PowerShell / PowerShell/vscode-powershell

Enabling `powershell.codeFormatting.whitespaceBetweenParameters` and `powershell.codeFormatting.alignPropertyValuePairs` makes one of them always show a warning for Hashtable assignments

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Issue-Bug Needs: Triage
Dominant language
TypeScript
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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 the extension itself and does not reproduce in a standalone PowerShell instance.
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Summary

When having both powershell.codeFormatting.whitespaceBetweenParameters and powershell.codeFormatting.alignPropertyValuePairs enabled in the extension settings, the editor UI will always show the warning for one or the other. So multi-line hashtable assignments always have a yellow warning line under all of the key-value pairs, except the one that has the longest key-string.

In PSScriptAnalyzer, there is an option in the arguments for each of the two rules:
for PSAlightAssignmentStatement, there's CheckHashtable
for PSUseConsistentWhitespace there's IgnoreAssignmentOperatorInsideHashTable

If both of these respective options are enabled, the hashtable assignments receive no warnings when the = operators are aligned and there's only 1 space after.

The PowerShell VSCode extension should either detect when the two settings are enabled and enable the respective arguments automatically or offer the option to enable or disable the respective arguments if the settings are enabled so that multi-line hashtable assignments don't always receive warnings.

PowerShell Version
Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      7.6.6
PSEdition                      Core
GitCommitId                    7.6.6
OS                             Microsoft Windows 10.0.26100
Platform                       Win32NT
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.4
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion              3.0

Name             : ConsoleHost
Version          : 7.6.6
InstanceId       : d8f39d3e-72c7-47bd-87fd-71c8a5f05138
UI               : System.Management.Automation.Internal.Host.InternalHostUserInterface
CurrentCulture   : en-US
CurrentUICulture : en-US
PrivateData      : Microsoft.PowerShell.ConsoleHost+ConsoleColorProxy
DebuggerEnabled  : True
IsRunspacePushed : False
Runspace         : System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.LocalRunspace
Visual Studio Code Version
1.137.0
645f29cc3176500b4b5762ba887cf2a7f0ffdf2c
x64
Extension Version
ms-vscode.powershell@2025.4.0
Steps to Reproduce

In VSCode Settings, enable both powershell.codeFormatting.whitespaceBetweenParameters and powershell.codeFormatting.alignPropertyValuePairs, then create a simple hashtable with multiple key-value pairs that have different legths of key-strings.

With Alignment:

$myHashtable = @{
    KeyOne   = 'item' # <- Warning: Use space before and after binary and assignment operators.
    Key2     = $aVariable # <- Warning: Use space before and after binary and assignment operators.
    KeyThree = 'ThirdValue' # <- No warning
    KeyFour  = $otherVariable # <- Warning: Use space before and after binary and assignment operators.
}
return @{
    Item1     = $false # <- Warning: Use space before and after binary and assignment operators.
    ItemTwo   = 2 # <- Warning: Use space before and after binary and assignment operators.
    ItemThree = $true # <- No warning
}

Without Alignment:

$myHashtable = @{
    KeyOne = 'item' # <- Warning: Assignment statements are not aligned.
    Key2 = $aVariable # <- Warning: Assignment statements are not aligned.
    KeyThree = 'ThirdValue' # <- No warning
    KeyFour = $otherVariable # <- Warning: Assignment statements are not aligned.
}
$myHashtable
return @{
    Item1 = $false # <- Warning: Assignment statements are not aligned.
    ItemTwo = 2 # <- Warning: Assignment statements are not aligned.
    ItemThree = $true # <- No warning
}
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First steps

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Research direction

Reproduce the warning with powershell.codeFormatting.whitespaceBetweenParameters and powershell.codeFormatting.alignPropertyValuePairs enabled, using the multi-line hashtable examples in the issue. Start by tracing how the extension handles the PSScriptAnalyzer PSAlightAssignmentStatement CheckHashtable and PSUseConsistentWhitespace IgnoreAssignmentOperatorInsideHashTable options. Done means aligned hashtable assignments with one space after the operator produce no conflicting warnings when both settings are enabled.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
powershell, typescript
Domain
devtools
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
68/100

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