opencode Desktop's "Open in PowerShell" fails on Windows due to argv misuse
ShmelSiniy · ghdev · 2026-10-14
A deep root-cause analysis in an opencode Desktop issue:
- Symptom: "Open in… → PowerShell" fails on Windows (Desktop 2.0.29) with a "Desktop IPC handler failed" toast, while Explorer and VS Code open the same folder fine.
- Correction: the originally suspected missing opencode-pty / 503 was a red herring — persistentPty: false is intentional and the integrated terminal isn't the failing feature.
- Real cause: by hooking child-process creation, the author confirmed the main process runs where.exe powershell then launches powershell.exe "<folder>" — the folder as a single positional argument, with no -NoExit/-Command. Windows PowerShell 5.1 reads the first positional argument as -Command, throws CommandNotFoundException, exits 1, and execFile rejects. Every folder fails, spaces or not.
- Includes measurements, in-app process capture, and a suggested fix; 6 comments.
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