PowerShell / PowerShell/vscode-powershell

Error setting variable during debug

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#5,167 3 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Area-Debugging Issue-Bug
Dominant language
TypeScript
Stars
1.9k
Forks
547
PR merge metrics
No merged PRs in 30d

Description

Type: Bug

While debugging a PowerShell script, break execution, attempt to change the string value of an attribute of a PSCustomObject variable in the script.

Expected Outcome: The value of that attribute of the object is updated.

Actual Outcome:
Unexpected error setting variable: Unable to cast object of type 'Microsoft.PowerShell.EditorServices.Services.DebutAdapter.VariableDetails' to type 'Microsoft.PowerShell.EditorServices.Services.DebugAdapter.VariableContainerDetails'.

Extension version: 2025.0.0
VS Code version: Code 1.98.2 (ddc367ed5c8936efe395cffeec279b04ffd7db78, 2025-03-12T13:32:45.399Z)
OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.19045
Modes:

System Info
Item Value
CPUs Intel(R) Xeon(R) W-2133 CPU @ 3.60GHz (12 x 3600)
GPU Status 2d_canvas: enabled
canvas_oop_rasterization: enabled_on
direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok
gpu_compositing: enabled
multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on
opengl: enabled_on
rasterization: enabled
raw_draw: disabled_off_ok
skia_graphite: disabled_off
video_decode: enabled
video_encode: enabled
vulkan: disabled_off
webgl: enabled
webgl2: enabled
webgpu: enabled
webnn: disabled_off
Load (avg) undefined
Memory (System) 15.68GB (3.21GB free)
Process Argv --crash-reporter-id 15a8f0e2-3338-461b-94e3-acb54ccab3e4
Screen Reader no
VM 0%
A/B Experiments
vsliv368cf:30146710
vspor879:30202332
vspor708:30202333
vspor363:30204092
vscod805cf:30301675
binariesv615:30325510
14424t2-chatv7:31276447
c4g48928:30535728
azure-dev_surveyone:30548225
962ge761:30959799
2e7ec940:31000449
pythontbext0:30879054
cppperfnew:31000557
dwnewjupytercf:31046870
nativerepl1:31139838
pythonrstrctxt:31112756
nativeloc2:31192216
5fd0e150:31155592
dwcopilot:31170013
6074i472:31201624
dwoutputs:31242946
customenabled:31248079
hdaa2157:31222309
copilot_t_ci:31222730
850i5325:31264362
e5gg6876:31271075
jda6j935:31233686
pythoneinst12cf:31262606
bgtreat:31268568
fh1c7952:31258891
4gafe986:31271826
31787653:31262186
3e8i5726:31271747
49da9784:31264548

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

Reproduce the paused PowerShell debugging scenario by changing a string property on a PSCustomObject, then trace the debug variable-setting path around the reported VariableDetails-to-VariableContainerDetails cast error. Done means the property updates successfully without the unexpected error, with regression coverage for this case.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
powershell, typescript, vscode
Domain
devtools
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
42/100

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