How can I avoid extensions that send telemetry to Microsoft?

[cultured-script-kiddie]

In docs/telemetry.md it mentions that some extensions send telemetry to Microsoft - but it gives the example ms-vscode.csharp, which does not show up as a result when I search for it in VS Codium's extensions marketplace (which I understand uses open-vsx.org?).

Other extensions with ms-vscode as the publisher do appear, such as the C/C++ Themes extension; there's also the Jupyter extension pack by ms-toolsai.

What I want to know is whether these extensions (especially the Jupyter extensions) send telemetry to Microsoft despite being from open-vsx.org, and whether there are any workarounds/alternatives if I really want to use them/something similar to them in VS Codium?

Edit: Reading open-vsx.org's description of the Jupyter extensions again, it seems like the only type of telemetry the extensions try to gather is the same type of telemetry that (I believe) VS Codium disables by default, by setting telemetry.telemetryLevel = "off". I don't want to close this discussion yet though, in case someone has anything more... concrete to say.

[sidml]

This maybe useful https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/supporting/faq#_how-to-disable-telemetry-reporting
I think when we install extensions like jupyter, chat inline suggestions and other Copilot features are enabled. We have to disable them manually from the settings.json file (~/.config/VSCodium/User/settings.json). I have disabled the following settings but I am sure that I may still have missed some other nefarious setting. Perhaps we should list all of them in FAQ for easy reference.
"jupyter.jupyterServerType": "local", "jupyter.experiments.enabled": false, "jupyter.interactiveWindow.codeLens.enable": false, "jupyter.interactiveWindow.codeLens.enableGotoCell": false, "chat.agent.enabled": false, "chat.detectParticipant.enabled": false, "chat.editing.confirmEditRequestRemoval": false, "chat.editing.confirmEditRequestRetry": false, "chat.extensionTools.enabled": false, "chat.implicitContext.enabled": { "panel": "never" }, "chat.instructionsFilesLocations": { ".github/instructions": false }, "chat.mcp.enabled": false, "chat.useFileStorage": false

[aaronthefullstackengineer]

Yo @cultured-script-kiddie 👁👅👁

Here’s a breakdown regarding telemetry for extensions in VSCodium via Open VSX:

1️⃣ ms-vscode.csharp not showing up – That’s expected. VSCodium’s marketplace is Open VSX, which doesn’t host every Microsoft extension. Some extensions are only in the official VS Code Marketplace.

2️⃣ Extensions with ms-vscode or ms-toolsai publishers that do appear (like Jupyter) – Technically, they can include telemetry code, but most of the telemetry that these extensions gather is the same type that VSCodium disables by default when you set telemetry.telemetryLevel = "off". That includes anonymous usage stats, crash reports, and experiment participation.

3️⃣ Workarounds / alternatives:

• Double-check the extension settings (usually in settings.json) for any options like experiments.enabled, jupyterServerType, or chat.agent.enabled, and disable them.
• If you want to be extra safe, you can look for community-maintained forks of these extensions in Open VSX — often they remove telemetry entirely.
• Prefer extensions whose repositories are fully open-source, so you can inspect code for telemetry calls.

✅ Bottom line: Using Jupyter and similar extensions from Open VSX in VSCodium is generally safe if your telemetry is off, but always double-check extension settings and the repo for added assurance.

Hope that helps! If anyone has concrete experiences with Jupyter telemetry in VSCodium, would love to hear them too.