Cursor Kiro Extension Publishing

Cursor & Kiro: Publish via Open VSX

Cursor and Kiro IDE install extensions from Open VSX — not the Visual Studio Marketplace. There is no separate Kiro marketplace (Kiro extension registry docs). One Open VSX publish covers both.

Use vscode-extension-publishing first to build and validate the .vsix (npm run package, manifest, tests). This skill covers the second upload to Open VSX.

1. Same package, two registries

Upload the same {name}-{version}.vsix to both. Bump package.json → version once per release; both registries reject duplicate versions.

2. Find the extension folder

Same as VS Code publishing: run ovsx / publish scripts from the directory whose package.json has "engines": { "vscode": ... } and "contributes" (often extension/, not repo root).

3. One-time Open VSX setup

1. Sign in at open-vsx.org (GitHub OAuth).
2. Create namespace serhiivoinolovych — must match package.json → "publisher".
3. Profile → Access Tokens → create token → store as OVSX_PAT (env var or GitHub Actions secret). Never commit tokens.
4. First publish may need Eclipse Foundation review.

Verify namespace (remove unverified warning)

Creating a namespace makes you a contributor, not an owner. Extensions show verified only when the namespace has an owner (Namespace Access).

Claim ownership via the official form: Claim namespace serhiivoinolovych

Fastest path when also on VS Marketplace: Option 1 — VS Code publisher with repo in package.json; include Marketplace publisher + extension URLs in Claim evidence.

Publishing works while unverified; Cursor/Kiro may show a warning banner until ownership is approved.

4. Pre-publish checklist

From the extension directory, after vscode-extension-publishing release gate:

cd extension
npm ci
npm run compile
npm test
npm run package

Confirm the VSIX name matches package.json:

{name}-{version}.vsix    # e.g. claude-skill-deployer-1.0.20.vsix

Remove stale .vsix files with different names/versions in extension/ before publishing — scripts may pick the wrong file if the expected name is missing.

5. Publish to Open VSX

$env:OVSX_PAT = "<token-from-open-vsx.org>"
npm run publish:openvsx

Or manually:

npx ovsx publish claude-skill-deployer-1.0.20.vsix -p $env:OVSX_PAT

Project script scripts/publish-openvsx.js publishes {package.json name}-{version}.vsix only (falls back to newest matching prefix with a warning).

Publish both registries in one release:

$env:VSCE_PAT = "<azure-devops-marketplace-pat>"
$env:OVSX_PAT = "<open-vsx-pat>"
npm run publish:all

Always confirm the version bump with the user before publishing — both registries are one-way for that semver.

6. GitHub Actions (optional)

Workflow target both runs vsce publish and ovsx publish after npm run package. Secrets: VSCE_PAT, OVSX_PAT. Tag push v* or manual dispatch.

See repo extension/PUBLISHING.md, diagram/00-extension-registries.md, and skill cursor-kiro-extension-publishing for full cross-links and agent guidance.

7. Install paths (for users)

Install .vsix via VS Code / Cursor / Kiro → Extensions → Install from VSIX… — not Visual Studio's VSIX Installer.

Kiro can use synced skill files (.kiro/skills/) without the extension UI; Open VSX install is needed for the full manager sidebar in Kiro IDE.

8. Common errors

9. Hand-offs

• Package, test, VS Marketplace, manifest, .vscodeignore → vscode-extension-publishing.
• Cross-platform scripts (PS5.1 vs bash) → cross-platform-scripting.
• CI workflow failures → ci-pipeline-debug / ci-preflight.
• Record namespace/PAT quirks via self-learning.