No feedback or visible progress during extension solution "processing" solution

[plz12345]

Describe the Issue

When I fire up VSC, the c# DevKit has a log entry noting it is processing the solution I have defined in default.projectSolution. It then has failed API calls checking for entitlements, which has been an issue for literally years at this point. And then... no visible progress, output, or logging until it's done. I'm working on a largish project, and this process is blocking for 5+ minutes most 9f the time, to the point where I avoid restarting VSC like some people avoid rebooting their computer.

If I run dotnet build ./src/Redacted.sln directly in terminal, it takes about 30 seconds. So I can't understand why the extension takes such an exorbitant amount of time to do whatever hidden thing it is doing before presenting me with the statsus bar item indicating it finally loaded. Until then, that is also hidden..

I have tried:

1. Disabling other extensions
2. Purging the workspace storage
3. Roughly 869 Developer: Reload Window commands and VSC restarts.
4. Removing unused dotnet SDK's and runtimes
5. Rebooting (even though I"m on a Mac and that's for y'all Windows folks)
6. I originally had a multi-root workspace, but can repro this on a single root workspace as well.
7. I also tried the Pre-Release extension, but not the Insider build of VSC.

I'd love to know what is happening in the dead time between the second failed entitlement API call (previously reported in #2480 ), and the 6 minute gap to the next log entry.

Switching to debug logs as quickly as possible after launching yielded no different info. I did catch it was detecting/trying .net 10, but have since removed that and can still repro. My understanding based on the log output is it's fetching and using .net 9 to do the actual work, anyways.

Steps To Reproduce

Log output

Details

2026-01-06 02:37:44.939 [info] Starting Spawn .NET server...
2026-01-06 02:37:44.939 [info] Using dotnet resolution provided by ".NET Install Tool".
2026-01-06 02:37:45.054 [info] Using existing .NET runtime at "/Users/plz12345/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/ms-dotnettools.vscode-dotnet-runtime/.dotnet/9.0.11~arm64~aspnetcore/dotnet" to load Dev Kit processes.
2026-01-06 02:37:45.064 [info] .NET Sdk found: "/usr/local/share/dotnet/dotnet".
2026-01-06 02:37:45.163 [info] Starting opening a solution...
2026-01-06 02:37:45.163 [info] Starting processing the solution file "/Users/plz12345/Git/Redacted/src/Redacted.sln" in Dev Kit server...
2026-01-06 02:37:45.169 [info] Workspace folder: /Users/plz12345/Git/Redacted, requires SDK version: 10.0.100
2026-01-06 02:37:45.169 [info] Project system hosting process will use runtime installed in SDK.
2026-01-06 02:37:45.169 [info] Project Host Dotnet Root: /usr/local/share/dotnet
2026-01-06 02:37:45.169 [info] Project system required runtime version: 10.0.100
2026-01-06 02:37:45.173 [info] Asp.Net runtime found for PS dotnet host /usr/local/share/dotnet, using Asp.Net runtimeconfig for project system host.
2026-01-06 02:37:46.151 [error] IdeBenefitsSource: Failed to fetch entitlements. Error: 'Error: Request to https://api.subscriptions.visualstudio.microsoft.com/Me/Entitlements/IDEBenefits?api-version=2023-03-26&caller=vscode failed with status code: 401 and response ""'
2026-01-06 02:37:46.871 [error] IdeBenefitsSource: Failed to fetch entitlements. Error: 'Error: Request to https://api.subscriptions.visualstudio.microsoft.com/Me/Entitlements/IDEBenefits?api-version=2023-03-26&caller=vscode failed with status code: 401 and response ""'
2026-01-06 02:43:46.387 [info] .NET server started and IPC established in 361214ms
2026-01-06 02:43:46.388 [info] Completed Spawn .NET server (361450ms)
2026-01-06 02:44:18.823 [info] Starting Solution Build Action...
2026-01-06 02:44:18.828 [info] Starting Query for all projects...
2026-01-06 02:44:19.353 [info] Failed at 'Query for all projects' (525ms) with error: Error: Activating the "Microsoft.VisualStudio.ProjectSystem.Query.Remoting.QueryExecutionService (0.3)" service failed.
2026-01-06 02:44:50.677 [info] Reporting build results to C# extension.
2026-01-06 02:44:50.677 [info] No problems found in the build
2026-01-06 02:44:50.685 [info] Completed Solution Build Action (31862ms)
2026-01-06 02:45:30.219 [info] Completed processing the solution file "/Users/plz12345/Git/Redacted/src/Redacted.sln" in Dev Kit server (465055ms)
2026-01-06 02:45:30.226 [info] Starting restoring NuGet packages...
2026-01-06 02:45:30.226 [info] Selected configuration: <Default>, active configuration: Debug|Posix
2026-01-06 02:45:30.226 [info] Completed opening a solution (465062ms)
2026-01-06 02:45:30.228 [info] Starting command: "/usr/local/share/dotnet/dotnet" restore /Users/plz12345/Git/Redacted/src/Redacted.sln --interactive...
2026-01-06 02:45:30.794 [info] Failed to listen to project initialization status: Error: Activating the "Microsoft.VisualStudio.ProjectSystem.ProjectInitializationStatusService (0.1)" service failed.
2026-01-06 02:45:31.216 [info] Completed command: "/usr/local/share/dotnet/dotnet" restore /Users/plz12345/Git/Redacted/src/Redacted.sln --interactive (989ms)
2026-01-06 02:45:31.216 [info] Completed restoring NuGet packages (991ms)

Workspace config

Details

{
	"folders": [
		{
			"path": "Git/Redacted/"
		}
	],
	"settings": {
		"editor.cursorStyle": "line",
		"editor.formatOnType": true,
		"editor.wordWrap": "off",
		"terminal.integrated.defaultLocation": "editor",
		"terminal.integrated.confirmOnKill": "never",
		"dotnet.defaultSolution": "Git/Redacted/src/Redacted.sln",
		"editor.codeActionsOnSave": {
			"source.fixAll.eslint": "explicit",
			"source.fixAll.stylelint": "explicit"
		},
		"eslint.run": "onSave",
		"eslint.validate": [
			"javascript",
			"javascriptreact",
			"typescript",
			"typescriptreact",
			"css"
		]
	}
}

Expected Behavior

• Show the extension in the status bar with a loading icon or some other visual indicator it is doing "something"
• Show command(s) the extension is actually executing in the background while it is "processing" the solution.
• Log what it is actually doing vs. describing it vaguely.

Environment Information

• macOS 26.2 on a M2 Macbook Air
• Visual Studio Code Version: 1.107.1 (Universal)
• C# DevKit 1.90.2