Extension host terminated unexpectedly 3 times within the last 5 minutes

[brandongsmitty]

Expected Behavior

VSCode should start normally with the dbt Power User extension loaded and functional.

Description

VSCode crashes repeatedly with the error "Extension host terminated unexpectedly 3 times within the last 5 minutes" immediately upon startup when the dbt Power User extension is installed.

Troubleshooting Steps Taken

1. Restarted the extension multiple times - issue persists
2. Ran VSCode Extension Bisect - identified the issue occurs only when dbt Power User is enabled
3. Completely wiped and reinstalled VSCode from scratch
4. Installed ONLY the dbt Power User extension (no other extensions besides dependencies ) - issue still persists
5. Extension Bisect also flagged Better Jinja extension (samuelcolvin.jinjahtml v0.20.0) as potentially related

IMPORTANT NOTE: The crash occurs even when dbt Power User and it's dependencies are the ONLY extensions installed, suggesting the issue is with Power User itself, not a conflict with Better Jinja.

Timeline

• Issue started approximately 5 days ago (around January 8, 2026)
• Appears to have started after an extension update ( claude update - I consider this a red herring and not the actual cause )
• Has made VSCode completely unusable for dbt development since then

Additional Context

• The crash happens before any dbt files are opened - occurs immediately on VSCode startup

Impact

CRITICAL - VSCode is completely unusable for dbt development with this extension installed. This blocks all dbt work in VSCode for the past 5 days.

Workaround Attempted

None found. The only way to use VSCode is to completely disable the dbt Power User extension, which removes all dbt functionality.

Actual behavior

Extension host crashes repeatedly, making VSCode unusable with the dbt Power User extension installed.

Steps To Reproduce

1. Install dbt Power User extension (innoverio.vscode-dbt-power-user v0.59.1)
2. Open VSCode
3. Extension host crashes immediately on startup
4. Error repeats 3 times within 5 minutes

Log output/Screenshots

Unable to retrieve extension host logs as crashes occur before logging can complete.

Environment

• OS: macOS 15.7.3 (Sequoia)
• VSCode Version: 1.108.0 (arm64)
• dbt Power User Extension Version: 0.59.1
• Better Jinja Extension Version: 0.20.0

Operating System

OS: macOS 15.7.3 (Sequoia)

dbt version

dbt Cloud CLI - 0.40.14 (09a03c3022aa6c7db909ab4d265ef832373b314f 2026-01-07T17:25:23Z)

dbt Adapter

snowflake

dbt Power User version

dbt Power User Extension Version: 0.59.1

Are you willing to submit PR?

• Yes I am willing to submit a PR!

[tkiehn]

I am having the same problem since yesterday, following Environment:
Windows 11, 24H2 (OS Build 26100.7462)
VS Code: 1.108.2
dbt Power User Extension Version: Issue occured on 0.59.1, still persistant after upgrading to 0.59.2
Better Jinja Extension Version: 0.20.0
dbt Cloud CLI - 0.40.14 (09a03c3022aa6c7db909ab4d265ef832373b314f 2026-01-07T17:25:23Z)

On my end, similar situation: Having Better Jinja enabled alone does not cause any issues, however when enabling Power User for dbt the extension host repeatedly crashes and VS Code is basically unusable until I disable Power User for dbt again.

Output of extension log (Via CTRL + SHIFT + P -> Developer: Show Logs... -> Log - dbt)

2026-01-29 17:04:24.727 [info] discoverProjects:foundProjects [[{"$mid":1,"fsPath":"c:\\Users\\username\\Projects\\project-name\\dbt\\dbt_project.yml","_sep":1,"external":"file:///c%3A/Users/username/Projects/project-name/dbt/dbt_project.yml","path":"/c:/Users/username/Projects/project-name/dbt/dbt_project.yml","scheme":"file"}]]
2026-01-29 17:04:24.727 [info] discoverProjects:allowListFolders [[]]
2026-01-29 17:04:24.727 [info] discoverProjects:foundProjectsAfterFilter [[{"$mid":1,"fsPath":"c:\\Users\\username\\Projects\\project-name\\dbt","_sep":1,"path":"/c:/Users/username/Projects/project-name/dbt","scheme":"file"}]]
2026-01-29 17:04:24.878 [info] discoverProjects:foundProjectsAfterProjectIntegrationFilter [["c:\\Users\\username\\Projects\\project-name\\dbt"]]
2026-01-29 17:04:25.892 [info] dbtCommand:Executed dbt command: dbt environment show --project-paths --source dbt-power-user [{"command":"dbt environment show --project-paths --source dbt-power-user","execution":"cli"}]
2026-01-29 17:04:27.512 [info] dbtCommand:Executed dbt command: dbt --version --source dbt-power-user [{"command":"dbt --version --source dbt-power-user","execution":"cli"}]

Output of extension host log (Via CTRL + SHIFT + P -> Developer: Show Logs... -> Extension Host)

2026-01-29 17:04:09.983 [info] Extension host with pid 2620 started
2026-01-29 17:04:09.983 [info] Skipping acquiring lock for c:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Code\User\workspaceStorage\d34d321b33f.
2026-01-29 17:04:10.009 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension vscode.terminal-suggest, startup: false, activationEvent: 'onTerminalShellIntegration:*'
2026-01-29 17:04:10.092 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension vscode.github-authentication, startup: false, activationEvent: 'onAuthenticationRequest:github'
2026-01-29 17:04:10.123 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension vscode.emmet, startup: false, activationEvent: 'onLanguage'
2026-01-29 17:04:10.143 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension samuelcolvin.jinjahtml, startup: false, activationEvent: 'onLanguage:jinja-sql'
2026-01-29 17:04:10.147 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension vscode.microsoft-authentication, startup: false, activationEvent: 'onAuthenticationRequest:microsoft'
2026-01-29 17:04:10.221 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension vscode.configuration-editing, startup: false, activationEvent: 'onLanguage:jsonc'
2026-01-29 17:04:10.231 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension vscode.json-language-features, startup: false, activationEvent: 'onLanguage:jsonc'
2026-01-29 17:04:10.385 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension vscode.typescript-language-features, startup: false, activationEvent: 'onLanguage:jsonc'
2026-01-29 17:04:10.482 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension vscode.git-base, startup: false, activationEvent: 'onFileSystem:git', root cause: vscode.git
2026-01-29 17:04:10.489 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension ms-python.python, startup: false, activationEvent: 'onLanguage:python'
2026-01-29 17:04:11.266 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension ms-python.vscode-python-envs, startup: false, activationEvent: 'onLanguage:python'
2026-01-29 17:04:11.365 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension vscode.extension-editing, startup: false, activationEvent: 'onLanguage:markdown'
2026-01-29 17:04:11.387 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension vscode.markdown-language-features, startup: false, activationEvent: 'onLanguage:markdown'
2026-01-29 17:04:11.526 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension altimateai.vscode-altimate-mcp-server, startup: false, activationEvent: 'onCommand:dbtPowerUser.showCompiledSQL', root cause: innoverio.vscode-dbt-power-user
2026-01-29 17:04:11.844 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension vscode.npm, startup: false, activationEvent: 'onTerminalQuickFixRequest:ms-vscode.npm-command'
2026-01-29 17:04:11.876 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension vscode.merge-conflict, startup: false, activationEvent: 'onCommand:merge-conflict.accept.incoming'
2026-01-29 17:04:12.143 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension vscode.html-language-features, startup: false, activationEvent: 'api', root cause: samuelcolvin.jinjahtml
2026-01-29 17:04:12.321 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension vscode.git, startup: false, activationEvent: 'onFileSystem:git'
2026-01-29 17:04:12.424 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension vscode.github, startup: false, activationEvent: '*'
2026-01-29 17:04:14.881 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension innoverio.vscode-dbt-power-user, startup: false, activationEvent: 'onCommand:dbtPowerUser.showCompiledSQL'
2026-01-29 17:04:21.938 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension vscode.debug-auto-launch, startup: false, activationEvent: 'onStartupFinished'
2026-01-29 17:04:24.786 [warning] DiagnosticCollection with name 'dbt' does already exist.

The provided logs are from one pid of the extension host but are similar throughout the reboots.

[tkiehn]

Thanks to a user's suggestion on Slack I've recloned the dbt-project and for now this seems to have fixed the issue on my side.

If the issue re-appears I will leave an update here.

[mdesmet]

The issue might be related to having big log files.

[bhodsonAmplify]

Here is my analysis of the bug looking at my logs.

Extension Host Crashes with "PendingMigrationError: navigator is now a global in nodejs" - Extension Unusable
Environment
VSCode Version: 1.107.x (using VSCode Server on Linux ARM64)
Extension: altimateai.vscode-altimate-mcp-server v0.4.9
Platform: Linux ARM64 (Remote/WSL environment)
Node.js: v20+ (bundled with VSCode)
Problem Description
The dbt Power User extension causes the VSCode Extension Host to crash immediately upon startup with multiple PendingMigrationError: navigator is now a global in nodejs errors. This makes the extension completely unusable as VSCode displays "Remote Extension host terminated unexpectedly 3 times within the last 5 minutes" and disables all extension functionality.

Error Details
The extension crashes with the following error pattern repeated multiple times during startup:

javascript
Run Code
Copy code
2026-02-10 18:47:30.522 [error] PendingMigrationError: navigator is now a global in nodejs, please see https://aka.ms/vscode-extensions/navigator for additional info on this error.
at get (file:///vscode/vscode-server/bin/linux-arm64/bdd88df003631aaa0bcbe057cb0a940b80a476fa/out/vs/workbench/api/node/extensionHostProcess.js:405:6684)
at 66741 (/root/.vscode-server/extensions/altimateai.vscode-altimate-mcp-server-0.4.9/dist/extension.js:318:29982)
at webpack_require (/root/.vscode-server/extensions/altimateai.vscode-altimate-mcp-server-0.4.9/dist/extension.js:350:1495439)
[... full stack trace continues through webpack modules ...]
The error occurs in multiple locations within the bundled extension.js file, indicating that the extension or its dependencies are attempting to assign values to the navigator global object.

Steps to Reproduce
Install altimateai.vscode-altimate-mcp-server v0.4.9
Open VSCode (especially in remote/WSL environment)
Extension Host crashes immediately upon startup
VSCode shows "Extension host terminated unexpectedly" error
Extension functionality is completely unavailable
Expected Behavior
The extension should load without errors and provide dbt Power User functionality.

Actual Behavior
Extension Host crashes immediately, making the extension unusable. The only workaround is to completely disable the extension.

Root Cause Analysis
Starting in Node.js v20.0.0 (which VSCode now uses), navigator became a built-in, read-only global object. Extensions can no longer redefine or assign to this global variable.

The error stack trace shows the issue originates from the extension's bundled dependencies attempting to use navigator as a variable name, which now conflicts with the Node.js global.

As per Microsoft's documentation (https://aka.ms/vscode-extensions/navigator):

"Starting in Node.js 20, navigator is a built-in, read-only global object. Extensions must not redefine it. Use a different variable name (e.g., clientInfo, platformInfo, etc.)"

Impact
Severity: Critical - Extension is completely unusable
Scope: Affects all users on VSCode versions using Node.js 20+
Workaround: None available except disabling the extension entirely
Suggested Fix
The extension's bundled code and/or dependencies need to be updated to:

Avoid assigning to the navigator global variable
Use alternative variable names (e.g., clientInfo, platformInfo, browserInfo)
Update any dependencies that may be using deprecated navigator assignments
Test against Node.js 20+ compatibility
Additional Context
This is a breaking change introduced in Node.js 20 that affects multiple VSCode extensions. Similar issues have been reported for other extensions including GitHub Copilot and Microsoft's own Remote-SSH extension.

The extension was working fine approximately one month ago, suggesting this issue appeared when VSCode updated to a version using Node.js 20+.