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Opening Find in an unrelated webview activates vscode-R and shows R: (not attached) in non-R workspaces #1711

Description

@shimosan

Describe the bug

The R extension activates and shows its session status bar item R: (not attached)
even in a workspace with no R files, simply because I triggered the Find widget
in an unrelated webview, such as a Markdown preview.

On my Windows machine, R itself is not installed at all — I only installed the
vscode-R extension. That alone is enough for R: (not attached) to show up once Find
is opened in an unrelated webview, so this is purely about extension activation, not
about any R file, R session, or R runtime.

The likely trigger is that package.json contributes the built-in command
editor.action.webvieweditor.showFind (titled "R: Find in WebView"). This command is
then used in editor/title menus gated by r.browser.active / r.helpPanel.active.

Since VS Code 1.74.0, a command contributed in package.json implicitly activates the
extension when that command is invoked. Because editor.action.webvieweditor.showFind
is the shared built-in webview Find command, invoking Find in any webview
(Markdown preview, release notes, etc.) activates vscode-R, not just R's own
help/browser panels.

Confirmed in exthost.log:

ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension REditorSupport.r, startup: false,
  activationEvent: 'onCommand:editor.action.webvieweditor.showFind'

To Reproduce

  1. Open a folder that contains no R-related files (.R, .Rmd, .Rproj, etc.).
  2. Open a webview-based editor with a Find widget, e.g. a Markdown preview.
  3. Focus that preview and press Cmd+F on macOS / Ctrl+F on Windows or Linux.
    In my environment, this invokes the built-in editor.action.webvieweditor.showFind.
  4. The vscode-R extension activates and R: (not attached) appears in the status
    bar, despite no R file or R session being present. It stays visible until the
    window is reloaded.

I have reproduced this on both macOS (Cmd+F) and Windows (Ctrl+F), so it does
not appear to be platform-specific.

Can you fix this issue by yourself? (We appreciate the help)

No, but I am happy to test a fix or provide more logs.

(If yes,) can we assist you with anything?

N/A

(If applicable) Please attach setting.json

On macOS, the only R setting I customized is:

"r.rpath.mac": "/usr/local/bin/R"

r.sessionWatcher is left at its default value, true.

On Windows, my settings.json has no r.* keys at all, and R is not installed.
Only the vscode-R extension is present. The bug still reproduces.

Expected behavior

The extension should not activate, and the session status bar item should not appear,
merely because Find was opened in an unrelated webview.

The "R: Find in WebView" action should be scoped to R's own webviews only, without
contributing the shared built-in webview Find command id in a way that causes global
activation from unrelated webviews.

Possible approaches:

  • avoid contributing the built-in command id editor.action.webvieweditor.showFind
    directly in contributes.commands;
  • use a vscode-R wrapper command that is only exposed for R webviews and internally
    calls the built-in Find command;
  • or hide the session status bar item unless an R-related editor, workspace, session,
    or webview is actually relevant.

This seems related in spirit to #1572 / #1579, where R UI was made conditional so it
does not appear in unrelated workspaces.

Screenshots

The status bar shows R: (not attached) in a workspace with no R files. I can attach
a screenshot if useful.

Environment (please complete the following information):

  • OS: reproduced on both macOS and Windows
  • VS Code Version: 1.122.1
  • R Version: N/A — reproduces with no R session involved. On Windows, R is not even
    installed; only the vscode-R extension is present.
  • vscode-R version: 2.8.8

Additional context

When r.sessionWatcher is enabled, which is the default, activation creates and shows
the session status bar item. Therefore, once vscode-R is activated by the unrelated
webview Find command, R: (not attached) remains visible for the rest of the window
session, even though the current workspace/editor is unrelated to R.

Activity

  1. shimosan commented on May 31, 2026

    @shimosan
    Author

    As a temporary local workaround until this is fixed upstream, I wrote a small
    idempotent Python script that patches the installed extension's package.json.

    It removes the contributes.commands entry for
    editor.action.webvieweditor.showFind and the editor/title menu items that
    reference it. After applying the patch and running "Developer: Reload Window",
    opening Find in an unrelated webview no longer activates vscode-R.

    The built-in webview Find still works; only the spurious activation is avoided.
    The cosmetic Find button on R's own help/browser title bars is also removed.

    Caveats: this edits the installed extension files, so the change is reverted by
    extension updates and must be re-applied afterwards. The script makes a .orig
    backup and supports --dry-run / --restore. I tested it on macOS and Windows,
    including a Windows machine with no R installed.

    Script:
    https://gist.github.com/shimosan/bdcd398049a4d390088f78b856e7d318

    This may also point to a possible upstream fix: avoid contributing the shared
    built-in command id directly, so unrelated webviews do not trigger activation.

  2. ThomasSoeiro commented on Sep 22, 2026

    @ThomasSoeiro
    Collaborator

    I can reproduce with vscode-r 3.0.0-rc.0:

    1. Open VSCode and do not attach a R session
    2. Create a markdown file (Ctrl+K M and choose markdown)
    3. Open preview (Ctrl+K V)
    4. Trigger the search box in the preview (Ctrl+F)
    5. "R: (not attached)" appears in the status bar
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