Unable to resolve your shell environment: Unexpected end of JSON input (vscode launch)

[aschor]

Does this issue occur when all extensions are disabled?: Yes

• VS Code Version: 1.101.0 (system setup)
• OS Version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.22621

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Launch vscode with menu shortcut
2. get the error notification

Additional informations :

I added "--verbose" to the vscode shortcut :

With this, I get the underlying problem in the "main" logs :

2025-06-19 14:24:55.255 [trace] doResolveShellEnv#spawn ["-Command"] Write-Output 'a6ad6f0ec1bb'; [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariables() | ConvertTo-Json -Compress; Write-Output 'a6ad6f0ec1bb'
2025-06-19 14:24:55.551 [trace] NativePolicyService#_updatePolicyDefinitions - Found 9 policy definitions
2025-06-19 14:24:55.552 [trace] NativePolicyService#_onDidPolicyChange - Updated policy values: {}
2025-06-19 14:24:55.552 [trace] PolicyConfiguration#onDidChangePolicies []
2025-06-19 14:24:55.553 [trace] PolicyConfiguration#update []
2025-06-19 14:24:55.554 [trace] NativePolicyService#_updatePolicyDefinitions - Found 11 policy definitions
2025-06-19 14:24:55.555 [trace] NativePolicyService#_onDidPolicyChange - Updated policy values: {}
2025-06-19 14:24:55.555 [trace] PolicyConfiguration#onDidChangePolicies []
2025-06-19 14:24:55.555 [trace] PolicyConfiguration#update []
2025-06-19 14:24:55.751 [trace] window#load: window reported ready (id: 1)
2025-06-19 14:24:55.751 [trace] ElectronURLListener#flush(): flushing URLs
2025-06-19 14:24:55.840 [trace] doResolveShellEnv#raw a6ad6f0ec1bb
a6ad6f0ec1bb
2025-06-19 14:24:55.840 [trace] doResolveShellEnv#stderr Impossible d'appeler la m�thode. L'appel aux m�thodes n'est pris en charge que sur les types principaux dans ce mode 
de langage.
Au caract�re Ligne:1 : 30
+ ... d6f0ec1bb'; [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariables() | Convert ...
+                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidOperation : (:) [], RuntimeException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : MethodInvocationNotSupportedInConstrainedLanguage

If :

1. I launch code from cmd (in windows terminal), I DO NOT get that issue
2. I launch the command C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -Command "Write-Output 'a6ad6f0ec1bb'; [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariables() | ConvertTo-Json -Compress; Write-Output 'a6ad6f0ec1bb'" from command line, I DO get the issue.

edit : I would say it started throwing this error c.a. 1 week ago, and I saw a vscode (automatic) update in my applications on June 13, when I tried uninstalling reinstalling, so maybe (re)introduced in version 1.101

[connor4312]

Appears your machine runs in constrained language mode which blocks us from being able to use [System]

[DaTurr3t]

Same issue here. Can also confirm that my system runs in constrained language mode. Log output from Main:

2025-06-25 08:11:35.634 [trace] doResolveShellEnv#runAsNode undefined
2025-06-25 08:11:35.634 [trace] doResolveShellEnv#noAttach undefined
2025-06-25 08:11:35.634 [trace] doResolveShellEnv#env {"ALLUSERSPROFILE":"C:\\ProgramData", ...REDACTED...,"VSCODE_PID":"17564","windir":"C:\\WINDOWS","ZES_ENABLE_SYSMAN":"1","ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE":"1","ELECTRON_NO_ATTACH_CONSOLE":"1","VSCODE_RESOLVING_ENVIRONMENT":"1"}
2025-06-25 08:11:35.673 [trace] doResolveShellEnv#shell C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe
2025-06-25 08:11:35.675 [trace] doResolveShellEnv#powershellProfile found in C:\Users\user\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1
2025-06-25 08:11:35.676 [trace] doResolveShellEnv#spawn ["-Command"] Write-Output 'c569ab4648ff'; [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariables() | ConvertTo-Json -Compress; Write-Output 'c569ab4648ff'
2025-06-25 08:11:36.927 [trace] doResolveShellEnv#raw c569ab4648ff
2025-06-25 08:11:36.927 [trace] doResolveShellEnv#stderr C:\Users\user\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1 : Cannot dot-source this command 
because it was defined in a different language mode. To invoke this command without importing its contents, omit the 
'.' operator.
At line:1 char:1
+ . 'C:\Users\user\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShel ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidOperation: (:) [Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1], NotSupportedException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DotSourceNotSupported,Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1
 
Cannot invoke method. Method invocation is supported only on core types in this language mode.
At line:1 char:30
+ ... 9ab4648ff'; [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariables() | Convert ...
+                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidOperation: (:) [], RuntimeException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : MethodInvocationNotSupportedInConstrainedLanguage 


2025-06-25 08:11:36.928 [error] doResolveShellEnv#errorCaught Unexpected end of JSON input

Update: This only happens on my machine because my Powershell profile cannot be loaded. This is thereby not a VSCode issue in my case.

[aschor]

Yes, my machine is set in constrained language mode by a GroupPolicy, therefore I cannot change that (even though I'm a local admin ; I tried )

but still. I did not have that issue in previous version of vscode