Merge of Vscode settings.json file fails

[jan-vcapgemini]

Actual behavior

When I run ide update within my project I get the following exception:

Start: Install vscode
Start: Configuring workspace main for IDE vscode
Failed to merge workspace file D:\projects\<projectname>\workspaces\main\.vscode\.userdata\User\settings.json with update template D:\projects\<projectname>\settings\vscode\workspace\update\.vscode\.userdata\User\settings.json and setup file D:\projects\<projectname>\settings\vscode\workspace\setup\.vscode\.userdata\User\settings.json!
java.lang.IllegalStateException: Failed to read JSON from D:\projects\<projectname>\workspaces\main\.vscode\.userdata\User\settings.json
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.merge.JsonMerger.load(JsonMerger.java:185)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.merge.JsonMerger.doMerge(JsonMerger.java:79)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.merge.FileMerger.merge(FileMerger.java:55)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.merge.DirectoryMerger.merge(DirectoryMerger.java:73)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.merge.DirectoryMerger.merge(DirectoryMerger.java:77)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.merge.DirectoryMerger.merge(DirectoryMerger.java:77)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.merge.DirectoryMerger.merge(DirectoryMerger.java:77)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.merge.DirectoryMerger.merge(DirectoryMerger.java:77)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.tool.ide.IdeToolCommandlet.mergeWorkspaceSingle(IdeToolCommandlet.java:122)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.tool.ide.IdeToolCommandlet.mergeWorkspace(IdeToolCommandlet.java:109)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.tool.ide.IdeToolCommandlet.doMergeWorkspaceStep(IdeToolCommandlet.java:92)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.tool.ide.IdeToolCommandlet.lambda$configureWorkspace$0(IdeToolCommandlet.java:85)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.step.Step.run(Step.java:228)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.step.Step.run(Step.java:217)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.tool.ide.IdeToolCommandlet.configureWorkspace(IdeToolCommandlet.java:85)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.tool.ide.IdeToolCommandlet.install(IdeToolCommandlet.java:69)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.tool.ToolCommandlet.install(ToolCommandlet.java:287)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.commandlet.AbstractUpdateCommandlet.lambda$doUpdateSoftwareStep$1(AbstractUpdateCommandlet.java:340)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.step.Step.run(Step.java:228)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.step.Step.run(Step.java:217)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.commandlet.AbstractUpdateCommandlet.doUpdateSoftwareStep(AbstractUpdateCommandlet.java:340)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.commandlet.AbstractUpdateCommandlet.lambda$updateSoftware$0(AbstractUpdateCommandlet.java:301)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.step.Step.run(Step.java:228)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.step.Step.run(Step.java:217)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.commandlet.AbstractUpdateCommandlet.updateSoftware(AbstractUpdateCommandlet.java:301)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.commandlet.AbstractUpdateCommandlet.doRun(AbstractUpdateCommandlet.java:104)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.commandlet.UpdateCommandlet.doRun(UpdateCommandlet.java:30)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.commandlet.Commandlet.run(Commandlet.java:232)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.context.AbstractIdeContext.applyAndRun(AbstractIdeContext.java:1322)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.context.AbstractIdeContext.run(AbstractIdeContext.java:1147)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.cli.Ideasy.runOrThrow(Ideasy.java:91)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.cli.Ideasy.run(Ideasy.java:55)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.cli.Ideasy.main(Ideasy.java:134)
        at java.base@25.0.2/java.lang.invoke.LambdaForm$DMH/sa346b79c.invokeStaticInit(LambdaForm$DMH)
Caused by: com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParseException: Unexpected character ('}' (code 125)): was expecting double-quote to start field name
 at [Source: REDACTED (`StreamReadFeature.INCLUDE_SOURCE_IN_LOCATION` disabled); line: 21, column: 3]
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParser._constructReadException(JsonParser.java:2660)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.core.base.ParserMinimalBase._reportUnexpectedChar(ParserMinimalBase.java:741)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.core.json.UTF8StreamJsonParser._handleOddName(UTF8StreamJsonParser.java:2103)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.core.json.UTF8StreamJsonParser._parseName(UTF8StreamJsonParser.java:1753)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.core.json.UTF8StreamJsonParser.nextFieldName(UTF8StreamJsonParser.java:1040)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.std.BaseNodeDeserializer._deserializeContainerNoRecursion(JsonNodeDeserializer.java:539)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.std.JsonNodeDeserializer.deserialize(JsonNodeDeserializer.java:100)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.std.JsonNodeDeserializer.deserialize(JsonNodeDeserializer.java:25)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.DefaultDeserializationContext.readRootValue(DefaultDeserializationContext.java:342)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper._readTreeAndClose(ObjectMapper.java:4973)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper.readTree(ObjectMapper.java:3314)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.merge.JsonMerger.load(JsonMerger.java:178)
        ... 33 more

Failed to merge workspace file D:\projects\<projectname>\workspaces\main\.vscode\settings.json with update template D:\projects\<projectname>\settings\vscode\workspace\update\.vscode\settings.json and setup file D:\projects\<projectname>\settings\vscode\workspace\setup\.vscode\settings.json!
java.lang.IllegalStateException: Failed to read JSON from D:\projects\<projectname>\workspaces\main\.vscode\settings.json
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.merge.JsonMerger.load(JsonMerger.java:185)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.merge.JsonMerger.doMerge(JsonMerger.java:79)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.merge.FileMerger.merge(FileMerger.java:55)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.merge.DirectoryMerger.merge(DirectoryMerger.java:73)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.merge.DirectoryMerger.merge(DirectoryMerger.java:77)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.merge.DirectoryMerger.merge(DirectoryMerger.java:77)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.tool.ide.IdeToolCommandlet.mergeWorkspaceSingle(IdeToolCommandlet.java:122)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.tool.ide.IdeToolCommandlet.mergeWorkspace(IdeToolCommandlet.java:109)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.tool.ide.IdeToolCommandlet.doMergeWorkspaceStep(IdeToolCommandlet.java:92)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.tool.ide.IdeToolCommandlet.lambda$configureWorkspace$0(IdeToolCommandlet.java:85)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.step.Step.run(Step.java:228)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.step.Step.run(Step.java:217)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.tool.ide.IdeToolCommandlet.configureWorkspace(IdeToolCommandlet.java:85)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.tool.ide.IdeToolCommandlet.install(IdeToolCommandlet.java:69)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.tool.ToolCommandlet.install(ToolCommandlet.java:287)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.commandlet.AbstractUpdateCommandlet.lambda$doUpdateSoftwareStep$1(AbstractUpdateCommandlet.java:340)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.step.Step.run(Step.java:228)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.step.Step.run(Step.java:217)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.commandlet.AbstractUpdateCommandlet.doUpdateSoftwareStep(AbstractUpdateCommandlet.java:340)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.commandlet.AbstractUpdateCommandlet.lambda$updateSoftware$0(AbstractUpdateCommandlet.java:301)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.step.Step.run(Step.java:228)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.step.Step.run(Step.java:217)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.commandlet.AbstractUpdateCommandlet.updateSoftware(AbstractUpdateCommandlet.java:301)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.commandlet.AbstractUpdateCommandlet.doRun(AbstractUpdateCommandlet.java:104)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.commandlet.UpdateCommandlet.doRun(UpdateCommandlet.java:30)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.commandlet.Commandlet.run(Commandlet.java:232)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.context.AbstractIdeContext.applyAndRun(AbstractIdeContext.java:1322)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.context.AbstractIdeContext.run(AbstractIdeContext.java:1147)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.cli.Ideasy.runOrThrow(Ideasy.java:91)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.cli.Ideasy.run(Ideasy.java:55)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.cli.Ideasy.main(Ideasy.java:134)
        at java.base@25.0.2/java.lang.invoke.LambdaForm$DMH/sa346b79c.invokeStaticInit(LambdaForm$DMH)
Caused by: com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParseException: Unexpected character ('}' (code 125)): was expecting double-quote to start field name
 at [Source: REDACTED (`StreamReadFeature.INCLUDE_SOURCE_IN_LOCATION` disabled); line: 4, column: 1]
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParser._constructReadException(JsonParser.java:2660)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.core.base.ParserMinimalBase._reportUnexpectedChar(ParserMinimalBase.java:741)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.core.json.UTF8StreamJsonParser._handleOddName(UTF8StreamJsonParser.java:2103)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.core.json.UTF8StreamJsonParser._parseName(UTF8StreamJsonParser.java:1753)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.core.json.UTF8StreamJsonParser.nextFieldName(UTF8StreamJsonParser.java:1040)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.std.BaseNodeDeserializer._deserializeContainerNoRecursion(JsonNodeDeserializer.java:539)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.std.JsonNodeDeserializer.deserialize(JsonNodeDeserializer.java:100)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.std.JsonNodeDeserializer.deserialize(JsonNodeDeserializer.java:25)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.DefaultDeserializationContext.readRootValue(DefaultDeserializationContext.java:342)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper._readTreeAndClose(ObjectMapper.java:4973)
        at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper.readTree(ObjectMapper.java:3314)
        at com.devonfw.tools.ide.merge.JsonMerger.load(JsonMerger.java:178)
        ... 31 more

Your workspace configuration failed with 2 error(s) - see log above.
This is either a configuration error in your settings git repository or a bug in IDEasy.
Please analyze the above errors with your team or IDE-admin and try to fix the problem.
In order to prevent you from being blocked, you can start your IDE anyhow but some configuration may not be in sync.
Option 1: yes
Option 2: no
yes
No CVEs found for version 1.122.1 of tool vscode.
Version 1.122.1 of tool vscode is already installed

The settings.json within my project looks like this:

{
    "java.home": "D:/projects/<projectname>/software/java",
    "update.mode": "none",
}

The settings.json within the settings folder looks like this:

{
  "java.jdt.ls.java.home":"$[IDE_HOME]/software/java",
  "update.mode": "none"
}

Reproduce

1. Create a new project
2. Use the provided settings.json files in project and in settings
3. Run ide update

Expected behavior

IDEasy should merge the settings.json properly.

IDEasy status

$ ide -p status
IDE_ROOT is set to D:/projects
IDE_HOME is set to D:/projects/project
Your version of IDEasy is 2026.05.001.
Your are using the latest version of IDEasy and no update is available.
Your operating system is windows(10.0)@x64 [Windows 11@amd64]
You are online.
Found bash executable at: C:/Program Files/Git/usr/bin/bash.***
Found git executable at: C:/Program Files/Git/mingw64/bin/git.***
Your settings are up-to-date.
Successfully completed ide (status)

Related/Dependent issues

No response

Comments/Hints

No response

[hohwille]

Caused by: com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParseException: Unexpected character ('}' (code 125)): was expecting double-quote to start field name
at [Source: REDACTED (StreamReadFeature.INCLUDE_SOURCE_IN_LOCATION disabled); line: 4, column: 1]
at com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParser._constructReadException(JsonParser.java:2660)

Your workspace JSON file contains invalid JSON.
The issue description does not allow to reproduce the bug if you use valid JSON.
IMHO this issue is invalid.
Please let me know if I am missing something.

[hohwille]

One thing you could think of is creating a feature request that if the JSON from the workspace is invalid, it could be ignored and overridden.
However, this may also be dangerous and cause undesired loss of data.
IMHO JSON should not get corrupted on normal usage.
Therefore, I would consider this as an edge-case where the current behaviour is suitable.
As a user, you can still decide to just delete the broken JSON file from your workspace and restart VSCode or you can open it with your editor, find the error and fix it.

[hohwille]

{
    "java.home": "D:/projects/<projectname>/software/java",
    "update.mode": "none",
}

remove the trailing comma after "none" to fix your JSON.