VS Code Extension Removed & Marketplace Login Blocked (429 Error)

The most important point is: treat the extension removal and the Marketplace 429 login block as a Visual Studio Marketplace publisher support issue, not as something that can be fixed from VS Code itself. The Activity ID, timestamp, publisher ID, and extension ID are the key data Microsoft needs to correlate the backend request.

I would handle it in this order:

1. Stop repeated sign-in retries for a while. A 429 means the service is throttling or blocking requests because a rate/concurrency threshold was exceeded. Repeating the same sign-in flow can keep the condition active longer.
2. Try once from a clean browser profile or private window, and preferably from a different network, only to rule out a stuck browser/session/proxy condition.
3. Collect the exact evidence: Marketplace URL, publisher ID, extension ID, timestamp UTC, Activity ID, the full 429 text, and a screenshot of the removed/blocked state.
4. Contact the Visual Studio Marketplace support team. The VS Code publishing documentation says that for VS Marketplace account or extension publishing support, publishers should sign in to Manage Publishers & Extensions and use Contact Microsoft at the top right.
5. In the support request, explicitly ask whether the extension was removed, unpublished, suspended, or hidden by a Marketplace policy/review action.

Suggested private support text:

We need Visual Studio Marketplace publisher support.

Issue:

• VS Code extension appears removed or inaccessible from Marketplace.

• Publisher cannot access the Marketplace publisher dashboard after sign-in.

• Marketplace returns HTTP 429 / "Woah, that's a lot of requests".

• Error mentions resource "Concurrency" in namespace "VSID".

Correlation:

• Timestamp UTC: [insert timestamp]

• Activity ID: [insert Activity ID]

• Publisher ID: [insert publisher ID]

• Extension ID / itemName: [insert extension ID]

• Marketplace URL: [insert URL]

Requested action:

Please confirm whether the extension was removed, unpublished, suspended, hidden by policy/review, or affected by a service-side account/rate-limit block, and advise how the publisher account can be restored or reviewed.

For the Authenticator/MFA part: an unexpected Authenticator prompt is a separate security signal. Microsoft documents that you should review recent account activity and secure the account if you do not recognize activity. I would change the password, review recent sign-ins, revoke old sessions/tokens if available, and make sure publisher access is not dependent on a compromised Personal Access Token. But I would not state that a brute-force attempt caused the Marketplace 429 unless Microsoft support confirms that.

Also check your publishing setup while waiting: the VS Code publishing documentation notes that Marketplace publishing uses Azure DevOps-backed services, and it recommends more secure Microsoft Entra ID-based publishing over long-lived PATs where possible. If you still use PAT-based publishing, rotate the PAT after the account review and ensure it has only the required Marketplace Manage scope.

Relevant documentation:

• Publishing Extensions - VS Code docs: https://code.visualstudio.com/api/working-with-extensions/publishing-extension
• Visual Studio Marketplace publisher management: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/manage/publishers/
• What happens if there is an unusual sign-in to your Microsoft account: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/accounts-billing/security/what-happens-if-there-s-an-unusual-sign-in-to-your-account
• Check recent sign-in activity for your Microsoft account: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/check-the-recent-sign-in-activity-for-your-microsoft-account-5b3cfb8e-70b3-2bd6-9a56-a50177863357

Disclosure: Drafted with help from ChatGPT and reviewed against the Microsoft documentation linked above.