Run Python file in Terminal with error "& was unexpected at this time."

[bububut]

Environment data

• VS Code version: 1.48.0
• Extension version (available under the Extensions sidebar): v2020.8.101144
• OS and version: Windows 10 Pro 2004 build 19041.450

Expected behaviour

right click in Python file and choose "Run Python File in Terminal" to get the file run

Actual behaviour

it inserts a '&' symbol at the beginning of the command and the commands failed with "& was unexpected at this time."

my terminal is cmd.exe

It's the same problem as #5916
I believe it has been solved and that issue is closed, don't know why it happens again now

[ericsnowcurrently]

@bububut, thanks for letting us know about this. I was not able to reproduce the problem with the following steps:

1. change my default terminal to "cmd.exe"
2. right-click in the .py file's editor window
3. select "Run Python File in Terminal"

Here's what I see in my terminal pane:

C:\Users\...\my-workspace>"C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/Shared/Python37_64/python.exe" c:/Users/my-workspace/hello-world.py
Hello World!

What is the actual text in your terminal pane?

[bububut]

@ericsnowcurrently I cannot reproduce the problem myself after I restarted vscode today, so I'll close the ticket. Thanks for your help!

[ashishmahalka]

I am facing the same problem today. I have the below vs code version.
Version: 1.51.1 (user setup)
Commit: e5a624b788d92b8d34d1392e4c4d9789406efe8f
Date: 2020-11-10T23:34:32.027Z
Electron: 9.3.3
Chrome: 83.0.4103.122
Node.js: 12.14.1
V8: 8.3.110.13-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.18363

[huntfx]

I just randomly started getting the issue in 1.50.1

B:\Projects\Code\Python\project>& py "b:/Projects/Code/Python/project/script.py"
& was unexpected at this time.

B:\Projects\Code\Python\project>& "C:/Program Files/Python37/python.exe" "b:/Projects/Code/Python/project/script.py"
& was unexpected at this time.

It's a bit annoying trying to fix, as all the issues keep getting closed without any actual solution

[vtasca]

Getting exact same issue today, this doesn't seem to have been resolved.

Version: 1.53.2 (user setup)
Commit: 622cb03f7e070a9670c94bae1a45d78d7181fbd4
Date: 2021-02-11T11:48:04.245Z
Electron: 11.2.1
Chrome: 87.0.4280.141
Node.js: 12.18.3
V8: 8.7.220.31-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.19041

[huntfx]

Someone very helpfully mentioned a fix which worked in my case btw.
You just need to re-select your terminal via the dropdown menu.

[pasquale90]

For me the issue resolved by redirecting the console path to the target file that I would try to execute. Both cmd and python console in VSCODE are targeting the same target path.