[BUG] .bashrc not loaded in VSCode extension

[Atcold]

Preflight Checklist

• I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

The Claude Code extension does not source ~/.bashrc, which contains my $PATH.
Therefore, it tries to locate my binaries on its own.

What Should Happen?

Load my bash configurations.

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

No response

Claude Code Version

2.1.76 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

VS Code integrated terminal

Additional Information

No response

[yurukusa]

This is a VSCode behavior, not specific to Claude Code. VSCode's integrated terminal spawns a non-interactive, non-login shell — so ~/.bashrc (which requires an interactive shell) isn't sourced.

Fixes (pick one)

Option 1: Set PATH in VSCode settings (recommended)

In your VSCode settings.json:

{
  "terminal.integrated.env.osx": {
    "PATH": "/your/custom/path:${env:PATH}"
  }
}

Option 2: Move PATH exports to a login profile

Put your PATH modifications in ~/.bash_profile or ~/.profile instead of ~/.bashrc. These are sourced by login shells, which VSCode can be configured to use:

{
  "terminal.integrated.profiles.osx": {
    "bash": {
      "path": "bash",
      "args": ["-l"]
    }
  }
}

The -l flag makes it a login shell, which sources ~/.bash_profile.

Option 3: Source bashrc from bash_profile

Add this to ~/.bash_profile:

[[ -f ~/.bashrc ]] && source ~/.bashrc

This ensures your bashrc config is loaded in both interactive and login shell contexts.

Why this affects Claude Code specifically

When Claude Code runs Bash tool calls in VSCode, they inherit the extension's environment — which has the truncated PATH. The CLI version (claude in a terminal) doesn't have this problem because your terminal is an interactive login shell that already sourced .bashrc.

[Atcold]

Thanks, @yurukusa, for your answer.
I did update VSCode settings, but it's not working.

"terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.osx": "bash",
"terminal.integrated.env.osx": {
        "PATH": "/opt/homebrew/bin:/opt/homebrew/sbin:${env:PATH}"
    }

My path

/opt/homebrew/Caskroom/miniconda/base/condabin:/opt/homebrew/bin:/opt/homebrew/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/System/Cryptexes/App/usr/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/local/bin:/var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/bin:/var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/appleinternal/bin:/opt/pmk/env/global/bin:/opt/X11/bin:/Library/TeX/texbin:/Users/atcold/.local/bin:/Users/atcold/.lmstudio/bin:/Users/atcold/go/bin:/Users/atcold/.local/bin

What Claude sees:

/opt/homebrew/opt/python@3.14/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.14/bin:/usr/local/bin:/System/Cryptexes/App/usr/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/local/bin:/var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/bin:/var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/appleinternal/bin:/opt/pmk/env/global/bin:/opt/X11/bin:/Library/TeX/texbin

[Atcold]

Ah, I think I figured.
VS Code does source ~/.profile.
My ~/.profile opens with source $HOME/.bashrc, and therefore it gets my aliases.
Yet, ~/.bashrc does not export brew stuff but runs /opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv, which doesn't get executed by VS Code.

So… well… I don't know.
A workaround would be simply exporting brew myself.
But a nicer solution would be…