We’re pleased to announce the second release candidate for Node.js Tools for Visual Studio 1.0.

Node.js Tools for Visual Studio (NTVS) is a free, open-source plug-in that turns Visual Studio into a Node.js Integrated Development Environment (IDE). It supports a broad range of features including editing, IntelliSense, cross platform and remote debugging, edit and continue, npm integration, profiling, TypeScript, and an integrated REPL window. NTVS also includes a list of project templates that make it easy to quickly create and deploy websites to Microsoft Azure Websites or Cloud Services.

NTVS 1.0 RC2 is available for:

• Visual Studio Community 2013
• Visual Studio 2013 Express for Web (requires Update 2 or later)
• Visual Studio 2013 Professional or above (requires Update 2 or later)
• Visual Studio 2012 Professional or above (requires Update 4)

Note that NTVS is not available for Visual Studio Express for Windows (or Windows Desktop)

Known Issues

• Node.js versions 0.10.34 and 0.10.35 break debugger functionality. A fix is expected in version 0.10.36, but until then we recommend version 0.10.33.
• Be sure to customize the .gitignore file that Visual Studio places into your solution when you enable git source control, otherwise you may face issues with commits or continuous deployment.
• ReSharper is known to cause code-completion, memory, and performance issues when enabled alongside NTVS. We recommend disabling at least ReSharper's JavaScript functionality if you are having problems.
• NTVS does not fully support build and test features of Visual Studio Online, but we are working to improve the experience. If you are having trouble, please file an issue or post in our forums so that we can get to the bottom of it.
• We are constantly working to improve our code-completion and formatting to support the wide variety of modules and code styles. Please file an issue if you are running into unexpected behavior.

Changes since 1.0 RC

For RC2 we've made many bug fixes throughout the entire product, especially in the areas of TypeScript support, debugging, npm integration, and general stability/performance.

Some highlights:

• Increased performance, stability, fit and finish
• Improved TypeScript support across the entire product (IntelliSense, compiling, debugging, tests, project build)
• New files can now be added to a Node.js project while the server is running (known limitation: folders cannot be added)
• The “Install New npm Packages” dialog has a new shortcut key (Ctrl+K, G). Additionally it includes improved support for custom registries and better sorting of results.

Contributors

We expect the RC2 release to provide both a much better user experience and improved stability. Thanks so much to everyone who took their time to report issues and send feedback for this release. We very much appreciate your help!

• AaronNGray, andrees, avidmost, bkramer, bnguyen, cascadia, IssamK, jerone, nabog, TMiguelT

We would also like to send special thanks to ewlloyd and jeffpanic75 for contributing to this release through pull requests.

Help Make NTVS Better

NTVS is an open source project and we’re always willing to take high quality contributions. If you’d like to contribute, please check out our issue tracker for outstanding bugs and features which can be implemented. You can also help make NTVS better by reporting and upvoting issues, or helping out your fellow users on our forums.