Creating a Reliable VS Code Task for New DEV.to Posts (Windows + PowerShell)

This article provides a verified setup for creating new DEV.to posts using VS Code Tasks on Windows with PowerShell.

It avoids common issues with input handling and quoting.

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Problem

Using tasks.json with type: "shell", inline PowerShell, and ${input:...} directly in scripts causes VS Code to expand inputs without escaping. Spaces in input break PowerShell parsing, leading to errors like "Missing statement block" or broken arrays.

Launch Configuration

To run the task with F5 without debug UI:

{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "name": "Run Task",
      "type": "node",
      "request": "launch",
      "program": "echo",
      "args": ["Task completed"],
      "preLaunchTask": "New DEV.to post (today)",
      "noDebug": true,
      "console": "internalConsole",
      "internalConsoleOptions": "neverOpen"
    }
  ]
}

Key Principles

1. Avoid interpolating ${input:...} directly into PowerShell.
2. Use type: "process", not shell.
3. Pass input via environment variables ($env:VAR_NAME).

This is the robust approach for Windows.

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Working tasks.json

{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "New DEV.to post (today)",
      "type": "process",
      "command": "pwsh",
      "args": [
        "-NoProfile",
        "-Command",
        "$ErrorActionPreference='Stop'; $d=Get-Date -Format 'yyMMdd'; $n=$env:POST_NAME; if ([string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($n)) { $fname=('{0}.md' -f $d) } else { $fname=('{0} {1}.md' -f $d, $n) }; $dir=Join-Path $PWD 'posts'; if (!(Test-Path $dir)) { New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $dir | Out-Null }; $f=Join-Path $dir $fname; if (!(Test-Path $f)) { @('---','title: ""','published: false','tags:','---','') | Set-Content -Encoding utf8 $f }; code -r $f"
      ],
      "options": {
        "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
        "env": {
          "POST_NAME": "${input:postName}"
        }
      },
      "group": "build",
      "problemMatcher": []
    }
  ],
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "postName",
      "type": "promptString",
      "description": "Enter post name (optional):",
      "default": ""
    }
  ]
}

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Task Behavior

• Prompts for optional post name.
• Creates file: yyMMdd.md or yyMMdd Name.md.
• Ensures posts/ directory exists.
• Adds DEV.to front-matter if new.
• Opens file in VS Code.

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Why It Works

• type: "process" avoids shell re-parsing.
• Environment variables handle spaces safely.
• PowerShell gets valid syntax.

Stable and safe for production.

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Recommendations

• Use extensions for slugifying filenames.
• Auto-fill title from filename.
• Set published: true for posts.

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Conclusion

For VS Code + PowerShell on Windows, this is the correct way to handle inputs in tasks.json. Other methods will break.