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Troubleshoot Visual Studio Code and Proxies​

How to troubleshoot problems connecting VS Code with a proxy.

Joel Bradley avatar
Written by Joel Bradley
Updated today

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Tags | VS Code | Proxies |

Applies to: Enterprise

This documentation is for Stack Internal Enterprise. Free, Basic, and Business users can access their documentation here. Find your plan.

Overview

You can configure Visual Studio Code (VS Code) to connect through network proxies, ensuring added security in corporate or restricted environments. This configuration can be tricky, and mistakes may result in connection errors in Visual Studio Code when using the Stack Internal VS Code extension or MCP server.

Some common errors include:

  • TypeError: Cannot read properties of null

  • TypeError: Cannot read properties of null (reading 'messages')

  • [error] Error: self signed certificate in certificate chain

Troubleshooting​

Common fixes

Below are some common fixes for VS Code proxy errors.

  • Make sure *.stackenterprise.co is allowed in the proxy ACL.

  • Make sure that you're connecting with IPv4. Stack Internal does not support IPv6.

  • Make sure your proxy is not inserting its own SSL certificate into the handshake, as this will break the connection. To ensure this isn't happening, try the following steps:

    • Set "http.proxyStrictSSL": false in your VS Code settings.json file.

    • On your computer, set the NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS environment variable to point to a self-signed certificate PEM file.

    • On your computer, add the NODE_OPTIONS environment variable and set it to --use-system-ca.

Access your logs

If you're still having problems, accessing the VS Code logs is the next step in troubleshooting a proxy configuration issue. If you need support from Stack Overflow, you'll also want to save the logs so you can provide them to us.

There are two types of log files used for troubleshooting: extension logs and global logs.

NOTE: Based on the specifics of your VS Code installation, your log files may be in a different location. The log files may also be organized by timestamp in sub-folders.

Extension logs

You can locate the VS Code extension logs in two different ways.

Method 1: command palette

  1. In VS Code, open the command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P or CMD+Shift+P).

  2. Type "Developer: open extension logs folder".

  3. Press Enter on your keyboard to open the logs directory.

Example Windows log location
​ %USERPROFILE%\.vscode\extensions\extensions\

Example MacOS/Linux log location
​ ~/.vscode/extensions/extensions.log

Method 2: developer tools

  1. In VS Code, click Help then Toggle Developer Tools.

  2. Select the "Console" tab to view the log.

  3. To save the log, right- or option-click anywhere in the console and select Save as….

Global logs​

You can access the global VS Code log files by navigating your computer's file system. Below are common locations for each of the three major operating systems.

Example Windows global log location
​ %APPDATA%\Code\logs\ %PROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft VS Code\logs\

Example MacOS global log location
​ ~/Library/Application Support/Code/logs/

Example Linux global log location
​ ~/.config/Code/logs/

When you locate your global log folder, create a ZIP archive of all log files and include that archive with your support ticket.

Get help

If you need help with your VS Code proxy connection, reach out to support. When you create a support ticket, be sure to include your VS Code log files.

If you need further support or have questions, contact your site administrator.

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