TypeScript Issues

This document cover reporting issues with VS Code's built-in JavaScript and TypeScript support.

Most Common Causes of Crashes

• Extensions and plugins
• Outdated TypeScript version
• Memory usage

Extensions and Plugins

Extensions can modify the behavior of VS Code's built-in TypeScript service. This is commonly used to add specialized tooling features or support different syntax such as Vue.

However these extensions are also the leading cause of instability in VS Code's built-in JavaScript and TypeScript support. If you are seeing crashes or other issues, always first try disabling all extensions or use start extension bisect via "F1 > Start Extension Bisect". If you find the issue is caused by an extension you have installed please file an issue on the extension.

Additionally if you are using a workspace version of TypeScript, make sure to also try disabling any local plugins that are picked up by your tsconfig or jsconfig

Outdated TypeScript version

The latest VS Code release typically includes the latest stable TypeScript version. If you have told VS Code to use your workspace version of TypeScript, you may be using an older version that has bugs that have already been fixed.

Before reporting an issue, please make sure your Typescript version is up to date by:

• Make sure your VS Code version is fully up to date.

• Make sure you are using VS Code's version of TypeScript (or a new version). With a JavaScript or TypeScript file open, run the TypeScript: Select TypeScript version command. Confirm that Use VS Code's version is selected

Memory usage

For large or especially complex projects, it's possible that the TypeScript server may run out of memory which can cause the service to crash. You can double check memory usage using the process explorer

If you suspect that memory usage is causing the TypeScript service to crash, first try [splitting your code. See working with large projects for tips

If this still doesn't work, you can try increasing the memory available to the TypeScript server:

1. In the VS Code settings, set typescript.tsserver.nodePath so that the TypeScript server runs using your local node version
2. Increase the typescript.tsserver.maxTsServerMemory to a reasonable upper limit for memory usage. Make sure your system has enough memory for this.

Reporting issues

Working with large projects

If you are working in a codebase with hundreds or thousands of TypeScript files, here are some steps you can take to improve both the editing experience in VS Code as well as compile times on the command line.

Make sure your tsconfig only includes files you care about

Use include or files in your project's tsconfig.json to make sure the project only includes the files that should be part of the project.

More information on configuring your project's tsconfig.json.

Break up your project using project references

Instead of structuring your source code as a single large project, you can improve performance by breaking it up into smaller projects using project references. This allows TypeScript to load just a subset of your codebase at a time, instead of loading the entire thing.

See the TypeScript documentation for details on how to use project references and best practices for working with them.