← Appendix D Appendices

Appendix E — Release and Local VSIX Testing

Debug80 should be tested as a packaged VS Code extension before it is published. Running from the Extension Development Host is useful during development, but it does not prove that the VSIX contains the compiled extension host, webview bundles, runtime dependencies, ROM resources, schemas, syntax files, and notices that a user receives.

The source-of-truth checklist lives in debug80/docs/release-process.md. This appendix summarizes the expected flow for contributors.

Release principles

  • Build release candidates from a clean commit on main.
  • Keep runtime assembler dependencies in dependencies, not devDependencies.
  • Do not rely on globally installed asm80, npm link, or sibling checkouts.
  • Rebuild the extension and webview output before packaging.
  • Install and smoke-test the generated VSIX before marketplace publishing.

Local VSIX build

From the debug80 repository:

npm ci
npm run package:check

package:check runs type checks, the test suite, VSIX packaging, and package content verification. The generated file is written to the repository root, for example:

debug80-0.0.1.vsix

Install it into normal VS Code with:

code --install-extension debug80-0.0.1.vsix --force

Restart VS Code after installation, then open a real Debug80 project workspace.

Minimum manual smoke test

Before calling a VSIX candidate releasable, test:

  • the Debug80 view appears under Run and Debug;
  • an initialized project auto-starts;
  • TEC-1G MON3 launch works;
  • asm80 target assembly works;
  • restart works;
  • breakpoints work in included source files;
  • register editing works while paused;
  • memory editing works for RAM and ROM protection behavior is clear;
  • audio starts muted and unmutes only after user interaction.

Package contents

npm run package:verify checks the VSIX manifest. The package must include:

  • out/
  • resources/
  • roms/
  • schemas/
  • syntaxes/
  • node_modules/asm80
  • README.md
  • LICENSE or LICENSE.txt
  • THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md

It must exclude development-only material such as src/, tests/, docs/, coverage/, .github/, .vscode/, .fallow/, .claude/, and .cursor/.

Marketplace direction

Marketplace publishing should be the final step after local VSIX testing and CI gates pass. Until that process is fully automated, GitHub Releases are the safer place to attach pre-release VSIX candidates for manual testing.