Strange CLI behavior: CLI does not seem to write to either stdout (FD 1) or stderr (FD 2), making output impossible to redirect.

[dilijev]

• VSCode Version: Code - Insiders 1.3.0-insider (a21c123, 2016-06-30T05:07:11.570Z)
• OS Version: Windows_NT ia32 10.0.14372

Strange CLI behavior: the VS Code CLI does not seem to write to either stdout (FD 1) or stderr (FD 2), making output impossible to pipe to e.g. grep to search for a particular flag, and making it impossible to hide output in scripting (not that I can think of a good reason you would want to script the code CLI).

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Run code-insiders -h > NUL from cmd
2. Observe that output is still printed
3. Run code-insiders -h 1> NUL from cmd
4. Observe that output is still printed
5. Run code-insiders -h 2> NUL from cmd
6. Observe that output is still printed

[espresso3389]

I have the completely same issue.
I'm creating a script to backup/restore extensions using --list-extensions but I cannot redirect the output from --list-extensions...

[Tyriar]

Seems fine on Linux, are these commands supposed to work on windows? It also seems to direct to stdout fine on 1.2.1.

~/dev/Microsoft/vscode @master
❯ code-insiders -h
Visual Studio Code v1.4.0-insider


Usage: code [arguments] [paths...]

Options:
  -d, --diff                  Open a diff editor. Requires to pass two file paths as arguments.
  --disable-extensions        Disable all installed extensions.
  -g, --goto                  Open the file at path at the line and column (add :line[:column] to path).
  --locale <locale>           The locale to use (e.g. en-US or zh-TW).
  -n, --new-window            Force a new instance of Code.
  -r, --reuse-window          Force opening a file or folder in the last active window.
  --user-data-dir <dir>       Specifies the directory that user data is kept in, useful when running as root.
  --verbose                   Print verbose output (implies --wait).
  -w, --wait                  Wait for the window to be closed before returning.
  --list-extensions           List the installed extensions.
  --install-extension <ext>   Installs an extension.
  --uninstall-extension <ext> Uninstalls an extension.
  -v, --version               Print version.
  -h, --help                  Print usage.

~/dev/Microsoft/vscode @master
❯ code-insiders -h 1> output

~/dev/Microsoft/vscode @master ?
❯ cat output 
Visual Studio Code v1.4.0-insider


Usage: code [arguments] [paths...]

Options:
  -d, --diff                  Open a diff editor. Requires to pass two file
                              paths as arguments.
  --disable-extensions        Disable all installed extensions.
  -g, --goto                  Open the file at path at the line and column (add
                              :line[:column] to path).
  --locale <locale>           The locale to use (e.g. en-US or zh-TW).
  -n, --new-window            Force a new instance of Code.
  -r, --reuse-window          Force opening a file or folder in the last active
                              window.
  --user-data-dir <dir>       Specifies the directory that user data is kept
                              in, useful when running as root.
  --verbose                   Print verbose output (implies --wait).
  -w, --wait                  Wait for the window to be closed before
                              returning.
  --list-extensions           List the installed extensions.
  --install-extension <ext>   Installs an extension.
  --uninstall-extension <ext> Uninstalls an extension.
  -v, --version               Print version.
  -h, --help                  Print usage.

[Tyriar]

Perhaps this is related to code.sh or code.cmd here? PRs welcome if that is the case.

[bdchauvette]

This seems to be a problem with electron rather than VSCode specifically. See e.g. electron/electron#683 and electron/electron#4552

The workaround I'm using is to set the ELECTRON_NO_ATTACH_CONSOLE environment variable inside of the node process before spawning any instances of code:

process.env.ELECTRON_NO_ATTACH_CONSOLE = true;

const { execSync } = require('child_process');

const installedExtensions = execSync('code --list-extensions')
  .toString()
  .split('\n')
  .filter(Boolean);

// outputs an array
console.log(installedExtensions);

[espresso3389]

It seems that the current stable version, 1.7.2 works correctly. I think we can close the issue now.

Version 1.7.2
Commit 7ba55c5860b152d999dda59393ca3ebeb1b5c85f
Date 2016-11-21T22:06:37.428Z
Shell 1.3.8
Renderer 52.0.2743.82
Node 6.5.0

[Tyriar]

I guess it was fixed upstream at some point then, thanks for letting me know @espresso3389.

[aeschli]

Verified on Windows 10.