Microsoft is offering developers who want to create add-in apps for its Office products a new tool for use in Visual Studio Code. It's called the Office Add-ins Development Kit, and it's available now and currently labeled as a public preview version.
In a blog post, Microsoft says that this new toolkit is for developers who want to make Office Add-ins "with the XML-formatted add-in only manifest." In order to get access to it, just launch Visual Studio Code, then click on the View option at the top, followed by the Extensions selection. You can then type in Office Add-ins Development Kit in the search box. You should then be able to select the kit and then select Install.
The Office Add-ins Development Kit has two options for developers who want to begin making their add-in app. One is Templates, which lets developers pick which Office application they want to make an add-in app for, along with their preferred programming language and a starting feature. The other option is Samples, which lets developers check out more complete add-in apps.
Here are the features included for developers in the Office Add-ins Development Kit:
- Quick start: Initialize Office add-in projects with clicks on UI.
- Auto-install dependencies: Automatically install necessary npm package dependencies.
- Easy preview: Click to sideload and immediately preview your add-in in Office.
- Real-time update: Make code changes and see them instantly in your sideloaded add-in.
- Sample gallery: Browse through a gallery of samples that showcase various features and scenarios of Office Add-ins
At the moment, the kit can only create add-ins for Excel, PowerPoint, and Word apps. Microsoft says it is working on support for creating add-ins for additional Office apps with the kit. There's no word on when the kit will leave the public preview stage and become generally available.
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