[Bug] Instead of installing latest version of an extension, install an older one using cli

Open

#7,631 opened on Jan 12, 2026 6 comments 4 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Assessment

Difficulty: 3/5
Estimated time: 1-2 days
Newbie friendliness: 48/100

Issue type: Bug
Clarity: Mostly clear
Activity status: Quiet
Tech stack: typescript
Domain: cli

Research direction

Start with the code-server CLI path invoked by code-server --install-extension, using the verbose logs and the unversioned charliermarsh.ruff reproduction. Compare its version resolution with the explicit @2026.34.0 case; done when an unversioned install selects the latest extension version and still installs its dependencies correctly.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

bug triage

Is there an existing issue for this?

I have searched the existing issues

OS/Web Information

Web Browser:
Local OS:
Remote OS: Ubuntu
Remote Architecture: x86_64
code-server --version: 4.107.1 8c077bf605a76ebb600d23b71e21c8756a2aee2a with Code 1.107.1

Steps to Reproduce

Using the cli (example with ruff extension)

code-server --install-extension charliermarsh.ruff

Expected

I expect the latest version to be installed eg 2026.34.0. However an older one is installed : 2022.0.17

Actual

The newest version is installed only if I specify it.

code-server --install-extension charliermarsh.ruff@2026.34.0 --verbose

I observe the same behavior for other extensions like continue.continue or hediet.vscode-drawio.

Logs

$ code-server --install-extension charliermarsh.ruff --verbose
[2026-01-12T12:21:41.519Z] debug Found VS Code arguments; spawning VS Code CLI
[2026-01-12T12:21:41.521Z] debug Running Code CLI
Installing extensions...
Installing extension 'charliermarsh.ruff'...
Extension 'ms-python.vscode-python-envs' v1.16.0 was successfully installed.
Extension 'charliermarsh.ruff' v2022.0.17 was successfully installed.
Extension 'ms-python.debugpy' v2024.0.0 was successfully installed.
Extension 'ms-python.python' v2026.0.0 was successfully installed.

$ code-server --install-extension charliermarsh.ruff@2026.34.0 --verbose
[2026-01-12T12:41:33.475Z] debug Found VS Code arguments; spawning VS Code CLI
[2026-01-12T12:41:33.476Z] debug Running Code CLI
Installing extensions...
Installing extension 'charliermarsh.ruff' v2026.34.0...
Extension 'ms-python.python' v2026.0.0 was successfully installed.
Extension 'ms-python.vscode-python-envs' v1.16.0 was successfully installed.
Extension 'ms-python.debugpy' v2024.0.0 was successfully installed.
Extension 'charliermarsh.ruff' v2026.34.0 was successfully installed.

Screenshot/Video

No response

Does this bug reproduce in native VS Code?

I did not test native VS Code

Does this bug reproduce in VS Code web?

I did not test VS Code web

Does this bug reproduce in GitHub Codespaces?

I did not test GitHub Codespaces

Are you accessing code-server over a secure context?

I am using a secure context.

Notes