esbuild.exe blocked by Windows security policy — no actionable error message
Open
@mksuni is already working on this.
Since Jun 11, 2026.
bug
issue-mapped
triaged
- Dominant language
- No language data
- Stars
- 610
- Forks
- 62
- Avg merge
- 1d 23h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 3
Description
Context
Split from https://github.com/microsoft/rayfin/issues/24 (sub-issue 1 of 4).
Problem
When scaffolding on Windows, esbuild.exe is blocked by local security policy with no clear error message guiding the user to a workaround. Switching to WSL resolves the issue immediately.
Expected Behavior
The CLI should detect when esbuild.exe fails to execute due to a policy block and surface a user-friendly error message with suggested workarounds (e.g., use WSL, unblock the binary via PowerShell Unblock-File, or adjust execution policy).
Suggested Fix
- Catch the specific error from
esbuild.exeexecution failure - Display a clear message: "esbuild.exe was blocked by your system's security policy. Try running in WSL, or unblock the file with
Unblock-File" - Add a note in the Getting Started docs about this Windows-specific issue
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.
Assessment
This issue has not been assessed yet.