Zephyr Workbench, a VSCode extension to manage Zephyr on STM32.
It enables users to easily create, develop, and debug Zephyr applications.
Main features:
Install host dependencies.
Import toolchain and SDK.
Create, configure, build and manage apps.
Debug STM32.
You can directly download it from the VSCode marketplace
For more details, visit the Zephyr Workbench
No no the progress view. This view is not displayed by default, you can open it via Window -> Show View -> other... -> General -> progress
This view show you all operations in progress. And maybe it will help you to understand what happens during these 15 seconds.