Every shell command emits a spurious error under PowerShell ConstrainedLanguage mode (AppLocker/WDAC): $host.SetShouldExit() is not permitted
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Description
Describe the bug
On Windows machines where PowerShell runs in ConstrainedLanguage mode (enforced by AppLocker or WDAC, common in managed enterprise environments), every single shell command run by the agent prints a spurious error block.
Copilot CLI appends an exit-status epilogue to each command it runs:
} finally { $__copilotSuccess = $?; if (-not $__copilotSuccess -and $LASTEXITCODE -is [int] -and $LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) { $host.SetShouldExit($LASTEXITCODE) } elseif (-not $__copilotSuccess) { $host.SetShouldExit(1) } else { $host.SetShouldExit(0) } }
$host.SetShouldExit() is a .NET method call on a non-core type, which ConstrainedLanguage forbids. The wrapper itself therefore fails and emits:
Cannot invoke the method. Method invocation is supported only on core types in this language mode.
At line:2 char:225
+ ... Success) { $host.SetShouldExit(1) } else { $host.SetShouldExit(0) } }
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidOperation : (:) [], RuntimeException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : MethodInvocationNotSupportedInConstrainedLanguage
Why this matters
- Affects every command:
Get-Item,python,curl— all of them. - Pollutes the model context. The block is ~150 tokens.
- Risks incorrect failure detection. The text goes to stderr.
Suggested fix
Replace the $host.SetShouldExit(...) calls with the exit keyword, which is fully permitted in ConstrainedLanguage:
} finally { $__copilotSuccess = $?; if (-not $__copilotSuccess -and $LASTEXITCODE -is [int] -and $LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) { exit $LASTEXITCODE } elseif (-not $__copilotSuccess) { exit 1 } else { exit 0 } }
Alternatively, guard the call with a language-mode check and fall back to exit.
Affected version
1.0.81-0 (also reproduced on 1.0.82)
Steps to reproduce the behavior
- On a Windows machine where AppLocker/WDAC forces PowerShell into ConstrainedLanguage mode.
Verify with$ExecutionContext.SessionState.LanguageMode, which returnsConstrainedLanguage. - Run any trivial shell command via the agent, e.g.
Get-Item $env:TEMPorpython --version. - Observe the
MethodInvocationNotSupportedInConstrainedLanguageerror block shown above.
Expected behavior
The exit-status wrapper should use constructs permitted in ConstrainedLanguage (e.g. the exit keyword), so no spurious output is appended to successful commands.
Additional context
- OS: Windows 11, domain-joined, managed by corporate GPO
- CPU architecture: x86_64
- Shell: Windows PowerShell 5.1 (
powershell.exe) — also reproduced on PowerShell 7.6.5 (pwsh.exe), so this is not version-specific - Language mode: ConstrainedLanguage, enforced by AppLocker (Exe rule collection,
EnforcementMode=1, pushed via domain GPO) - Host: Copilot CLI running as the VS Code agent host (
@github/copilot-win32-x64)
Verification performed
- Confirmed the offending template string is present in
prebuilds/win32-x64/runtime.node. - Confirmed it is still present in 1.0.82, so updating does not resolve it.
- Confirmed the wrapped commands themselves succeed and the process exit code is still correct (
0on success). The failure is limited to the epilogue, making this primarily output noise plus a stderr false-positive risk. - A user-side
trapcannot suppress it, because the error is raised from the wrapper's ownfinallyblock.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by inspecting the offending template string in prebuilds/win32-x64/runtime.node and reproduce the wrapper under ConstrainedLanguage with $ExecutionContext.SessionState.LanguageMode and a command such as Get-Item $env:TEMP. Verify that the exit-status epilogue uses permitted constructs and that successful and failing commands no longer emit MethodInvocationNotSupportedInConstrainedLanguage errors.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- powershell
- Domain
- cli
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Active
- Clarity
- Clearly specified
- Newbie friendliness
- 68/100