How to Disable Visual Studio Code Shell Integration (Rant Edition)

TLDR - add this line to your settings.json:

"terminal.integrated.shellIntegration.enabled": false

You know what I find really annoying? I find it really annoying when an IDE adds things to my personal configuration and system setup without my explicit consent. You know what I find even more annoying? I find it even more annoying when the additions that an IDE added to my personal configuration and system setup without my explicit consent don't even work correctly.

Today I installed Visual Studio Code on my Mac and was greeted with the output bash: -: command not found within the integrated terminal every time a command was executed:

$ echo 'hello'
bash: -: command not found
hello

When I checked what was being executed with set -x, I noticed that Visual Studio Code had added a ton of bloat around the actual executing command:

$ echo 'hello'
++ __vsc_preexec_all -x
++ '[' 0 = 0 ']'
++ __vsc_in_command_execution=1
++ __vsc_preexec
++ __vsc_initialized=1
++ [[ ! echo 'hello' == __vsc_prompt* ]]
++ '[' 1 = 1 ']'
+++ builtin history 1
+++ sed 's/ *[0-9]* *//'
++ __vsc_current_command='echo '\''hello'\'''
++ __vsc_command_output_start
++ [[ -z 1 ]]
+++ __vsc_escape_value 'echo '\''hello'\'''
... a bunch of looping execution
+++ builtin printf '%s\n' /Users/ashn/sources/somerepo
++ builtin printf '\e]633;P;Cwd=%s\a' /Users/ashn/sources/somerepo
++ __vsc_current_command=
++ '[' 1 = 0 ']'
++ __vsc_first_prompt=1
++ __vsc_update_prompt
++ '[' 1 = 1 ']'
++ [[ \[\]\w\[\e[33m\]`git_ps1`\[\e[m\]\$ \[\] == '' ]]
++ [[ \[\]\w\[\e[33m\]`git_ps1`\[\e[m\]\$ \[\] != \\\[\]\6\3\3\;\A\\\\]\\\w\\\[\\\e\[\3\3\m\\\]\`\g\i\t\_\p\s\1\`\\\[\\\e\[\m\\\]\\\$\ \\\[\]\6\3\3\;\B\\\\] ]]
++ [[ \[\]> \[\] == '' ]]
++ [[ \[\]> \[\] != \\\[\]\6\3\3\;\F\\\\]\>\ \\\[\]\6\3\3\;\G\\\\] ]]
++ __vsc_in_command_execution=0
++ __vsc_update_env
... actual contents of my PS1 executed here

To prevent Visual Studio Code from adding all of this extra crap to every command, disable Visual Studio Code shell integration with the setting "terminal.integrated.shellIntegration.enabled": false in your settings.json or lookup terminal.integrated.shellIntegration.enabled in the settings menu and uncheck the Terminal -> Integrated -> Shell Integration: Enabled setting.

I understand that Visual Studio Code is a free (as in beer not as in freedom) product that I willingly downloaded onto my machine. I understand that there were probably a good number of engineering hours put into this shell integration. I even understand that this level of shell integration is something that a lot (most?) developers will want by default when using Visual Studio Code as an IDE. But there is something about this that rubs me the wrong way.

When I interact with a terminal, I want to use my preferred shell with my specific shell configuration executing only the commands given on my behalf with my explicit consent. I do not like when a company or a product opts me into something I was unaware of. If I hadn't stumbled upon that bash: -: command not found error message, then I probably would not have known that this shell integration was even happening. Microsoft's choice of default IDE settings is arguably not worth getting upset over, but this happened to hit at just the right time for me to get maximally grumpy to the point where I needed to rant!