Manage Client-Side Libraries opens libman.json not UI Dialog

[mgamache]

The title pretty much sums it up. If I choose "Manage Client-Side Libraries" from my project menu Visual Studio opens the libman.json file not UI Dialog. At one point this was working, but it's not anymore. I am using VS 15.9.4. Tried deleting the libman.json and the .vs folder file but it doesn't help. Also tried restarting my machine. Note: It's also not working in my VS 2019 preview.

thanks

[jodavis]

The dialog is accessed by right-clicking on a folder and choosing Add->Client Side Library...

The "Manage Client-Side Libraries" command opens libman.json to allow you to remove or change versions. When you save the file, LibMan will automatically update the downloaded files.

We understand that this is a little confusing, so we'll keep this item open to review the UX for the feature.

[mgamache]

Thanks for the clarification. Yes, the UI is a little confusing. Most GUI menu items to set options lead to dialogs. Are there others that just lead to opening an xml/json config file?

[peteralbanese]

Is LibMan still the preferred way to pull down client side libraries in visual studio 2019?

[jodavis]

@peteralbanese It depends. LibMan isn't intended as a replacement for npm or other package managers, so if you're already using a package manager then you can continue to use that.

LibMan is intended to solve a simpler case where you just want to get some 3rd-party library files without all the overhead of a package manager. For that scenario, LibMan continues to be fully supported.

[WeiB71]

right click on the project then add then add client side library