |  | 
 | As a result, we’re happy to announce the next phase in the Go team’s | 
 | partnership with the VS Code team: **The VS Code extension for Go is officially | 
 | joining the Go project**. With this come two critical changes: | 
 |  | 
 | 1. The publisher of the plugin is shifting from "Microsoft" to "Go Team at Google". | 
 | 2. The project’s repository is moving to join the rest of the Go project at [https://github.com/golang/vscode-go](https://github.com/golang/vscode-go). | 
 |  | 
 | We cannot overstate our gratitude to those who have helped | 
 | build and maintain this beloved extension. We know that innovative ideas and | 
 | features come from you, our users. The Go team’s primary aim as owners of the | 
 | extension is to reduce the burden of maintenance work on the Go community. | 
 | We’ll make sure the builds stay green, the issues get triaged, and the docs get | 
 | updated. Go team members will keep contributors abreast of relevant language | 
 | changes, and we’ll smooth the rough edges between the extension’s different | 
 | dependencies. | 
 |  | 
 | Please continue to share your thoughts with us by filing | 
 | [issues](https://github.com/golang/vscode-go/issues) and making | 
 | [contributions](https://github.com/golang/vscode-go/blob/master/docs/contributing.md) | 
 | to the project. The process for contributing will now be the same as for the | 
 | [rest of the Go project](/doc/contribute.html). Go team | 
 | members will offer general help in the #vscode channel on | 
 | [Gophers Slack](https://invite.slack.golangbridge.org/), and we’ve also created | 
 | a #vscode-dev channel to discuss issues and brainstorm ideas with contributors. | 
 |  | 
 | We’re excited about this new step forward, and we hope you are too. | 
 | By maintaining a major Go editor extension, as well as the Go tooling and | 
 | language, the Go team will be able to provide all Go users, regardless of their | 
 | editor, a more cohesive and refined development experience. | 
 |  | 
 | As always, our goal remains the same: Every user should have an excellent | 
 | experience writing Go code. | 
 |  | 
 | *See the accompanying post from the [Visual Studio Code team](https://aka.ms/go-blog-vscode-202006).* |