From 9c3dc802e83df7662cc67e21b1f4bebd40433992 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Omotola Akeredolu <oakeredolu@microsoft.com>
Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2026 09:57:52 -0700
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] feat: support vsInstanceVersion vendor field for Ninja
 presets (#4698)

Allow users to specify a preferred Visual Studio major version in
CMakePresets.json vendor settings, enabling VS instance selection for
Ninja generator presets without hardcoding installation paths.

Example preset configuration:
{
  "vendor": {
    "microsoft.com/VisualStudioSettings/CMake/1.0": {
      "vsInstanceVersion": 17
    }
  }
}

This picks the VS2022 (major version 17) dev environment even when
VS2026 (major version 18) is also installed.

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
---
 src/presets/preset.ts | 25 ++++++++++++++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 24 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/src/presets/preset.ts b/src/presets/preset.ts
index cb518d3fa..486495d4a 100644
--- a/src/presets/preset.ts
+++ b/src/presets/preset.ts
@@ -222,7 +222,10 @@ export type OsName = "Windows" | "Linux" | "macOS";
 
 export type VendorVsSettings = {
     'microsoft.com/VisualStudioSettings/CMake/1.0': {
-        hostOS: OsName | OsName[];
+        hostOS?: OsName | OsName[];
+        intelliSenseMode?: string;
+        sourceDir?: string;
+        vsInstanceVersion?: number;
         [key: string]: any;
     };
     [key: string]: any;
@@ -906,6 +909,20 @@ async function getVsDevEnv(opts: VsDevEnvOptions): Promise<EnvironmentWithNull |
         }
     }
 
+    // If VS instance wasn't chosen using CMAKE_GENERATOR_INSTANCE, check the vendor field
+    // for a preferred VS major version (e.g., 17 for VS2022, 18 for VS2026).
+    // This allows users to pin a specific VS version for the dev environment in Ninja presets.
+    let vendorVsVersion: number | undefined;
+    if (!vsInstall) {
+        const vendorSettings = (opts.preset.vendor as VendorVsSettings)?.['microsoft.com/VisualStudioSettings/CMake/1.0'];
+        if (vendorSettings?.vsInstanceVersion) {
+            vendorVsVersion = vendorSettings.vsInstanceVersion;
+            log.info(localize('using.vendor.vs.version',
+                "Configure preset {0}: Using Visual Studio major version {1} from vendor settings.",
+                opts.preset.name, vendorVsVersion));
+        }
+    }
+
     // If VS instance wasn't chosen using CMAKE_GENERATOR_INSTANCE, look up a matching instance
     // that supports the specified toolset.
     if (!vsInstall) {
@@ -931,6 +948,12 @@ async function getVsDevEnv(opts: VsDevEnvOptions): Promise<EnvironmentWithNull |
                         vsInstall = vs;
                         break;
                     }
+                } else if (vendorVsVersion) {
+                    // If a VS major version is specified via vendor settings, match against it.
+                    if (vs.installationVersion.startsWith(vendorVsVersion.toString())) {
+                        vsInstall = vs;
+                        break;
+                    }
                 } else if (!vsGeneratorVersion || vs.installationVersion.startsWith(vsGeneratorVersion.toString())) {
                     // If no toolset version specified then choose the latest VS instance for the given generator
                     vsInstall = vs;

From 8ca2383d82d9004a97554a79a09fb9076fe66c01 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Omotola Akeredolu <oakeredolu@microsoft.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2026 12:16:10 -0700
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] Add CHANGELOG entry for vsInstanceVersion Ninja preset
 support (#4698)

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot-Session: e55cc9b5-dc8d-413d-a219-8c6418ec1d25
---
 CHANGELOG.md | 1 +
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f2792e9df..c8a42204d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ Improvements:
 - Improve ergonomics of the test explorer UI by removing the project source directory, improving horizontal scrolling experience. [#4562](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-cmake-tools/issues/4562) [@miss-programgamer](https://github.com/miss-programgamer)
 - Auto-generate `docs/cmake-settings.md` from `package.json` via CI so documentation never drifts from actual settings. [#4007](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-cmake-tools/issues/4007)
 - Pass mandatory compiler arguments from `CMAKE_<LANG>_COMPILER` to cpptools so it can properly determine system include paths and built-in preprocessor macro definitions. Requires CMake 4.3 or newer. [#4627](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-cmake-tools/pull/4627) [@cwalther](https://github.com/cwalther)
+- Add support for a `vsInstanceVersion` vendor field in `CMakePresets.json` so Ninja configure presets can target a specific installed Visual Studio instance (by version) when bootstrapping the developer environment, instead of always using the latest. [#4698](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-cmake-tools/issues/4698)
 
 Bug Fixes:
 - Fix running a single test from the inline Test CodeLens or the project outline building the default (or all) target instead of the test's own executable; single-test runs now build only that test's target.