microsoft / microsoft/vscode-cmake-tools

This extension doesn't respect portable mode for vscode

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#3,339 2 comments 2 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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enhancement Feature: other investigation needed
Dominant language
TypeScript
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Forks
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Avg merge
2d 16h
Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

### Brief Issue Summary

I've followed steps described in this documentation:
https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/portable

(Tested on Windows platform)
This extension creates a folder "CMakeTools" under "C:\Users\user\AppData\Local".
There are several files inside:
cmake-tools-kits.json
log.txt

Tried to set "Cmake: Additional Kits" and "Cmake: Show System Kits", but this extension still touches C drive.
It seems that vscode allows to store editor settings and extensions in a portable way, but not extension settings.

I'd like to have an option to move "CMakeTools" folder outside the (C) system drive.

### CMake Tools Diagnostics

_No response_

### Debug Log

_No response_

### Additional Information

_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 tracing where the CMakeTools folder and cmake-tools-kits.json are created under C:\Users\user\AppData\Local, then compare that location with VS Code's portable-mode storage behavior. Done means the extension stores its files outside the system drive when VS Code runs in portable mode, while preserving the existing kit and log behavior.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cmake, typescript, vscode
Domain
developer-experience, devtools
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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