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Allow selecting a PowerShell update notification channel #5689

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7490353
Initial plan
Copilot Nov 13, 2026
48d0968
Add selectable PowerShell update channels
Copilot Nov 13, 2026
37ac31e
Organize update test imports
Copilot Nov 13, 2026
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15 changes: 15 additions & 0 deletions package.json
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -857,6 +857,21 @@
"default": true,
"markdownDescription": "Specifies whether you may be prompted to update your version of PowerShell."
},
"powershell.updateChannel": {
"type": "string",
"default": "latest",
"enum": [
"latest",
"preview",
"lts"
],
"enumDescriptions": [
"Checks for stable releases.",
"Checks for preview releases.",
"Checks for long-term servicing releases."
],
"markdownDescription": "Specifies which PowerShell release channel to check for updates."
},
"powershell.promptToUpdatePackageManagement": {
"type": "boolean",
"default": false,
Expand Down
84 changes: 33 additions & 51 deletions src/features/UpdatePowerShell.ts
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -12,14 +12,20 @@ interface IUpdateMessageItem extends vscode.MessageItem {
id: number;
}

type UpdateChannel = "latest" | "preview" | "lts";

interface IPowerShellReleaseMetadata {
StableReleaseTag?: string;
PreviewReleaseTag?: string;
LTSReleaseTag?: string;
}

// This attempts to mirror PowerShell's `UpdatesNotification.cs` logic as much as
// possibly, documented at:
// https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/about/about_update_notifications
export class UpdatePowerShell {
private static LTSBuildInfoURL = "https://aka.ms/pwsh-buildinfo-lts";
private static StableBuildInfoURL = "https://aka.ms/pwsh-buildinfo-stable";
private static PreviewBuildInfoURL =
"https://aka.ms/pwsh-buildinfo-preview";
private static ReleaseMetadataURL =
"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/refs/heads/master/tools/metadata.json";
private static GitHubWebReleaseURL =
"https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/releases/tag/";
private static promptOptions: IUpdateMessageItem[] = [
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -106,22 +112,22 @@ export class UpdatePowerShell {
return true;
}

private async getRemoteVersion(url: string): Promise<string | undefined> {
const response = await fetch(url);
private async getRemoteVersion(
channel: UpdateChannel,
): Promise<string | undefined> {
const response = await fetch(UpdatePowerShell.ReleaseMetadataURL);
if (!response.ok) {
return undefined;
}
// Looks like:
// {
// "ReleaseDate": "2022-10-20T22:01:38Z",
// "BlobName": "v7-2-7",
// "ReleaseTag": "v7.2.7"
// }
const data = await response.json();
const data = (await response.json()) as IPowerShellReleaseMetadata;
this.logger.writeDebug(
`Received from '${url}':\n${JSON.stringify(data, undefined, 2)}`,
`Received from '${UpdatePowerShell.ReleaseMetadataURL}':\n${JSON.stringify(data, undefined, 2)}`,
);
return data.ReleaseTag;
return {
latest: data.StableReleaseTag,
preview: data.PreviewReleaseTag,
lts: data.LTSReleaseTag,
}[channel];
}

private async maybeGetNewRelease(): Promise<string | undefined> {
Expand All @@ -130,42 +136,18 @@ export class UpdatePowerShell {
}

this.logger.writeDebug("Checking for PowerShell update...");
const tags: string[] = [];
if (process.env.POWERSHELL_UPDATECHECK?.toLowerCase() === "lts") {
// Only check for update to LTS.
this.logger.writeDebug("Checking for LTS update...");
const tag = await this.getRemoteVersion(
UpdatePowerShell.LTSBuildInfoURL,
);
if (tag != undefined) {
tags.push(tag);
}
} else {
// Check for update to stable.
this.logger.writeDebug("Checking for stable update...");
const tag = await this.getRemoteVersion(
UpdatePowerShell.StableBuildInfoURL,
);
if (tag != undefined) {
tags.push(tag);
}

// Also check for a preview update.
if (this.localVersion.prerelease.length > 0) {
this.logger.writeDebug("Checking for preview update...");
const tag = await this.getRemoteVersion(
UpdatePowerShell.PreviewBuildInfoURL,
);
if (tag != undefined) {
tags.push(tag);
}
}
}

for (const tag of tags) {
if (this.localVersion.compare(tag) === -1) {
return tag;
}
const updateChannel =
process.env.POWERSHELL_UPDATECHECK?.toLowerCase() === "lts"
? "lts"
: vscode.workspace
.getConfiguration("powershell")
.get<UpdateChannel>("updateChannel", "latest");
this.logger.writeDebug(
`Checking for ${updateChannel} PowerShell update...`,
);
const tag = await this.getRemoteVersion(updateChannel);
if (tag && this.localVersion.compare(tag) === -1) {
return tag;
}

this.logger.write("PowerShell is up-to-date.");
Expand Down
80 changes: 49 additions & 31 deletions test/features/UpdatePowerShell.test.ts
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
// Licensed under the MIT License.

import assert from "assert";
import Sinon from "sinon";
import * as vscode from "vscode";
import { UpdatePowerShell } from "../../src/features/UpdatePowerShell";
import type { IPowerShellVersionDetails } from "../../src/session";
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -114,36 +115,53 @@ describe("UpdatePowerShell feature", function () {
});

describe("Which version it gets", function () {
it("Would update to LTS", async function () {
process.env.POWERSHELL_UPDATECHECK = "LTS";
const version: IPowerShellVersionDetails = {
version: "7.2.0",
edition: "Core",
commit: "7.2.0",
architecture: "X64",
};
const updater = new UpdatePowerShell(testLogger, version);
// @ts-expect-error method is private.
const tag: string = (await updater.maybeGetNewRelease()) ?? "";
// NOTE: This will need to be updated each time an LTS is released.
// Also sometimes the prior LTS is more recently updated than the latest LTS.
assert(tag.startsWith("v7.4"));
});

it("Would update to stable", async function () {
const version: IPowerShellVersionDetails = {
version: "7.3.0",
edition: "Core",
commit: "7.3.0",
architecture: "X64",
};
const updater = new UpdatePowerShell(testLogger, version);
// @ts-expect-error method is private.
const tag: string | undefined = await updater.maybeGetNewRelease();
// NOTE: This will need to be updated each new major stable.
// TODO: Upstream bug causes LTS releases to update the stable info.
// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/prefer-nullish-coalescing
assert(tag?.startsWith("v7.6") || tag?.startsWith("v7.4"));
});
for (const [channel, tag] of [
["latest", "v7.8.0"],
["preview", "v7.9.0-preview.1"],
["lts", "v7.4.0"],
] as const) {
it(`Would update to ${channel}`, async function () {
await changeSetting(
"updateChannel",
channel,
vscode.ConfigurationTarget.Workspace,
undefined,
);
const fetchStub = Sinon.stub(globalThis, "fetch").resolves({
ok: true,
json: async () => ({
StableReleaseTag: "v7.8.0",
PreviewReleaseTag: "v7.9.0-preview.1",
LTSReleaseTag: "v7.4.0",
}),
} as Response);
try {
const version: IPowerShellVersionDetails = {
version: "7.3.0",
edition: "Core",
commit: "7.3.0",
architecture: "X64",
};
const updater = new UpdatePowerShell(testLogger, version);
// @ts-expect-error method is private.
const foundTag: string | undefined =
await updater.maybeGetNewRelease();
assert.strictEqual(foundTag, tag);
assert(
fetchStub.calledOnceWith(
"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/refs/heads/master/tools/metadata.json",
),
);
} finally {
fetchStub.restore();
await changeSetting(
"updateChannel",
undefined,
vscode.ConfigurationTarget.Workspace,
undefined,
);
}
});
}
});
});
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