Pester stopped working in vscode

[vojtech-kasny]

Checklist

• Issue has a meaningful title
• I have searched the existing issues. See all issues
• I have tested using the latest version of Pester. See Installation and update guide.

What is the issue?

Error is thrown from vscode:

InvalidOperation: You cannot call a method on a null-valued expression.
InvalidOperation: You cannot call a method on a null-valued expression.
InvalidOperation: You cannot call a method on a null-valued expression.
System.Management.Automation.RuntimeException: You cannot call a method on a null-valued expression.
   at System.Management.Automation.ExceptionHandlingOps.CheckActionPreference(FunctionContext funcContext, Exception exception)
   at System.Management.Automation.Interpreter.ActionCallInstruction`2.Run(InterpretedFrame frame)
   at System.Management.Automation.Interpreter.EnterTryCatchFinallyInstruction.Run(InterpretedFrame frame)
   at System.Management.Automation.Interpreter.EnterTryCatchFinallyInstruction.Run(InterpretedFrame frame)
   at System.Management.Automation.Interpreter.Interpreter.Run(InterpretedFrame frame)
   at System.Management.Automation.Interpreter.LightLambda.RunVoid1[T0](T0 arg0)
   at System.Management.Automation.PSScriptCmdlet.RunClause(Action`1 clause, Object dollarUnderbar, Object inputToProcess)
   at System.Management.Automation.CommandProcessorBase.Complete()
at New-PesterState, C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\Pester\5.5.0\Pester.psm1: line 616
at Invoke-Test, C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\Pester\5.5.0\Pester.psm1: line 2447
at Invoke-Pester<End>, C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\Pester\5.5.0\Pester.psm1: line 5046
at <ScriptBlock>, C:\Users\<username>\.vscode\extensions\ms-vscode.powershell-2023.8.0\modules\PowerShellEditorServices\InvokePesterStub.ps1: line 176
at <ScriptBlock>, <No file>: line 1

Note:

Testing works using PowerShell (outside of vscode) using e.g. Invoke-Pester C:\temp\demo.tests.ps1 -Output Detailed

Expected Behavior

Tests are performed

Steps To Reproduce

• open Visual Studio Code (latest stable build)

  Version: 1.84.2 (user setup)
  Commit: 1a5daa3a0231a0fbba4f14db7ec463cf99d7768e
  Date: 2023-11-09T10:51:52.184Z
  Electron: 25.9.2
  ElectronBuildId: 24603566
  Chromium: 114.0.5735.289
  Node.js: 18.15.0
  V8: 11.4.183.29-electron.0
  OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.22621
  

• install latest Pester module version (5.5.0)
• create any test file
• define any test
• click Run tests from the editor

Describe your environment

Pester version     : 5.5.0 C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\Pester\5.5.0\Pester.psm1
PowerShell version : 7.4.0
OS version         : Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.22621.0

Possible Solution?

No response

[fflaten]

Thanks for the report. I'm unable to reproduce the issue. The stacktrace points to an unexpected flow where Pester's run state is missing.

• Is it consistently throwing the same error?
• Does it also work if you change VSCode to use Windows PowerShell?
• Which language mode is your PowerShell session running in? You can check using $ExecutionContext.SessionState.LanguageMode
• Could you provide a test file?

[fflaten]

Closing due to inactivity and can't repro. Will reopen if someone's able provide repro steps.