allow undefined publisher

src/vs/workbench/services/extensions/node/extensionPoints.ts

@@ -334,6 +334,11 @@ class ExtensionManifestValidator extends ExtensionManifestHandler {
 			this._log.warn(this._absoluteFolderPath, error);
 		});
 
+		// allow publisher to be undefined to make the initial extension authoring experience smoother
+		if (!extensionDescription.publisher) {
+			extensionDescription.publisher = 'undefined_publisher';
+		}
+
 		// id := `publisher.name`
 		extensionDescription.id = `${extensionDescription.publisher}.${extensionDescription.name}`;
 
@@ -366,8 +371,8 @@ class ExtensionManifestValidator extends ExtensionManifestHandler {
 			notices.push(nls.localize('extensionDescription.empty', "Got empty extension description"));
 			return false;
 		}
-		if (typeof extensionDescription.publisher !== 'string') {
-			notices.push(nls.localize('extensionDescription.publisher', "property `{0}` is mandatory and must be of type `string`", 'publisher'));
+		if (typeof extensionDescription.publisher !== 'undefined' && typeof extensionDescription.publisher !== 'string') {
+			notices.push(nls.localize('extensionDescription.publisher', "property publisher must be of type `string`."));
 			return false;
 		}
 		if (typeof extensionDescription.name !== 'string') {