Vscode-vsce: vsce package throws error without message

[kobelobster]

Hi,

I wanted to build my first VS Code extension, so I followed the tutorial on https://code.visualstudio.com/api/get-started/your-first-extension

So I have a code base containing the src for the hello world extension.

I now wanted to package this into a .vsix file so I can install it on VS Code. So I navigate into my folder (same where package.json is) and execute vsce package

This is the output

Executing prepublish script 'npm run vscode:prepublish'...

> [email protected] vscode:prepublish C:\Users\username\dev\lorem-ipsum-generator
> npm run compile


> [email protected] compile C:\Users\username\dev\lorem-ipsum-generator
> tsc -p ./

 ERROR  Make sure to edit the README.md file before you publish your extension.

Here u got the same cmd as screenshot

As you can see on the last line, there's an ERROR output, but there's no message. If I run the commands npm run vscode:prepublish and tsc -p ./ independently they don't throw any errors, so I think on this end everything works fine.

Also, the response of vsce package ls is

Executing prepublish script 'npm run vscode:prepublish'...

> [email protected] vscode:prepublish C:\Users\username\dev\lorem-ipsum-generator
> npm run compile


> [email protected] compile C:\Users\username\dev\lorem-ipsum-generator
> tsc -p ./

CHANGELOG.md
out/extension.js
package.json
README.md

As you can see, no error in there. It only comes when doing vsce package. Additionally, when I debug the extension by pressing F5 it simply works without any error.

Versions I'm using:

• vsce: 1.67.1
• npm: 6.9.0
• tsc: 3.6.4
• windows: 1709

Is there any way I can get an error with a message or log or sth. like that?

[joaomoreno]

The message is there, it reads:

Make sure to edit the README.md file before you publish your extension.

This is there to prevent publishing an extension with the default template README.md file. Edit its contents to describe your extension.

[kobelobster]

Oh wow this is embarassing haha. I thought this was more like a warning and not an error. 🤦‍♂ Changing the contents indeed was the fix.

@joaomoreno This is a bit confusing, because I'm just packaging it and not publishing it, but the error comes when packaging. Do you think it makes sense to change the publish to publish or package?

I could open a PR for this if you want.

[bmacnaughton]

i get this error even though i have edited the README.md file. any other possibilities?

[eride]

@bmacnaughton

I also got this error even though I made some (small) changes to my README.md file

It turns out that you need to change or remove the line that says This is the README for your extension, since vsce package checks for the presence of this specific string.

The check in vsce's code is here: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-vsce/blob/392778b924f2c9221eb46aac5f6df5f4c0cda315/src/package.ts#L382

Hope it helps!