Add context menu option to generate snapshots for .bicepparam files

[Siebe Verschaeve (verschaevesiebe)]

Description

Added a context menu option to generate snapshots for .bicepparam files in VS Code. Users can now right-click a Bicep parameters file and select "Generate Snapshot" to create a .snapshot.json file, making the existing bicep snapshot CLI command accessible directly from the editor.

Fixes #18861 (only UI, pattern needs to be checked with PG if feature is wanted, i would assume the generate button is already sufficient)

generate.snapshot.vsc.ui.mp4

Example Usage

Before: Users had to manually run bicep snapshot <file>.bicepparam from the command line.

After: Users can right-click any .bicepparam file in VS Code and select "Bicep: Generate Snapshot":

Context Menu Locations:

• Right-click in File Explorer
• Right-click on editor tab
• Right-click within editor
• Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P → "Bicep: Generate Snapshot")

Example Output:
Snapshot generation succeeded. Created file c:\path\to\file.snapshot.json
The generated .snapshot.json file will appear alongside the .bicepparam file.

Checklist

• I have read and adhere to the contribution guide.

Microsoft Reviewers: Open in CodeFlow

[Siebe Verschaeve (verschaevesiebe)]

The "Generate Snapshot" command currently only uses overwrite mode (creates or updates the .snapshot.json file). The CLI supports two modes:

• --mode overwrite (default in this PR): Creates or overwrites the snapshot file
• --mode validate: Checks if an existing snapshot matches what would be generated

I chose overwrite as the default since it's the most straightforward use case for the VS Code UI. If there's a need to also support validate mode (e.g., as a separate command), I'm happy to add that.

[Anthony Martin (anthony-c-martin)]

I think realistically we'd need a way for someone to supply these inputs, but this would result in a complex UI experience, unless we're able to save the values somewhere.

[Shenglong Li (shenglol)]

I think we can build a tree view for selecting scope later. It would be great if both deploy pane and the snapshot command can share the same UI.

[stephaniezyen]

Siebe Verschaeve (@verschaevesiebe) Are you still active on this PR?

[Siebe Verschaeve (verschaevesiebe)]

stephaniezyen happy to follow up, if we go with the first proposal the PR is ready i believe (needs main merged first and confirm functionality still works).

What is still expected to get it merged ? I see CI is failing on docs.

Thanks.