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Using Visual Studio Code for PowerShell Development

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Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a cross-platform script editor by Microsoft. Together with the PowerShell extension, it provides a rich and interactive script editing experience, making it easier to write reliable PowerShell scripts. Visual Studio Code with the PowerShell extension is the recommended editor for writing PowerShell scripts.

It supports the following PowerShell versions:

  • PowerShell 7.2 and higher (Windows, macOS, and Linux)
  • Windows PowerShell 5.1 (Windows-only) with .NET Framework 4.8

Note

Visual Studio Code isn't the same as Visual Studio.

Getting started

Before you begin, make sure PowerShell exists on your system. For modern workloads on Windows, macOS, and Linux, see the following links:

For traditional Windows PowerShell workloads, see Installing Windows PowerShell.

Important

The Windows PowerShell ISE is still available for Windows. However, it's no longer in active feature development. The ISE only works with PowerShell 5.1 and older. As a component of Windows, it continues to be officially supported for security and high-priority servicing fixes. we've no plans to remove the ISE from Windows.

Install VS Code and the PowerShell Extension

  1. Install Visual Studio Code. For more information, see the overview Setting up Visual Studio Code.

    There are installation instructions for each platform:

  2. Install the PowerShell Extension.

    1. Launch the VS Code app by typing code in a console or code-insiders if you installed Visual Studio Code Insiders.
    2. Launch Quick Open on Windows or Linux by pressing Ctrl+P. On macOS, press Cmd+P.
    3. In Quick Open, type ext install powershell and press Enter.
    4. The Extensions view opens on the Side Bar. Select the PowerShell extension from Microsoft.
    5. Click the Install button on the PowerShell extension from Microsoft.
    6. After the install, if you see the Install button turn into Reload, Click on Reload.
    7. After VS Code has reloaded, you're ready for editing.

For example, to create a new file, click File > New. To save it, click File > Save and then provide a filename, such as HelloWorld.ps1. To close the file, click the X next to the filename. To exit VS Code, File > Exit.

Installing the PowerShell Extension on Restricted Systems

Some systems are set up to require validation of all code signatures. You may receive the following error:

Language server startup failed.

This problem can occur when PowerShell's execution policy is set by Windows Group Policy. To manually approve PowerShell Editor Services and the PowerShell extension for VS Code, open a PowerShell prompt and run the following command:

Import-Module $HOME\.vscode\extensions\ms-vscode.powershell*\modules\PowerShellEditorServices\PowerShellEditorServices.psd1

You're prompted with Do you want to run software from this untrusted publisher? Type A to run the file. Then, open VS Code and verify that the PowerShell extension is functioning properly. If you still have problems getting started, let us know in a GitHub issue.

Choosing a version of PowerShell to use with the extension

With PowerShell installing side-by-side with Windows PowerShell, it's now possible to use a specific version of PowerShell with the PowerShell extension. This feature looks at a few well-known paths on different operating systems to discover installations of PowerShell.

Use the following steps to choose the version:

  1. Open the Command Palette on Windows or Linux with Ctrl+Shift+P. On macOS, use Cmd+Shift+P.
  2. Search for Session.
  3. Click on PowerShell: Show Session Menu.
  4. Choose the version of PowerShell you want to use from the list.

If you installed PowerShell to a non-typical location, it might not show up initially in the Session Menu. You can extend the session menu by adding your own custom paths as described below.

The PowerShell session menu can also be accessed from the {} icon in the bottom right corner of status bar. Hovering on or selecting this icon displays a shortcut to the session menu and a small pin icon. If you select the pin icon, the version number is added to the status bar. The version number is a shortcut to the session menu requiring fewer clicks.

Note

Pinning the version number replicates the behavior of the extension in versions of VS Code before 1.65. The 1.65 release of VS Code changed the APIs the PowerShell extension uses and standardized the status bar for language extensions.

Configuration settings for Visual Studio Code

First, if you're not familiar with how to change settings in VS Code, we recommend reading Visual Studio Code's settings documentation.

After reading the documentation, you can add configuration settings in settings.json.

{
    "editor.renderWhitespace": "all",
    "editor.renderControlCharacters": true,
    "files.trimTrailingWhitespace": true,
    "files.encoding": "utf8bom",
    "files.autoGuessEncoding": true
}

If you don't want these settings to affect all files types, VS Code also allows per-language configurations. Create a language-specific setting by putting settings in a [<language-name>] field. For example:

{
    "[powershell]": {
        "files.encoding": "utf8bom",
        "files.autoGuessEncoding": true
    }
}

Tip

For more information about file encoding in VS Code, see Understanding file encoding. Also, check out How to replicate the ISE experience in VS Code for other tips on how to configure VS Code for PowerShell editing.

Adding your own PowerShell paths to the session menu

You can add other PowerShell executable paths to the session menu through the Visual Studio Code setting: powershell.powerShellAdditionalExePaths.

You can do this using the GUI:

  1. From the Command Palette search for and select Open User Settings. Or use the keyboard shortcut on Windows or Linux Ctrl+,. On macOS, use Cmd+,.
  2. In the Settings editor, search for PowerShell Additional Exe Paths.
  3. Click Add Item.
  4. For the Key (under Item), provide your choice of name for this additional PowerShell installation.
  5. For the Value (under Value), provide the absolute path to the executable itself.

You can add as many additional paths as you like. The added items show up in the session menu with the given key as the name.

Alternatively you can add key-value pairs to the object powershell.powerShellAdditionalExePaths in your settings.json:

{
    "powershell.powerShellAdditionalExePaths": {
        "Downloaded PowerShell": "C:/Users/username/Downloads/PowerShell/pwsh.exe",
        "Built PowerShell": "C:/Users/username/src/PowerShell/src/powershell-win-core/bin/Debug/net6.0/win7-x64/publish/pwsh.exe"
    },
}

Note

Prior to version 2022.5.0 of the extension, this setting was a list of objects with the required keys exePath and versionName. A breaking change was introduced to support configuration via GUI. If you had previously configured this setting, please convert it the new format. The value given for versionName is now the Key, and the value given for exePath is now the Value. You can do this more easily by resetting the value and using the Settings interface.

To set the default PowerShell version, set the value powershell.powerShellDefaultVersion to the text displayed in the session menu (the text used for the key):

{
    "powershell.powerShellAdditionalExePaths": {
        "Downloaded PowerShell": "C:/Users/username/Downloads/PowerShell/pwsh.exe",
    },
    "powershell.powerShellDefaultVersion": "Downloaded PowerShell",
}

After you've configured this setting, restart VS Code or to reload the current VS Code window from the Command Palette, type Developer: Reload Window.

If you open the session menu, you now see your additional PowerShell installations.

Tip

If you build PowerShell from source, this is a great way to test out your local build of PowerShell.

Debugging with Visual Studio Code

No-workspace debugging

In VS Code version 1.9 (or higher), you can debug PowerShell scripts without opening the folder that contains the PowerShell script.

  1. Open the PowerShell script file with File > Open File...
  2. Set a breakpoint - select a line then press F9
  3. Press F5 to start debugging

You should see the Debug actions pane appear that allows you to break into the debugger, step, resume, and stop debugging.

Workspace debugging

Workspace debugging refers to debugging in the context of a folder that you've opened from the File menu using Open Folder.... The folder you open is typically your PowerShell project folder or the root of your Git repository. Workspace debugging allows you to define multiple debug configurations other than just debugging the currently open file.

Follow these steps to create a debug configuration file:

  1. Open the Debug view on Windows or Linux by pressing Ctrl+Shift+D. On macOS, press Cmd+Shift+D.

  2. Click the create a launch.json file link.

  3. From the Select Environment prompt, choose PowerShell.

  4. Choose the type of debugging you'd like to use:

    • Launch Current File - Launch and debug the file in the currently active editor window
    • Launch Script - Launch and debug the specified file or command
    • Interactive Session - Debug commands executed from the Integrated Console
    • Attach - Attach the debugger to a running PowerShell Host Process

VS Code creates a directory and a file .vscode\launch.json in the root of your workspace folder to store the debug configuration. If your files are in a Git repository, you typically want to commit the launch.json file. The contents of the launch.json file are:

{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
      {
          "type": "PowerShell",
          "request": "launch",
          "name": "PowerShell Launch (current file)",
          "script": "${file}",
          "args": [],
          "cwd": "${file}"
      },
      {
          "type": "PowerShell",
          "request": "attach",
          "name": "PowerShell Attach to Host Process",
          "processId": "${command.PickPSHostProcess}",
          "runspaceId": 1
      },
      {
          "type": "PowerShell",
          "request": "launch",
          "name": "PowerShell Interactive Session",
          "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}"
      }
  ]
}

This file represents the common debug scenarios. When you open this file in the editor, you see an Add Configuration... button. You can click this button to add more PowerShell debug configurations. One useful configuration to add is PowerShell: Launch Script. With this configuration, you can specify a file containing optional arguments that are used whenever you press F5 no matter which file is active in the editor.

After the debug configuration is established, you can select the configuration you want to use during a debug session. Select a configuration from the debug configuration drop-down in the Debug view's toolbar.

Troubleshooting the PowerShell extension

If you experience any issues using VS Code for PowerShell script development, see the troubleshooting guide on GitHub.

Useful resources

There are a few videos and blog posts that may be helpful to get you started using the PowerShell extension for VS Code:

Videos

Blog posts

PowerShell extension project source code

The PowerShell extension's source code can be found on GitHub.

If you're interested in contributing, Pull Requests are greatly appreciated. Follow along with the developer documentation on GitHub to get started.