Cannot live edit theme and font settings in the terminal user settings file, from within windows terminal

[ridhwaans]

Windows Terminal version

1.22.11141.0

Windows build number

26100.4652

Other Software

I am on ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS, on WSL2 6.6.87.2, on win11 x86

Edition	Windows 11 Home
Version	24H2
Installed on	‎11/‎8/‎2024
OS build	26100.4652
Experience	Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.128.0

i run the code below to change the theme and font settings in the terminal user settings file, from within windows terminal

set -e

# 1/2 

$font = $2

if [ $(uname) = Linux ]; then
  if [ -n "$WSL_DISTRO_NAME" ]; then
    echo "(wsl)"

    WINDOWS_HOME=$(wslpath $(powershell.exe '$env:UserProfile') | sed -e 's/\r//g')
    # echo expands glob
    WINDOWS_TERMINAL_SETTINGS_DIR=$(echo $WINDOWS_HOME/AppData/Local/Packages/Microsoft.WindowsTerminal*/LocalState)

    jq --arg base_name "$font" '.profiles.list |= map(if .source == "Windows.Terminal.Wsl" then .font.face = $font else . end)' \
    "$WINDOWS_TERMINAL_SETTINGS_DIR"/settings.json \
    > temp.json && mv temp.json "$WINDOWS_TERMINAL_SETTINGS_DIR"/settings.json
  fi
fi

# 2/2 

$theme = $3

if [ -n "$WSL_DISTRO_NAME" ]; then
      echo "(wsl)"

      WINDOWS_HOME=$(wslpath $(powershell.exe '$env:UserProfile') | sed -e 's/\r//g')
      WINDOWS_TERMINAL_SETTINGS_DIR=$WINDOWS_HOME/AppData/Local/Packages/Microsoft.WindowsTerminal*/LocalState

      # echo expands glob, but ls -d does not
      SETTINGS_FILE=$(echo $WINDOWS_TERMINAL_SETTINGS_DIR)/settings.json
      echo $SETTINGS_FILE

      echo $ENVIRONMENT_DIR/src/themes/$theme/terminal.json
      jq --slurpfile theme "source_dir/src/themes/$theme/terminal.json" \
      '.schemes = [$theme]' \
      $SETTINGS_FILE \
      > temp.json && mv temp.json $SETTINGS_FILE

in both cases, the code fails to live edit and it pops this error

what happens after i restart windows terminal is that i lose my custom profiles, schemes & starting tab, and it reverts back to the default Windows Terminal settings

Steps to reproduce

• create a bash file with the code
• run in a linux tab, within wsl2

Expected Behavior

should be able to update the users settings file in windows terminal

Actual Behavior

doesnt edit the users settings file and windows terminal displays and error

[DHowett]

Leading theories:

1. The terminal is reacting to the file change notification for step 1, and tries to open the settings file later while you replace it during step 2.
2. The same as 1, but mv temp.json /mnt/c/wherever is falling back to a file copy and Terminal is opening the settings file while it's being written. If you store the temp file on the same filesystem as the final settings file, that may let you do an atomic rename.
3. One of the steps is producing invalid JSON

Can you share the intended final settings file (by saving it off somewhere during your script)/?

[ridhwaans]

hi @DHowett
this is the settings file https://gist.github.com/ridhwaans/6340a55d18f8657d0683a9bcc0c0d8e7

[carlos-zamora]

This may be fixed by #19210. It's available in the Canary channel right now, though the settings file location is different. Can you update your script to test this out and report back/? Thanks!

[microsoft-github-policy-service]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has been marked as requiring author feedback but has not had any activity for 4 days. It will be closed if no further activity occurs within 3 days of this comment.