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fix(installer): copilot-vscode global entry drops ${workspaceFolder} — VS Code toasts an error in every folderless window

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A user-level mcp.json entry using ${workspaceFolder} makes VS Code
refuse to start the server in ANY window without a folder open (loose
files, welcome tab), toasting "Variable workspaceFolder can not be
resolved" — recurring error-noise, hit live during validation.

The pin was never needed for VS Code: unlike Cursor, VS Code documents
stdio-server cwd as the workspace folder, and the codegraph server
resolves its project via roots/list with a cwd fallback. Global entries
are now variable-free (`serve --mcp`); local installs keep the absolute
--path. This supersedes the "open a folder" install note from the
previous commit, which is removed again.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Colby McHenry
2026-07-23 21:29:47 -05:00
co-authored by Claude Fable 5
parent 73313213e1
commit 9769d6be0f
2 changed files with 33 additions and 32 deletions
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__tests__/installer-targets.test.ts
+9 -11
View File
@@ -1945,11 +1945,18 @@ describe('Installer targets — Copilot family', () => {
expect(cfg.mcpServers).toBeUndefined();
});
it('copilot-vscode: global install pins --path to ${workspaceFolder}', () => {
it('copilot-vscode: global install writes a variable-free entry — no --path, no ${workspaceFolder}', () => {
// VS Code refuses to start a user-level server whose entry uses
// ${workspaceFolder} in any window with no folder open, toasting
// "Variable workspaceFolder can not be resolved" (hit live). VS Code
// documents cwd = workspace folder for stdio servers, and the
// codegraph server resolves the project from roots/cwd — so the
// global entry must carry no --path and no variables at all.
const t = getTarget('copilot-vscode')!;
const result = t.install('global', { autoAllow: true });
const cfg = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(result.files[0].path, 'utf-8'));
expect(cfg.servers.codegraph.args).toEqual(['serve', '--mcp', '--path', '${workspaceFolder}']);
expect(cfg.servers.codegraph.args).toEqual(['serve', '--mcp']);
expect(JSON.stringify(cfg)).not.toContain('${');
});
it.runIf(process.platform === 'darwin')('copilot-vscode: global path is ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/mcp.json on macOS', () => {
@@ -2095,15 +2102,6 @@ describe('Installer targets — Copilot family', () => {
expect(result.notes?.join(' ')).toMatch(/[Rr]estart VS Code/);
});
it('copilot-vscode: global install warns that ${workspaceFolder} needs an open folder; local does not', () => {
const t = getTarget('copilot-vscode')!;
// VS Code refuses to start a user-level server whose entry uses
// ${workspaceFolder} when no folder is open — surface that up front.
const globalNotes = t.install('global', { autoAllow: true }).notes?.join(' ');
expect(globalNotes).toMatch(/open a folder/i);
const localNotes = t.install('local', { autoAllow: true }).notes?.join(' ');
expect(localNotes).not.toMatch(/open a folder/i);
});
// ---- copilot-cli ----
src/installer/targets/copilot-vscode.ts
+24 -21
View File
@@ -16,17 +16,24 @@
* instructions, the single source of truth (#529).
* - No permissions concept — `autoAllow` is silently ignored.
*
* ## Why we inject `--path` (mirrors Cursor)
* ## Why `--path` only for local installs (NOT the Cursor pattern)
*
* VS Code's docs don't specify the working directory stdio MCP servers
* are launched with, and (like Cursor) we can't rely on it being the
* workspace root. Rather than depend on undocumented cwd behavior we
* pin the project explicitly:
* Unlike Cursor, VS Code DOCUMENTS the launch cwd for stdio MCP
* servers: "Working directory for the server command. Defaults to the
* workspace folder when run in a workspace" (mcp-configuration
* reference). The codegraph server resolves its project via the MCP
* roots/list dance with a cwd fallback, so cwd alone is sufficient:
*
* - `local` install: absolute path (known at install time).
* - `global` install: `${workspaceFolder}` — VS Code expands its
* standard variables inside mcp.json, giving per-workspace behavior
* from a single user-level config.
* - `local` install: absolute `--path` (known at install time) —
* deterministic, and free of variables.
* - `global` install: NO `--path`. Do not be tempted to pin it with
* `${workspaceFolder}`: VS Code refuses to start a user-level
* server whose entry uses that variable whenever a window has no
* folder open (loose files, welcome tab), surfacing an error toast
* "Variable workspaceFolder can not be resolved" in every such
* window — exactly the error-noise that teaches users to disable
* the server. With no `--path`, a folderless window still starts
* the server fine and it serves the "no project" guidance.
*
* ## JSONC
*
@@ -78,13 +85,16 @@ function mcpJsonPath(loc: Location): string {
/**
* Build the codegraph server entry for VS Code at the given location.
* Shared `{type, command, args}` shape plus the `--path` pin — see
* file header for why we don't trust VS Code's launch cwd.
* Local installs pin `--path`; global installs rely on VS Code's
* documented workspace-folder cwd — see file header for why the global
* entry must stay variable-free.
*/
function buildVscodeServerEntry(loc: Location): { type: string; command: string; args: string[] } {
const base = getMcpServerConfig();
const pathArg = loc === 'local' ? process.cwd() : '${workspaceFolder}';
return { ...base, args: [...base.args, '--path', pathArg] };
if (loc === 'local') {
return { ...base, args: [...base.args, '--path', process.cwd()] };
}
return { ...base, args: [...base.args] };
}
function readConfigText(file: string): string {
@@ -127,16 +137,9 @@ class CopilotVscodeTarget implements AgentTarget {
}
install(loc: Location, _opts: InstallOptions): WriteResult {
const notes = ['Restart VS Code for MCP changes to take effect.'];
if (loc === 'global') {
// The global entry pins --path via ${workspaceFolder}; VS Code
// refuses to start it in a window with no folder open, with a
// cryptic "Variable workspaceFolder can not be resolved" toast.
notes.push('VS Code: the server starts per-workspace — open a folder (File → Open Folder) before starting it; a no-folder window reports "Variable workspaceFolder can not be resolved".');
}
return {
files: [writeMcpEntry(loc)],
notes,
notes: ['Restart VS Code for MCP changes to take effect.'],
};
}