Here's a list of the VSCode extensions I use the most (for Python development). I find it helpful to create profiles in VSCode for different languages, so I might do the same for others, but most of these are just general QoL improvements, not super language specific.

1. indent-rainbow

When I install VSCode on a new machine, it's jarring to not have the indentation colors since I've gotten so used to it. It's a simple improvement, but it really helps distinguish lines, and just makes it a lot easier to parse a bunch of lines at once.
indent-rainbow

2. Poetry Monorepo

This doesn't do a whole lot in my personal projects, but when I have multiple Python packages in a single repo, not having to switch the interpreter manually every time I change directories is so nice. Works pretty much flawlessly.

Poetry Monorepo

3. VSCode Icons

Another visual thing, but it's just a nice looking extension that replaces icons with file/folder name specific ones. I don't think it makes much of a difference to my productivity, but I love an aesthetically pleasing workspace!

VSCode Icons

4. CodeSnap

Codesnap is really helpful for any time you need a nice looking screenshot of a code block. You just open up the extension, highlight your code and it creates a clean looking image.

CodeSnap

5. GitGraph

I started out using GitKraken a long time ago, but GitGraph is free and generally does everything I need it too, and replaces fumbling with git commands and trying to remember commands I don't use often, and replaces it with a simple, clean GUI for exploring commit history. It's git, so I wouldn't recommend doing anything super complex via the GUI, but for quick reset actions or visualizing changes, its much easier than the CLI.

GitGraph

Extras

Those are my top 5 that you might not know about, but here's a short list of some other extensions that might be useful, or fun, but you probably either already know about or I wouldn't consider a need:

1. VSCode Pets Fun little extension to have a little tamagotchi in your IDE 😊
2. Ruff For writing Python, Ruff is my gold standard for linting, formatting, etc. The extension makes it easy to manage, and unless I have a really good reason not to, I use Ruff for every project.
   
3. Database Client If you work with databases (on a small scale), this extension is great for development and testing of the db, and has a pretty generous free plan, which is plenty functional for everything I need to do. Running quick SQL queries/commands, without SSHing to a container, or connecting via the terminal, visualizing the DB, everything is made simple with this extension.

That's it for me, if you have any extensions you think are neat, I'd love to hear about them!