Could not find the task 'tsc: build - tsconfig.json' - visual-studio

Question

Hello I am following this tutorial
https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/typescript/typescript-tutorial
to debug typescript but I have encountered error as shown in the screenshot.
If I choose debug anyway, the debugger works but I cant set any breakpoint. I suspect it has something to do with failing to set up the task file.
Any advise guys?

Answer 1

I had a similar problem. In my case, the tsconfig.json file was not in the main folder, but in a subfolder. In my case, the working configuration looked like this
{
"type": "node",
"request": "launch",
"name": "Launch server",
"program": "${workspaceFolder}/server/index.ts",
"preLaunchTask": "tsc: build - server/tsconfig.json",
"outFiles": ["${workspaceFolder}/out/**/*.js"]
}

Answer 2

Task tsc: build - tsconfig.json by default comes from VSCode when it detects the existence of tsconfig.json. Based on your screenshot, I can tell that you already have the file. So, it is odd if it can't be detected.
Please make sure the file content of tsconfig.json is valid.
tsconfig.json
{
"compilerOptions": {
"target": "es5",
"module": "commonjs",
"outDir": "out",
"sourceMap": true
}
}
Also to check whether the tasks are exist, you can choose menu Terminal -> Run Build Task or press Shift + Command + B on MacOS. If correct, you can see two tasks available there as the image below.
Otherwise, there must be something wrong with the steps. Perhaps, there is an extra space in preLaunchTask. For reference, I also copy paste my launch.json here.
{
// Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
// Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
// For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
"version": "0.2.0",
"configurations": [
{
"type": "node",
"request": "launch",
"name": "Launch Program",
"program": "${workspaceFolder}/helloworld.ts",
"preLaunchTask": "tsc: build - tsconfig.json",
"outFiles": [
"${workspaceFolder}/out/**/*.js"
]
}
]
}

Answer 3

For other language users, the tsc: build command maybe be another command, such as tsc: 构建 in Chinese.
my launch.json:
{
"version": "0.2.0",
"configurations": [
{
"type": "pwa-node",
"request": "launch",
"name": "Launch Program",
"skipFiles": [
"<node_internals>/**"
],
"program": "${workspaceFolder}/index.ts",
"preLaunchTask": "tsc: 构建 - tsconfig.json",
"outFiles": [
"${workspaceFolder}/out/**/*.js"
]
}
]
}

Answer 4

When you Ctrl+Shift+B terminal will run Run Build Task.. You'll see in the terminal
">Executing task: tsc -p c:....
Terminal will be reused by tasks, press any key to close it."
Then after that double click a ts file and press F5 you will have to select at which environment do you want your ts file to run and then you will see the output in the debug console.

Answer 5

because it does not find path of tsconfig file....
see your folder structure whether the structure contains multiple same folder with same name...so y debugger confused to find path....so make sure the devlopement folder which you work on has proper path with unique name no same name with its parent folder and contains tsconfig files...

Answer 6

This happens also if the Extension Host crashed. This prevents the task engine from finding the requested task. Usually, you should see a message in the toaster where you can immediately restart the Extension Host. After that the debugger and tasks work.

Answer 7

For Ubuntu Linux 20.04 LTS (but may well be the same on other OS's) what got preLaunchTask working for me, was using both a local tasks.json and launch.json
So my folder structure (pre-build) is:
.vscode/launch.json
.vscode/tasks.json
dist
src/index.ts
package.json
tsconfig.json
My launch.json contains:
{
"configurations": [
{
"type": "node",
"request": "launch",
"name": "TS preLaunchTask-build",
"program": "${file}",
"preLaunchTask": "tsc: build",
"outFiles": ["${workspaceFolder}/dist/**/*.js"],
"skipFiles": [
"<node_internals>/**", "node_modules",
]
},
]
}
My tasks.json contains:
{
"version": "2.0.0",
"tasks": [
{
"type": "shell",
"command": "echo hello yes working!",
"problemMatcher": [],
"label": "myTask"
},
{
"type": "typescript",
"tsconfig": "tsconfig.json",
"problemMatcher": ["$tsc"],
"group": "build",
"label": "tsc: build"
},
]
}
And my tsconfig.json contains:
{
"compilerOptions": {
"outDir": "./dist",
"sourceMap": true,
"target": "es5",
"module": "commonjs"
},
"include": [
"src/**/*"
]
}
Usage: whilst within the index.ts just hit F5 with a breakpoint set
I have also included another task, "myTask" you can change the preLaunchTask line in your launch.json to: "preLaunchTask": "myTask", (where it will output some text to console to verify preLaunchTask is now working)
That way, if you still have issues, you can see if the issue is in your tsconfig setup, or if it's a preTaskLaunch setup issue.
(I would have thought it should have resolved this itself, but apparently not at the current time of writing anyway - but does force the advantage (for me) of committing debug config to the repo on project basis rather than global config)

Answer 8

Be sure to check the exact structure/spelling of Task by pressing Ctrl+Shift+B (on Windows) and Cmd+Shift+B(on Mac).
In my case, it was tsc: build - projectName/tsconfig.json