Quarto Wizard 2.0.0: Native Extension Management and Batch Operations

Quarto Wizard 2.0.0 brings native extension management without CLI dependency, batch operations, multi-extension selection, and a new documentation website.

quarto
vscode
positron
extensions
productivity
Author

Mickaël CANOUIL, Ph.D.

Published

Monday, the 12th of January, 2026

Cartoon dog wizard wearing blue hat with red band holding magic wand creating HTML and CSS code scrolls in starry night scene.

Quarto Wizard 2.0.0 is here with a major architectural overhaul and powerful new features for managing your Quarto extensions.

Quarto Wizard 2.0.0 is now available!

Upgrade today from the VS Code marketplace or Open VSX Registry.

From 1.0.0 to 2.0.0

Version 1.0.0 was not around for long. As I worked on improving Quarto Wizard and enabling features beyond what the Quarto CLI offers, what started as small enhancements quickly grew into a major internal refactoring. The result is a more powerful and self-contained extension.

No more Quarto CLI dependency.

The biggest change in 2.0.0: Quarto Wizard no longer requires the Quarto CLI for extension management. The extension now handles everything natively, including:

  • Downloading and extracting extension archives directly.
  • GitHub API integration for repository access.
  • Proxy support via environment variables (HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY, NO_PROXY).

This means faster installations and fewer external dependencies.

What’s New

Extension Type Filtering

Quickly filter extensions by type when browsing the registry.

The extension browser interface showing extension type filters with options for Shortcodes, Filters, Formats, Reveal.js Plugins, and Projects.

The extension browser interface showing extension type filters with options for Shortcodes, Filters, Formats, Reveal.js Plugins, and Projects.

Multi-Extension Selection

When installing from repositories containing multiple extensions, select exactly which ones you need.

The QuickPick dialog showing a list of discovered extensions with checkboxes for multi-selection when installing from a repository containing multiple extensions.

The QuickPick dialog showing a list of discovered extensions with checkboxes for multi-selection when installing from a repository containing multiple extensions.

Template File Selection

Choose which files to copy when using templates, with support for target subdirectories.

The QuickPick dialog showing available template files to copy with checkboxes for selective file installation.

The QuickPick dialog showing available template files to copy with checkboxes for selective file installation.

Private Repositories

Access private GitHub repositories with improved authentication support.

The input dialog for entering a GitHub personal access token for private repository access.

The input dialog for entering a GitHub personal access token for private repository access.

Authentication priority: Manual token > VS Code GitHub session > Environment variables.

Quarto Version Validation

Get warned before installing extensions that require a newer Quarto version.

The warning dialog indicating that the extension version requirement is not met, showing the required and current Quarto versions with options to Install Anyway or Cancel.

The warning dialog indicating that the extension version requirement is not met, showing the required and current Quarto versions with options to Install Anyway or Cancel.

Note

Requires to have Quarto VSCode/Positron extension and Quarto CLI installed for version detection.

Install from Specific References

Install extensions from specific commits, tags, or branches using the format owner/repo@reference.

New Commands

  • Install Extension from Registry - Direct registry installation.
  • Install Extension from URL - Install from archive URLs.
  • Install Extension from Local - Install from local directories or archives.
  • Update All Extensions - Batch update all outdated extensions.
  • Remove Multiple Extensions - Batch removal of extensions.
  • Clear Extension Cache - Force registry refresh.
  • Set GitHub Token (Manual) - Configure authentication.
  • Clear GitHub Token - Remove stored token.

New Configuration Options

  • quartoWizard.cache.ttlMinutes - Configure cache duration.
  • quartoWizard.registry.url - Use a custom registry URL.

Documentation Website

A new comprehensive documentation website is now available at m.canouil.dev/quarto-wizard, featuring:

  • User guide with step-by-step instructions.
  • Command and configuration reference.
  • API documentation for developers.

Breaking Changes

  • Removed quartoWizard.quarto.path setting (no longer needed).
  • Quarto CLI is no longer required for extension operations.

Ready to upgrade? Install Quarto Wizard 2.0.0 from the VS Code Marketplace or Open VSX Registry.

What’s Next

This major refactoring introduced @quarto-wizard/core, a platform-agnostic package for extension management.

Next on the roadmap: a new version of the Quarto Extensions Updater GitHub Action that will leverage this core package, bringing the same native installation capabilities to your CI/CD workflows.

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Footnotes

  1. Not published on any registry.↩︎