Getting started with VSCodium: installation, themes, plugins, and GitHub Copilot

VSCodium is the open-source build of Visual Studio Code with Microsoft’s telemetry and proprietary bits stripped out. Same editor, same extension API, no phoning home. This guide covers installing VSCodium with Homebrew, customizing it with themes and plugins, and the manual steps for wiring in GitHub Copilot (which doesn’t ship to non-Microsoft builds by default).

Installing VSCodium with Homebrew

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Install on macOS using Homebrew. If you don’t have Homebrew, follow my post on installing it first.

1. Open your terminal and update Homebrew:

   brew update

2. Install VSCodium:

   brew install --cask vscodium

3. Launch VSCodium:

   open -a VSCodium

That gets you a VSCodium install with no telemetry attached.

Themes: Dracula and beyond

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VSCodium supports the same themes as VS Code, including the widely-used Dracula.

Installing the Dracula theme

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1. Open VSCodium and hit Cmd+Shift+P (or Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows/Linux).
2. Search for Extensions: Install Extensions and click it.
3. Type Dracula Official in the search bar.
4. Click Install.

Other dark themes worth trying:

• One Dark Pro: balanced color palette, easy on the eyes.
• Material Theme: based on Google’s Material Design palette.
• Palenight: softer contrast for long sessions.

Themes are cheap to swap. Try a few before committing.

Plugins worth installing first

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A short list that covers most day-to-day work:

• ESLint: JavaScript linting.
• Prettier: code formatter, language-agnostic.
• GitLens: blame annotations, commit history, and file timeline in-editor.
• Python: IntelliSense, debugging, and environment support.
• Live Server: local dev server with live reload, useful for static sites.
• Path Intellisense: filename autocomplete inside strings.

Installing plugins

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1. Open the Extensions view (Cmd+Shift+X or Ctrl+Shift+X).
2. Search for each extension and click Install.

Setting up GitHub Copilot in VSCodium

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Copilot ships through the Microsoft marketplace by default, which VSCodium doesn’t have configured. You can still install it, but it takes a few extra steps.

Step 1: Install GitHub Copilot extension

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1. Download the official GitHub Copilot extension .vsix file from here.

• Helpful link

2. In VSCodium, press Cmd+Shift+P (or Ctrl+Shift+P) and search for Extensions: Install from VSIX.
3. Select the .vsix file you downloaded.

Step 2: Enable Microsoft Marketplace

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To access extensions like Copilot, you’ll need to enable the Microsoft Marketplace:

1. Locate your products.json file:
   • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/VSCodium/products.json
   • Windows: %APPDATA%\VSCodium\products.json
   • Linux: ~/.config/VSCodium/products.json
2. Open the file in a text editor.
3. Add the following configuration:

   {
     "extensionsGallery": {
       "serviceUrl": "https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/_apis/public/gallery",
       "cacheUrl": "https://vscode.blob.core.windows.net/gallery/index",
       "itemUrl": "https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items"
     }
   }

Step 3: Sign in to GitHub

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1. Open VSCodium and search for Copilot: Sign In.
2. Authenticate with your GitHub account.

Step 4: Use Copilot

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Once authenticated, Copilot suggests inline as you type. The fastest way to learn its behavior is to write a comment describing what a function should do, then watch the suggestion appear on the next line.

Customizations worth turning on

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Settings to enable

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• Auto Save: avoid losing edits if the editor crashes.
• Format on Save: applies Prettier (or your formatter of choice) on every save.
• Bracket Pair Colorization: matching brackets get matching colors. Helpful in nested config files.

Exporting and sharing your setup

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To replicate your environment on another machine or share with teammates:

1. Export your extensions list:

   code --list-extensions > extensions.txt

2. Reinstall extensions on a new device:

   cat extensions.txt | xargs -n 1 code --install-extension

3. Share your settings.json and keybindings.json with teammates via a repository.

Custom tasks

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Tasks let you bind common commands

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Custom tasks turn frequently-used shell commands into one-keystroke runs. Example tasks.json that runs the current Python file:

{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "Run Python Script",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["${file}"],
      "problemMatcher": []
    }
  ]
}

Bound to a keyboard shortcut, this replaces a half-dozen mouse clicks per run.

Closing notes

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VSCodium gives you the VS Code experience without the telemetry, and the Dracula-plus-plugins setup above is a reasonable starting point. Copilot takes a few extra steps to install but works the same once it’s running. Export your extensions list and settings.json early — that’s the single biggest payoff when you move to a new machine.