chore(vscode): TypeScript 7 migration blocked on typescript-eslint support

[jainal09]

Renovate's TS 7 bump (#617) failed CI and was closed, which set a Renovate ignore for the major
(visible on the #37 dashboard under "PR Closed (Blocked)"). A migration attempt on #685
(2026-07-14) confirmed the blocker is upstream, not our code:

• typescript-eslint@8.64.0 (latest at time of writing) rejects typescript@7 as a peer
  dependency during npm ci;
• force-installing anyway crashes ESLint at runtime on an API removed in TS 7 (Cjs module
  kind), so lint cannot pass regardless of our config.

Ask: revisit when typescript-eslint publishes TS 7 support (watch their release notes); then
recreate the Renovate PR via the dashboard checkbox and re-run the #685-style extension gate
(install, lint, compile, unit + Electron suites, VSIX packaging). Until then the ignore on the
major is correct and deliberate.

[jainal09]

Re-verified 2026-08-02: still blocked upstream. typescript-eslint@8.65.0 (current latest) declares typescript: '>=4.8.4 <6.1.0', and @typescript-eslint/typescript-estree@8.65.0 carries the same cap — so TS 7 is still rejected as a peer during npm ci. No change since the #685 attempt; the Renovate ignore on the major remains correct. Leaving open.

[jainal09]

Dug into the upstream status today. The root cause is one layer deeper than this issue describes, and it changes what we should be watching for.

The blocker is TypeScript itself, not typescript-eslint

TypeScript 7.0 (the Go port) ships without a JS compiler API at all. From Microsoft's TS 7.0 announcement:

While TypeScript 7.0 is here, it does not ship with an API. We expect TypeScript 7.1 to ship with a new (and different) API, but until then we have made it a priority to ensure TypeScript can be run side-by-side with TypeScript 6.0 for utilities that still need some programmatic access to the compiler (such as typescript-eslint).

typescript-eslint maintainer bradzacher on their tracking issue #10940 (2026-07-09):

For now — there is nothing we can do to support tsgo / TSv7. As mentioned in the blog post and highlighted above — there is currently no stable JS API.

That thread is now locked to reduce noise. A separate report, #12518 "TypeScript 7.0.2 Support", was closed as not_planned and redirected to #10940.

So this is not something typescript-eslint can fix on their own schedule, and no prerelease helps: typescript-eslint@canary (8.65.1-alpha.20) still declares typescript: '>=4.8.4 <6.1.0', same as @latest (8.65.0). There is no v9 line.

Revised watch signal

The issue currently says to "watch typescript-eslint release notes". More precisely, the unblock needs two things in order:

1. TypeScript 7.1 ships its new compiler API — dev builds exist today (typescript@next = 7.1.0-dev.20260802.1), so this is in progress.
2. typescript-eslint adopts that API and widens its peer range.

Watching TS 7.1 is the leading indicator; typescript-eslint cannot move before it.

Status of our pin

We're on typescript@6.0.3, which is the latest 6.x release (6.x tops out at 6.0.3). So we are fully current on the supported line — there is no intermediate bump being missed while we wait.

An escape hatch exists, if we ever want it

Microsoft's recommended side-by-side pattern would let us typecheck with TS 7 without breaking lint: keep typescript on ^6 so typescript-eslint's peer is satisfied, add TS 7 under an alias ("typescript-7": "npm:typescript@^7.0.2"), and run it as a separate script. I am not proposing we do this now — it adds a second toolchain and CI surface for a ~42 KB extension whose shipped bundle is built by esbuild, not tsc, so the payoff is early-warning only. Noting it so the option is on record.

Recommendation: keep this open and keep the Renovate major ignored. Re-check when TypeScript 7.1 reaches GA with its API.