VS Code Terminal Shell Integration (Windows)

Source: Dev.to

Problem

VS Code may display “The terminal is awaiting input” and similar prompts when Terminal Shell Integration is not enabled or when using an unsupported shell.

Required VS Code Settings

Add the following to your settings.json:

{
    "terminal.integrated.shellIntegration.enabled": true,
    "terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.windows": "PowerShell 7",
    "terminal.integrated.profiles.windows": {
        "PowerShell 7": {
            "path": "C:\\Program Files\\PowerShell\\7\\pwsh.exe"
        }
    }
}

After Changing Settings

1. Close all terminals.
2. Reload the VS Code window.

If the message persists, you are likely still using Windows PowerShell 5.1, which has unreliable shell integration.

Fix (One‑time per Machine)

Install PowerShell 7, which fully supports VS Code terminal integration and resolves command/input detection issues.

• Microsoft Docs: https://learn.microsoft.com/powershell/scripting/install/installing-powershell-core-on-windows
• Or install via winget:

winget install Microsoft.PowerShell