Compilation didn't run at the launch of the extension (press F5)

[Shankar-CodeJunkie]

Problem Description:

I tried creating VS Code extension using the sample extension (yo code) provided in the documentation. I chose "typescript" as it's type of extension, while creating it.
When I tried to run the extension, I get an error message .

Command 'Hello World' resulted in an error (command 'vscode-err-reproduce.helloWorld' not found)

Activating extension 'undefined_publisher.vscode-err-reproduce' failed: Cannot find module
 '/oct/vscode-extn-ts-error/vscode-err-reproduce/out/extension.js' Require stack: - /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/loader.js - /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/bootstrap-amd.js - /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/bootstrap-fork.js.

tsconfig.json

{
	"compilerOptions": {
		"module": "commonjs",
		"target": "ES2020",
		"outDir": "out",
		"lib": [
			"ES2020"
		],
		"sourceMap": true,
		"rootDir": "src",
		"strict": true   /* enable all strict type-checking options */
		/* Additional Checks */
		// "noImplicitReturns": true, /* Report error when not all code paths in function return a value. */
		// "noFallthroughCasesInSwitch": true, /* Report errors for fallthrough cases in switch statement. */
		// "noUnusedParameters": true,  /* Report errors on unused parameters. */
	},
	"exclude": [
		"node_modules",
		".vscode-test"
	]
}

The problem is due to typescript compilation, and hence, I couldn't find extension.js file .

[Shankar-CodeJunkie]

I manually ran tsc --watch to compile the typescript by adding the out attribute on the package.json. After that, I could launch the extension

[Shankar-CodeJunkie]

However, my question is, why the compilation didn't run at the launch of the extension.

The product documentation says,
"Then, inside the editor, press F5. This will compile and run the extension in a new Extension Development Host window."
which isn't the case for my project.

[huse360]

I created the project inside a sub-folder and got this error, but closing VS Code and reopening the actual sub-folder worked for me.

[yu3wen]

check your extension launch.json,make sure the follow code in your file
"preLaunchTask": "${defaultBuildTask}"

[bodoganabel]

Hi! This is still an issue.
Pressing F5 results the error above after creating a new project

[stereokai]

I can confirm this happens to me too with a Javascript extension generated with yeoman generator-code

[ljans]

After updating to the latest VS Code version (1.69.1), it's now working for me.

[pgonzaleznetwork]

I got this to work by

• updating to the latest version of vscode
• run the yo command all over again
• completely quitting vscode (not just closing it, kill the process)

Then it worked

[mjbvz]

Closing this as a question about extension development / no longer reproducible

[Cway14]

I experienced this issue today. Seems to be related to using webpack. I re-created the extension without webpack and no longer had issues.

[Brentably]

I am still having this issue.

[how2051]

I got this work by npm install -g typescript and then quit all the vscode and restart

[ehewitt-sel]

I just ran into this issue today, following the exact steps on the "Your First Extension" page: https://code.visualstudio.com/api/get-started/your-first-extension.

Not sure why this was closed, as it is still a problem. npm install -g typescript did not resolve the problem for me. Instead, I had to use the steps in the Stack Overflow question. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/69433540/vscode-extension-command-hello-world-resulted-in-an-error-command-vscode-er

[gareth-xlnx]

Confirming what @ehewitt-sel said - I have ran into the identical issue in VSCode 1.89.0 using the "Your First Extension" page: https://code.visualstudio.com/api/get-started/your-first-extension. Bug should be reopened.