VS Code Marketplace Change Tracker

Monitor the Visual Studio Code Marketplace for newly published or recently updated extensions. Filter by category and date range to track changes over time, build changelogs, or detect trends.

What you can track

• Recently updated — extensions sorted by last update date
• Newly published — extensions sorted by publication date (newest first)
• Trending — extensions rising in quality scores

Use cases

Goal	Mode
Daily changelog of VS Code ecosystem	recentlyUpdated
Discover new extensions in your category	newlyPublished + category filter
Track what's gaining momentum	trending
Monitor a specific category for changes	Any mode + category
Build a "what's new this week" report	Any mode + sinceDate
Alert when new AI extensions appear	newlyPublished + category=Chat

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Input parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Required
mode	select	recentlyUpdated, newlyPublished, trending	Yes
category	select	Filter to a single category (optional)	No
sinceDate	string	Only return extensions updated/published on or after this date. Format: YYYY-MM-DD	No
maxItems	integer	Maximum extensions to return (1–200, default 50)	No

Available categories

Programming Languages, Snippets, Linters, Themes, Debuggers, Formatters, Keymaps, SCM Providers, Other, Azure, Data Science, Machine Learning, Visualization, Notebooks, Education, Testing, Extension Packs, Language Packs, Chat

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Output fields

Each record contains all extension metadata plus a changeType field:

Field	Type	Description
extensionId	string	Internal GUID of the extension
extensionName	string	Short name (e.g., python)
displayName	string	Human-readable name
publisherName	string	Publisher slug
publisherDisplayName	string	Publisher display name
description	string	Short extension description
version	string	Latest version string
publishedDate	string	ISO-8601 date first published
lastUpdated	string	ISO-8601 date last updated
changeType	string	updated (for recentlyUpdated/trending) or new (for newlyPublished)
categories	array	Category list
tags	array	Searchable tags (internal __ tags excluded)
installCount	integer	Total install count
rating	float	Average user rating (0–5)
ratingCount	integer	Number of ratings
trendingWeekly	float	Weekly trending score
extensionUrl	string	Marketplace page URL
iconUrl	string	Extension icon URL
repositoryUrl	string	Source repository URL (when available)
licenseUrl	string	License file URL (when available)
scrapedAt	string	ISO-8601 timestamp when scraped

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Sample output

{
  "extensionId": "aaaabbbb-cccc-dddd-eeee-ffffffffffff",
  "extensionName": "ai-helper",
  "displayName": "AI Code Helper",
  "publisherName": "acmepub",
  "publisherDisplayName": "ACME Publisher",
  "description": "AI-powered code suggestions for VS Code.",
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "publishedDate": "2026-05-18T09:00:00.000+00:00",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-05-19T14:30:00.000+00:00",
  "changeType": "new",
  "categories": ["Chat"],
  "tags": ["ai", "copilot", "code-completion"],
  "installCount": 1200,
  "rating": 4.6,
  "ratingCount": 18,
  "trendingWeekly": 0.85,
  "extensionUrl": "https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=acmepub.ai-helper",
  "iconUrl": "https://acmepub.gallerycdn.vsassets.io/extensions/acmepub/ai-helper/.../icon",
  "repositoryUrl": "https://github.com/acme/ai-helper",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-05-20T10:00:00.000000+00:00"
}

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Scheduling this actor

This actor is designed for recurring runs. Suggested schedule:

Frequency	Mode	sinceDate	Use
Daily	recentlyUpdated	yesterday's date	Daily update log
Weekly	newlyPublished	7 days ago	Weekly new extensions report
Hourly	trending	—	Real-time trend monitoring

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FAQ

Do I need an API key? No. The VS Code Marketplace Gallery API is publicly accessible.

What is changeType? "new" means the extension was recently published for the first time. "updated" means it was updated since its initial release.

How does sinceDate work? For recentlyUpdated and trending, it filters by lastUpdated. For newlyPublished, it filters by publishedDate. Extensions with dates before sinceDate are excluded.

Can I combine sinceDate and category? Yes — both filters apply together.

How many results can I get? Up to 200 per run. For larger datasets or longer time windows, schedule multiple runs.

Why are some fields missing? Fields like repositoryUrl are only included when the publisher has provided them. The actor never emits null values.

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Data source

This actor uses the VS Code Marketplace Gallery API — the same endpoint VS Code uses to browse extensions. No authentication required.