[Docs][13.3] VSCode Extension: missing conceptual documentation for 4 new APIs/behaviors

[joperezr]

Aspire 13.3 — Extensions conceptual docs gap

This issue tracks 4 Extensions changes shipped in Aspire 13.3 that introduce new APIs, behaviors, or user-visible surfaces with no conceptual documentation in microsoft/aspire.dev. This issue is scoped to the missing conceptual docs only — the What's New release-notes entries are being handled separately.

Source: 13.3 Change log wiki. Audit performed against release/13.3.

The Owner column is the author of the source PR (or first-write-access author if multiple); contributor-only rows are unowned and need to be picked up by the team. Use the Progress checklist below the table to mark items done — GitHub doesn't render checkable checkboxes inside table cells, so the checklist is separate.

Items needing docs

#	Title	Type	Source PR(s)	Suggested doc location	Owner
1	VS Code extension auto-restores packages on workspace open and config change	feature	#15546	get-started/aspire-vscode-extension.mdx (extend)	@adamint
2	AppHost CodeLens and gutter decorations in VS Code	feature	#15502	get-started/aspire-vscode-extension.mdx (extend)	@adamint
3	VS Code launch config supports env and args for AppHost	improvement	#16449	get-started/aspire-vscode-extension.mdx	@adamint
4	Enhanced VS Code resource state indicators in gutter, code lens, tree view	improvement	#15688	get-started/aspire-vscode-extension.mdx	@adamint

Progress checklist

• 1. VS Code extension auto-restores packages on workspace open and config change — @adamint
• 2. AppHost CodeLens and gutter decorations in VS Code — @adamint
• 3. VS Code launch config supports env and args for AppHost — @adamint
• 4. Enhanced VS Code resource state indicators in gutter, code lens, tree view — @adamint

Per-item rationale and content guidance

1. VS Code extension auto-restores packages on workspace open and config change

• Type: feature
• Source PR(s): #15546
• Where to add docs: get-started/aspire-vscode-extension.mdx (extend)
• Why it needs docs / what to cover: aspire.enableAutoRestore VS Code setting not documented.

2. AppHost CodeLens and gutter decorations in VS Code

• Type: feature
• Source PR(s): #15502
• Where to add docs: get-started/aspire-vscode-extension.mdx (extend)
• Why it needs docs / what to cover: AppHost CodeLens and gutter decorations are user-visible new UI surfaces in VS Code; not documented.

3. VS Code launch config supports env and args for AppHost

• Type: improvement
• Source PR(s): #16449
• Where to add docs: get-started/aspire-vscode-extension.mdx
• Why it needs docs / what to cover: VS Code launch config now supports env and args — should document.

4. Enhanced VS Code resource state indicators in gutter, code lens, tree view

• Type: improvement
• Source PR(s): #15688
• Where to add docs: get-started/aspire-vscode-extension.mdx
• Why it needs docs / what to cover: Enhanced VS Code resource state indicators in gutter / code lens / tree view — should document along with chore: Update project SDK and package versions to 13.1.0 #189.

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This issue was generated from a structured audit of the 13.3 changelog against the release/13.3 branch of aspire.dev.

[adamint]

1 should not be added. Done with #802