Terminate batches quickly in VSCode

Introduction

The disadvantages of typically writing long and detailed blogs is that it constantly raises the bar for the next blog post. Which leads to procrastination. So, I am going to try something different this time. I’m going to go back to how I started blogging: short posts that are intended to be a note to myself about something I always forget.

Because I am lazy, I don’t want to have to look it up every time.

So this post is going to be a #NoteToSelf about how to terminate batches quickly in VSCode. It may not be earth-shattering, or unique, and I’m sure that you can look it up easily, but I always forget. If you happen to find it useful, that’s great. If not, that’s fine too.

The problem

When you run a batch task in VSCode, you often need to terminate it. When building SPFx solutions, this is especially true when you run gulp serve or npm run serve (if using fast-serve. Wait, you are using fast-serve, right?).

When you terminate a batch task in VSCode (by hitting CTRL-C), you get a confirmation message that asks you if you are sure you want to terminate the batch. You need to hit “Y” to confirm, or hit CTRL-C again to terminate the batch. (Although, if you hit CTRL-C twice, you may end up in an endless loop where it prompts you again and again until you hit “Y”.)

The solution

You can configure automatic response in the VS Code terminal with the use of some settings.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Open the settings in VSCode (CTRL-,) or File > Preferences > Settings.

2. In the preferences search bar, search for autoreplies.

3. Select Edit in settings.json.

4. In the settings.json file, add the following lines:

   "terminal.integrated.autoReplies": {
        "Terminate batch job (Y/N)": "Y\r"
    }
   

5. Save the file.

6. Next time you get prompted to terminate a batch job, it will automatically respond with “Y” and terminate the batch.

You can add more auto-replies for other prompts as well.

Conclusion

That’s it. Now you can terminate batches twice as fast in VSCode.

I told you it was gonna be a quick one!

I hope this helps?