How can I get all the launch targets from a workspace without duplicates?

[arghness]

If I have a "launch {}" section in my workspace file, and a .vscode/launch.json file in the folder, the "Run and Debug" tab lists all the launch targets from both sources in the pulldown, and indicates where each one came from (the workspace or the folder).

I'm not sure how to recreate a list like this for an extension.

I want to be able to correctly handle:

1. launch configurations just in .vscode/launch.json.
2. launch configurations just in a workspace file.
3. launch configurations in both.

const launchConfig = vscode.workspace.getConfiguration(
    'launch',
    workspaceFolder.uri
);
const workspaceLaunchConfig = vscode.workspace.workspaceFile ? vscode.workspace.getConfiguration(
    'launch'
) : undefined;

This works for (3), but if I remove .vscode/launch.json , the first call also returns the 2 launch configurations from the workspace file, so I end up with duplicates, and I can't tell where each one came from (the workspace or the folder) to be able to deduplicate them in the case where they may have the same name.

Any ideas, please?

[shishir1171-cell]

You can find links to some release downloads at the top of a version's release notes:

Download links in release notes

If you need a type of installation not listed there, you can manually download via the following URLs:

Expand table
Download type URL
Windows x64 System installer https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/win32-x64/stable
Windows x64 User installer https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/win32-x64-user/stable
Windows x64 zip https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/win32-x64-archive/stable
Windows x64 CLI https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/cli-win32-x64/stable
Windows Arm64 System installer https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/win32-arm64/stable
Windows Arm64 User installer https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/win32-arm64-user/stable
Windows Arm64 zip https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/win32-arm64-archive/stable
Windows Arm64 CLI https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/cli-win32-arm64/stable
macOS Universal https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/darwin-universal/stable
macOS Intel chip https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/darwin/stable
macOS Intel chip CLI https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/cli-darwin-x64/stable
macOS Apple silicon https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/darwin-arm64/stable
macOS Apple silicon CLI https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/cli-darwin-arm64/stable
Linux x64 https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/linux-x64/stable
Linux x64 debian https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/linux-deb-x64/stable
Linux x64 rpm https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/linux-rpm-x64/stable
Linux x64 snap https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/linux-snap-x64/stable
Linux x64 CLI https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/cli-linux-x64/stable
Linux Arm32 https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/linux-armhf/stable
Linux Arm32 debian https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/linux-deb-armhf/stable
Linux Arm32 rpm https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/linux-rpm-armhf/stable
Linux Arm32 CLI https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/cli-linux-armhf/stable
Linux Arm64 https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/linux-arm64/stable
Linux Arm64 debian https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/linux-deb-arm64/stable
Linux Arm64 rpm https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/linux-rpm-arm64/stable
Linux Arm64 CLI https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/cli-linux-arm64/stable
Substitute the specific release you want in the {version} placeholder. For example, to download the Linux Arm64 debian version for 1.83.1, you would use

Bash

https://update.code.visualstudio.com/1.83.1/linux-deb-arm64/stable
You can use the version string latest, if you'd like to always download the latest VS Code stable version.

Windows 32-bit versions
Windows x86 32-bit versions are no longer actively supported after release 1.83 and could pose a security risk.

Expand table
Download type URL
Windows x86 System installer https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/win32/stable
Windows x86 User installer https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/win32-user/stable
Windows x86 zip https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/win32-archive/stable
Windows x86 CLI https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/cli-win32-ia32/stable
Prerelease versions
Want an early peek at new VS Code features? You can try prerelease versions of VS Code by installing the "Insiders" build. The Insiders build installs side by side to your stable VS Code install and has isolated settings, configurations, and extensions. The Insiders build is updated nightly so you'll get the latest bug fixes and feature updates from the day before.

To install the Insiders build, go to the Insiders download page.

How do I opt out of VS Code auto-updates?
By default, VS Code is set up to auto-update for macOS and Windows users when we release new updates. If you do not want to get automatic updates, you can set the Update: Mode setting from default to none.

To modify the update mode, go to File > Preferences > Settings, search for update mode and change the setting to none.

If you use the JSON editor for your settings, add the following line:

JSON

"update.mode": "none"

You can install a previous release of VS Code by uninstalling your current version and then installing the download provided at the top of a specific release notes page.

Note: On Linux: If the VS Code repository was installed correctly then your system package manager should handle auto-updating in the same way as other packages on the system. See Installing VS Code on Linux.

Opt out of extension updates
By default, VS Code will also auto-update extensions as new versions become available. If you do not want extensions to automatically update, you can clear the Extensions: Auto Update check box in the Settings editor (Ctrl+,).

If you use the JSON editor to modify your settings, add the following line:

JSON

"extensions.autoUpdate": false

Where can I find the Visual Studio Code icons?
Are there guidelines for using the icons and names?

You can download the official Visual Studio Code icons and read the usage guidelines at Icons and names usage guidelines.

What is a VS Code "workspace"?
A VS Code "workspace" is usually just your project root folder. VS Code uses the "workspace" concept in order to scope project configurations such as project-specific settings as well as config files for debugging and tasks. Workspace files are stored at the project root in a .vscode folder. You can also have more than one root folder in a VS Code workspace through a feature called Multi-root workspaces.

You can learn more in the What is a VS Code "workspace"? article.

Problems and issues
Installation appears to be corrupt [Unsupported]
VS Code does a background check to detect if the installation has been changed on disk and if so, you will see the text [Unsupported] in the title bar. This is done since some extensions directly modify (patch) the VS Code product in such a way that is semi-permanent (until the next update) and this can cause hard to reproduce issues. We are not trying to block VS Code patching, but we want to raise awareness that patching VS Code means you are running an unsupported version. Reinstalling VS Code will replace the modified files and silence the warning.

You may also see the [Unsupported] message if VS Code files have been mistakenly quarantined or removed by anti-virus software (see issue #94858 for an example). Check your anti-virus software settings and reinstall VS Code to repair the missing files.

Resolving shell environment fails
When VS Code is launched from a terminal (for example, via code .), it has access to environment settings defined in your .bashrc or .zshrc files. This means features like tasks or debug targets also have access to those settings.

However, when launching from your platform's user interface (for example, the VS Code icon in the macOS dock), you normally are not running in the context of a shell and you don't have access to those environment settings. This means that depending on how you launch VS Code, you may not have the same environment.

To work around this, when launched via a UI gesture, VS Code will start a small process to run (or "resolve") the shell environment defined in your, .bashrc, .zshrc, or PowerShell profile files. If, after a configurable timeout (via application.shellEnvironmentResolutionTimeout, defaults to 10 seconds), the shell environment has still not been resolved or resolving failed for any other reason, VS Code will abort the "resolve" process, launch without your shell's environment settings, and you will see an error like the following:

Shell environment startup error

If the error message indicates that resolving your shell environment took too long, the steps below can help you investigate what might be causing slowness. You can also increase the timeout by configuring the application.shellEnvironmentResolutionTimeout setting. But keep in mind that increasing this value means you will have to wait longer to use some of the features in VS Code, such as extensions.

If you see other errors, please create an issue to get help.

Investigate slow shell initialization
The process outlined below may help you identify which parts of your shell initialization are taking the most time:

Open your shell's startup file (for example, in VS Code by typing ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc in Quick Open (Ctrl+P)).
Selectively comment out potentially long running operations (such as nvm if you find that).
Save and fully restart VS Code.
Continue commenting out operations until the error disappears.
Note: While nvm is a powerful and useful Node.js package manager, it can cause slow shell startup times, if being run during shell initialization. You might consider package manager alternatives such as asdf or search on the internet for nvm performance suggestions.

Launch VS Code from a terminal
If modifying your shell environment isn't practical, you can avoid VS Code's resolving shell environment phase by launching VS Code directly from a fully initialized terminal.

Typing code from an open terminal will launch VS Code with your last workspace.
Typing code . will launch VS Code open to the current folder.
VS Code is blank?
The Electron shell used by Visual Studio Code has trouble with some GPU (graphics processing unit) hardware acceleration. If VS Code is displaying a blank (empty) main window, you can try disabling GPU acceleration when launching VS Code by adding the Electron --disable-gpu command-line switch.

Bash

code --disable-gpu
If this happened after an update, deleting the GPUCache directory can resolve the issue.

Bash

rm -r ~/.config/Code/GPUCache
VS Code gets unresponsive right after opening a folder
When you open a folder, VS Code will search for typical project files to offer you additional tooling (for example, the solution picker in the Status bar to open a solution). If you open a folder with lots of files, the search can take a large amount of time and CPU resources during which VS Code might be slow to respond. We plan to improve this in the future but for now you can exclude folders from the explorer via the files.exclude setting and they will not be searched for project files:

JSON

"files.exclude": {
    "**/largeFolder": true
}

Technical support channels
You can ask questions and search for answers on Stack Overflow and enter issues and feature requests directly in our GitHub repository.

If you'd like to contact a professional support engineer, you can open a ticket with the Microsoft assisted support team.

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10/09/2025
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Table expanded view
Download type URL
Windows x64 System installer https://update.code.visualstudio.com/{version}/win32-x64/stable

[shishir1171-cell]

https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/new/choose