VSCode

Settings Precedence

• User → Workspace → Folder — later overrides earlier

• .vscode/settings.json

  per project — overrides user settings

• "editor.formatOnSave"

  in workspace overrides user — can be confusing
• Multi-root workspaces need per-folder settings — or root

  .code-workspace

  file
• Some settings only work in user —

  "terminal.integrated.shell"

  is user-only

Formatter Conflicts

• Multiple formatters for same language — set

  "[language]": {"editor.defaultFormatter": "id"}

• Prettier vs ESLint both formatting — disable one:

  "prettier.enable": false

  in ESLint projects
• Format on save runs wrong formatter — explicit

  defaultFormatter

  required

• .editorconfig

  overrides some settings — can conflict with extension settings

Debugger Setup

• launch.json

  needed for most debugging — can't just press F5

• "cwd"

  relative to workspace root — not launch.json location

• "program"

  path wrong — use

  ${workspaceFolder}/path/to/file

• Node.js:

  "skipFiles"

  to avoid stepping into node_modules
• Compound configurations for multi-process —

  "compounds"

  array in launch.json

Extensions

• Extension host crash — disable recently installed, enable one by one
• "Cannot find module" after install — restart VS Code completely
• Extension settings not applying — check if workspace setting overrides
• Conflicting extensions — keybinding conflicts, duplicate features

Terminal

• Wrong shell on new terminal — set

  "terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.*"

• Environment variables missing — terminal inherits from launch method, not .bashrc
• Path not updated after install — restart VS Code, not just terminal
• Shell integration issues —

  "terminal.integrated.shellIntegration.enabled": false

  to disable

Remote Development

• SSH:

  ~/.ssh/config

  Host must match —

  "remote.SSH.configFile"

  to use different config
• Containers:

  .devcontainer/devcontainer.json

  required — won't auto-detect Dockerfile
• WSL: extensions install separately — WSL extensions stay in WSL
• Port forwarding: auto but not always — check Ports panel

Workspace Trust

• Restricted mode disables some features — debugging, tasks, some extensions
• Trust prompt on first open — "Trust Folder" to enable everything
• Per-folder trust in multi-root — can trust some folders, not others

Common Fixes

• IntelliSense not working — check language server status in Output panel
• "Cannot find module" in TypeScript — restart TS server: Cmd+Shift+P → "TypeScript: Restart TS Server"
• Git not detecting changes — check if inside subfolder,

  .git

  must be at root or configured
• Settings not saving — check write permissions on settings.json