vscode: Vscode 1.80 is automatically updated to 1.79.2, after restarting, then 1.79.2 is automatically updated to 1.80, causing an infinite loop

Thanks for creating this issue! It looks like you may be using an old version of VS Code, the latest stable release is 1.80.0. Please try upgrading to the latest version and checking whether this issue remains.

Happy Coding!

Hi all. Sorry for the disruption.

Root cause: We’ve recently modified our update services to leverage distributed caches. That’s the thing about distributed caches: they are distributed. So, when an update comes, there are regions that will know about the update, while others won’t. Users might actually get notified of an update when hitting the server… but get notified of the old version when hitting the server once again, due to that request getting routed to a different cache location.

We’ve completely disabled this new caching mechanism and things should start settling back to normal pretty soon.

I have exactly the same problem. But I am running vs code on Windows 10.

Same windows 11.

A few more details:

• There is no faulty build. This is an issue with the update services only. This is why there is no recovery build for this issue.
• As @fefrei correctly points out: you might still get 1/2 updates until the caching changes spread around the entire service. This might take up to a couple hours.

It is better to disable background updates and set update check to only on startup, this way you still get notified when there’s an update but it will only be installed when you want it to.

{
	"update.mode": "start",
	"update.enableWindowsBackgroundUpdates": false,
}

Is this thing even tested before deployment?

The same problem. MacOS Ventura 13.4.1 (Apple M2).

@ryenus Updates are not based on math. There are plenty of hypothetical scenarios where you’d thank yourself for having a way to roll back everyone to a previous build. We still call that an update.

A few more details:

• There is no faulty build. This is an issue with the update services only. This is why there is no recovery build for this issue.

But when checking for update, it should be obvious that the version 1.80 > 1.79.2, so it shouldn’t take the older version 1.79.2 as an UPDATE, right? Maybe some basic math is missing 😃 @joaomoreno

Things seem fine here now. Thank you 🎉

(Keep in mind you should expect up to two more restarts: One to install an already downloaded faulty downgrade, and another legitimate update.)

Experiencing the same problem on Win11

I have the same problem in Windows 11, it shuffles between version 1.79.2 and 1.80 each time I update

@OliverGrimsley I tried downloading the app from here (Apple silicon) and replacing the unzipped app with “overwrite”. Did not work 😞
Tried as well by removing the existing app and putting it back from the zip file: VSCode is not bugging me with new updates and extensions not working since around 20’ 👍🏼

EDIT It only took some more time, then the problem popped up again 😭

This is a colossal fiasco. Infinite loop in a program that is used by tens of thousands. Solution: Turn off the update. “Enable Windows Background Updates” on Windows version.

“update.enableWindowsBackgroundUpdates”: false,

this seems an hidden option in v1.79.2

is hidden because is for Windows, not MacOS