Microsoft/vscode

Custom editor retains previous error on reopen even when it no longer applies

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#268301 opened on Sep 25, 2025

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bugcustom-editorshelp wanted

Description

Type: Bug

When I try to open a custom text editor which previously failed to open because file couldn't be read on disk (I invoke opening of the custom editor by vscode.open command so it is easily possible to pass in URI to file that does not exist) every attempt fails with the same "The editor could not be opened because the file was not found." error even if the file was created in the meantime.

Repro steps

Expected

When custom editor is reopened second time it shows the actual editor because the backing file was created on disk in the meantime

Actual

It still opens the placeholder saying "The editor could not be opened because the file was not found.". Even if I click the Try Again action it still claims the file does not exist.

After a bit of debugging of vscode itself I think the problem lies here https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/blob/3bf92e795ffd1ef7c3ff38a774d2bdb1a747e0a6/src/vs/workbench/contrib/customEditor/common/customEditorModelManager.ts#L45 the entry.model promise is already rejected from before and it is just blindly rethrown every time

VS Code version: Code 1.104.1 (0f0d87fa9e96c856c5212fc86db137ac0d783365, 2025-09-17T23:36:24.973Z) OS version: Linux x64 6.1.0-18-amd64 Modes:

Item Value
CPUs AMD Ryzen 7 2700 Eight-Core Processor (16 x 1538)
GPU Status 2d_canvas: enableddirect_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_okgpu_compositing: enabledmultiple_raster_threads: enabled_onopengl: enabled_onrasterization: enabledraw_draw: disabled_off_okskia_graphite: disabled_offtrees_in_viz: disabled_offvideo_decode: enabledvideo_encode: disabled_softwarevulkan: disabled_offwebgl: enabledwebgl2: enabledwebgpu: disabled_offwebnn: disabled_off
Load (avg) 1, 1, 2
Memory (System) 31.29GB (18.75GB free)
Process Argv --crash-reporter-id 30accd57-4487-4ba7-ac0a-898cfb0f097e
Screen Reader no
VM 0%
DESKTOP_SESSION lightdm-xsession
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP XFCE
XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP lightdm-xsession
XDG_SESSION_TYPE x11 
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Contributor guide

Tech stack
typescript
Domain
desktop
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
under 1 hour
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
None
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
80
Research direction
Investigate customEditorModelManager.ts, specifically the get() method around line 45 where a rejected promise is cached. The fix should ensure that when the editor is reopened, the model is re requested instead of reusing the cached rejection. Consider resetting the entry.model when an error occurs or adding a retry mechanism.