PowerShell / PowerShell/PowerShellEditorServices

Add support for renaming PowerShell class references

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#2,293 1 comment 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Issue-Bug Needs: Triage
Dominant language
C#
Stars
767
Forks
266
Avg merge
3d 16h
Merged PRs (30d)
1

Description

Prerequisites
  • I have written a descriptive issue title.
  • I have searched all open and closed issues to ensure it has not already been reported.
  • I have read the troubleshooting guide.
  • I am sure this issue is with PowerShell Editor Services itself and does not reproduce in a standalone PowerShell instance, and is not an issue with my editor.
  • I have verified that I am using the latest version of PowerShell Editor Services.
  • If this is a security issue, I have read the security issue reporting guidance.
Summary

This is not a bug, but the README says that rename scenarios should be filed as bug reports, so that's what I'm doing.
I think it should be fairly trivial to add renaming support for PowerShell classes defined in the same script file.
Expected:

class DemoClass
{
    [string] $SomeProperty

    DemoClass ([string] $SomeArg)
    {
        $this.SomeProperty = $SomeArg
    }
}

[DemoClass]

Actual:

class NewName
{
    [string] $SomeProperty

    NewName ([string] $SomeArg)
    {
        $this.SomeProperty = $SomeArg
    }
}

[NewName]

One thing to keep in mind during implementation is that a PowerShell class can also be used to define an attribute, and an attribute type can drop the optional Attribute suffix in an attribute context as seen here:

class ValidateSomethingAttribute : System.Management.Automation.ValidateArgumentsAttribute
{
    [void]Validate([System.Object]$arguments, [System.Management.Automation.EngineIntrinsics]$engineIntrinsics)
    {
    }
}
[ValidateSomething()][string]$Path = "c:\windows"
PowerShell Version
Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      7.6.1
PSEdition                      Core
GitCommitId                    7.6.1
OS                             Microsoft Windows 10.0.26200
Platform                       Win32NT
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.4
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion              3.0
Editor Version
VS code:

Version: 1.117.0 (system setup)
Commit: 10c8e557c8b9f9ed0a87f61f1c9a44bde731c409
Date: 2026-04-21T16:12:14-07:00
Electron: 39.8.7
ElectronBuildId: 13841579
Chromium: 142.0.7444.265
Node.js: 22.22.1
V8: 14.2.231.22-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26200
PowerShell Editor Services Version
Major  Minor  Build  Revision
-----  -----  -----  --------
4      6      0      0
Steps to Reproduce

Use the code blocks from before and press F2 on the class name references.

Visuals

No response

Logs

No response

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the two class examples and pressing F2 on the class name references. Trace the existing rename handling in PowerShell Editor Services, including same-file class references and the optional Attribute suffix behavior. Done means renaming updates the declaration, constructor, type references, and attribute usage consistently.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
csharp, powershell
Domain
devtools, tooling
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

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