Generating the launch.json and tasks.json files for VS Code

For many years while using VS Code there was a .vscode directory with a tasks.json and a launch.json file. These files were used to configure the build and debug process. I have edited these files to start the browser to a specific URL, and to pass arguments to the application being debugged.

But in more recent versions of VS Code, these files are not automatically created. I have sometimes copied/pasted them from older applications, but this is a bit of a pain.

However, there is another way!

Open the command palette (CTRL-Shift-p) and start typing “generate”, you will see a command labeled “.NET: Generate Assets for Build and Debug”.

Click on this to create the .vscode directory with the launch.json and tasks.json files.