Fixing "Suspicious Content" Errors When Publishing VS Code Extensions

A developer's guide to resolving false positive security detection during VS Code Marketplace submission

As-salamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh!

The Problem

If you're a VS Code extension developer, you may have encountered the frustrating "Your extension has suspicious content" error when trying to publish your extension to the Visual Studio Code Marketplace. This error can appear even when your extension is completely legitimate, leaving you stuck and unable to share your work with the community.

Unfortunately, there's limited documentation available online to help developers resolve it. After experiencing this problem firsthand and finding a solution by the help of Allah, I wanted to share this fix to help other developers who might be facing the same challenge.

My Experience

I encountered this error repeatedly when trying to publish my VS Code extensions. Despite reaching out to the VS Code team via email, I found their support to be unresponsive and unhelpful. The automated security scanning system kept flagging my extension with "Your extension has suspicious content" warnings, even though it was completely safe.

Frustrated by the lack of support and documentation, I decided to take a different approach and used AI tools like GitHub Copilot to help diagnose the issue. Here's an important tip: I had to query the AI multiple times to get the solution. AI models are non-deterministic and provide different responses each time, so think of it as running a while loop - keep asking until you get a response that contains the breakthrough insight you need, even if seventy times!

The Solution Discovery

I asked GitHub Copilot to analyze my extension and identify potential files that might be triggering false positives in the security detection system. The AI provided several potential reasons, but one suggestion stood out as particularly relevant:

The issue was in my React webview build folder.

Specifically, Copilot identified that files like script.js and serviceWorker.js in the React build output could be causing the suspicious content detection to trigger false positives.

The Fix

The solution turned out to be surprisingly simple:

1. Navigate to your webview folder (typically where your React or other framework builds are located)

2. Identify and delete the following files:

   • script.js

   • serviceWorker.js

   • Any other similar utility/service files that aren't essential to your extension's core functionality

3. Re-package and upload your extension

These files are often generated automatically by build tools but are completely redundant for VS Code extensions. They serve no functional purpose in the extension environment and only trigger false positives in the security scanning process.

Why This Works

VS Code's automated security scanning system appears to flag certain JavaScript files that are commonly associated with web applications, particularly service workers and generic script files. These files, while harmless in a web context, can trigger overly aggressive malware detection when found in extension packages.

By removing these unnecessary files, you eliminate the false positive triggers while maintaining all the functionality your extension needs.

Important Notes

• This solution specifically applies to extensions that use webviews with frameworks like React, Vue, or similar

• The deleted files are build artifacts that don't affect your extension's functionality

• Always test your extension locally after removing these files to ensure everything still works as expected

• This fix addresses false positives only - if your extension genuinely contains problematic code, this won't resolve legitimate security concerns

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Prevention for Future Extensions

When building VS Code extensions with webviews:

1. Configure your build process to exclude unnecessary service workers and utility scripts

2. Review your build output before packaging to identify potentially problematic files

3. Test your extension thoroughly in a clean environment before submission

Conclusion

This simple fix resolved my publishing issues completely, Alhamdulillah, and I was able to successfully upload my extensions to the VS Code Marketplace without any further problems. Given the lack of available documentation on this specific issue, I hope this guide will help other developers who find themselves in the same situation, InshaaAllah.

If you're still experiencing issues after trying this solution, consider using AI tools like GitHub Copilot to help analyze your extension structure and identify other potential causes of false positive detections.

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Have you encountered similar issues with VS Code extension publishing? Feel free to share your experiences and solutions with the developer community.