VSCodium is a popular open-source alternative to VS Code, built to avoid the telemetry and proprietary elements that come with Microsoft’s official build. However, the trade-off is that VSCodium doesn’t have direct access to the official Microsoft marketplace, meaning you can’t install closed-source extensions like Laravel out of the box.

If you’re fine with the trade-off of using proprietary extensions in your otherwise open-source editor, you can make VSCodium connect to Microsoft’s marketplace by spoofing the product name and service URL. This allows you to install extensions like Laravel, but be aware you’re bypassing some of VSCodium’s core principles.

Steps to Enable the Microsoft Marketplace on VSCodium (macOS)

1. Create the product.json File
   Go to your VSCodium config directory. On macOS, it’s located at:

   $HOME/Library/Application Support/VSCodium

   If the folder doesn’t exist, create it.

2. Add Configuration
   Inside this folder, create a file named product.json and add the following content:

    {
      "nameShort": "Visual Studio Code",
      "nameLong": "Visual Studio Code",
      "extensionsGallery": {
        "serviceUrl": "https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/_apis/public/gallery",
        "cacheUrl": "https://vscode.blob.core.windows.net/gallery/index",
        "itemUrl": "https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items"
      }
    }

3. Restart VSCodium
   After saving the changes, restart VSCodium. This will reconfigure it to use the official marketplace URLs.

4. Install Laravel
   Now, you should be able to install Laravel and other proprietary extensions directly from the Microsoft marketplace via the Extensions tab.

Reverting to VSCodium’s Default Marketplace

If you want to revert to using VSCodium’s default, open-source marketplace (which doesn’t include Microsoft’s proprietary extensions), simply remove the product.json file.

Steps to Revert:

1. Delete the product.json File
   Navigate back to the directory:

   $HOME/Library/Application Support/VSCodium

   Delete the product.json file you created earlier.

2. Restart VSCodium
   After removing the file, restart VSCodium to revert to the original configuration that connects to VSCodium’s open-source marketplace.

Now VSCodium will be back to its default, telemetry-free, open-source state, where you won’t have access to Microsoft’s proprietary extensions, but you’ll enjoy the privacy and freedom of the open-source ecosystem.