PowerShell Extension Terminal should reappear automatically if shown and "Restart Session" command is applied and background setting is enabled #5562

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1. Justin Grote (JustinGrote)

   assigned

   Copilot

   and

   Justin Grote (JustinGrote)

   on Jul 31, 2026
2. Copilot

   linked a pull request that will close this issueRestore Extension Terminal visibility across Restart Session when background startup is enabled #5563on Jul 31, 2026
3. github-actions

   added

   Area-Extension Terminal

   Area-Startup

   Issue-BugA bug to squash.A bug to squash.

   Needs: TriageMaintainer attention needed!Maintainer attention needed!

   on Jul 31, 2026
4. github-actions commented on Jul 31, 2026

   

   github-actionsBot

   on Jul 31, 2026 – with GitHub Actions

   Contributor

   More actions

   Bug confirmed: terminal visibility not restored after Restart Session when startInBackground is enabled.

   For maintainers

   Reproducibility: High confidence — the report is precise and the code path confirms it. Steps: set powershell.integratedConsole.startInBackground: true, show the terminal, run PowerShell: Restart Session, observe terminal does not reappear.

   Root cause: In src/process.ts around line 194, terminal visibility is restored on startup only when !startInBackground:

   if (showOnStartup && !startInBackground) {
       this.consoleTerminal.show(true);
   }

   When restarting with startInBackground: true, this block is skipped entirely — there is no path that checks whether the terminal was visible before the restart and re-shows it. The fix would involve tracking terminal visibility state before restart (e.g., in SessionManager.restartSession) and passing that through so PowerShellProcess can call consoleTerminal.show() when appropriate.

   Copilot-fix suitability: Yes — well-scoped, localized change with clear expected behavior. The fix is contained to src/process.ts and/or src/session.ts, requires no design decisions beyond what the issue already specifies, and the expected behavior is unambiguous (re-show only if terminal was visible before restart).

   Likely area: src/process.ts (PowerShellProcess — terminal creation/show logic) and src/session.ts (SessionManager.restartSession — needs to capture visibility state before tearing down the old process).

   Suggested approach:

   1. Before stopping the old session in restartSession, check whether the integrated console terminal is currently visible (e.g., vscode.window.activeTerminal === consoleTerminal or track a wasVisible flag via onDidChangeActiveTerminal).
   2. Pass that flag to the new PowerShellProcess start so it can call consoleTerminal.show() after startup regardless of startInBackground.

   Generated by Agentic Issue Triage for issue #5562 · 77.9 AIC · ⌖ 11.8 AIC · ⊞ 24.2K · ◷

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