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Make the VSCE experience feel more native to VS Code

Created by: jjinnii

Feature request description

Based on internal feedback, the current implementation of the extension feels not native to VS Code. This is a result of using Sourcegraph UI components, pulled in from webview, instead of utilizing VS Code's native UI elements. As a user of VS Code, I like and appreciate when my extensions feel native and seamless to my editor.

It is our hypothesis that improving the "native" integration of our extension will improve recurring usage.

Describe alternatives you've considered.

@olafurpg's original version of the extension utilized notebooks to create a search experience that felt very native to VS Code. However, the team moved forward with a Webview implementation based on the technical restrictions that came with notebooks as well as QuickPick.

Additional context

User testing also uncovered that just exposing the Sourcegraph search input field (even if it looks "native" to vS Code) makes it extremely difficult for users who are new to Sourcegraph to understand how to use the extension. There was a user need here to onboard and teach users about Sourcegraph and how to use the extension, within the extension itself.

Based on this:

  • How might we make the extension feel more native while maintaining the webview implementation?
  • How might we include features to help new users onboard and promote account creation, but still have the extension feel native to an editor?