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Installation and Setup

What you need

For the full AXSG VS Code workflow you need:

  • VS Code 1.95 or newer
  • a workspace that contains .xaml or .axaml files
  • a working .NET SDK on PATH
  • a buildable Avalonia executable for preview

If your XAML lives in a library project, the preview still needs a runnable Avalonia host application. Configure that with axsg.preview.hostProject.

Install the extension

The repository packages the extension from:

  • tools/vscode/axsg-language-server

Typical local workflow:

  1. build/package the VSIX from that folder
  2. install the generated .vsix into VS Code
  3. reload the window
  4. open a XAML or AXAML file to activate AXSG

First-run checks

After opening a XAML file, verify:

  • the AXSG status bar item appears
  • AXSG: Show Language Server Info reports the expected launch mode
  • AXSG: Open Avalonia Preview opens a preview editor tab
  • the AXSG Inspector rail button is visible on the left activity bar

If the inspector views still appear under Explorer after updating from an older build, run View: Reset View Locations once and reload the window.

Preview setup

The recommended preview setup is now:

{
  "axsg.preview.compilerMode": "auto"
}

auto tries the AXSG source-generated preview first and falls back to the Avalonia/XamlX previewer when needed. That is the smoothest default because it keeps source-generated parity when available without forcing the workspace into a broken state when the AXSG runtime output is not ready yet.

Host-project selection

When the active XAML file belongs to a library, the extension may need help picking the executable preview host. Use:

{
  "axsg.preview.hostProject": "samples/ControlCatalog/ControlCatalog.Desktop/ControlCatalog.Desktop.csproj"
}

You can point this at either:

  • a .csproj
  • a folder that contains the desired .csproj

The extension also remembers successful host-project choices per source project in workspace state.

Output surfaces

The extension uses:

  • the AXSG Language Server output channel for language-server and preview orchestration logs
  • preview notifications for startup/update failures
  • the status bar item for quick server-state inspection

When setup looks wrong, start with the output channel before changing compiler or runtime settings.