Amazon Q: (Windows) running powershell every 2 seconds

[nistSean]

Problem

When the Amazon Q extension is enabled, there is a PowerShell command being executed continuously.

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Windows PowerShell transcript start
Start time: 20241203145229
Username: xxxx\xxxxx
RunAs User: xxxx\xxxxx
Configuration Name: 
Machine: xxxxxxxxx (Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.22631.0)
Host Application: powershell.exe -NoProfile -NoLogo -InputFormat Text -NoExit -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command -
Process ID: 6868
PSVersion: 5.1.22621.4391
PSEdition: Desktop
PSCompatibleVersions: 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 5.1.22621.4391
BuildVersion: 10.0.22621.4391
CLRVersion: 4.0.30319.42000
WSManStackVersion: 3.0
PSRemotingProtocolVersion: 2.3
SerializationVersion: 1.1.0.1
**********************
**********************
Windows PowerShell transcript start
Start time: 20241203145229
Username: xxxx\xxxxx
RunAs User: xxxx\xxxxx
Configuration Name: 
Machine: xxxxxxxxxxx (Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.22631.0)
Host Application: powershell.exe -NoProfile -NoLogo -InputFormat Text -NoExit -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command -
Process ID: 6868
PSVersion: 5.1.22621.4391
PSEdition: Desktop
PSCompatibleVersions: 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 5.1.22621.4391
BuildVersion: 10.0.22621.4391
CLRVersion: 4.0.30319.42000
WSManStackVersion: 3.0
PSRemotingProtocolVersion: 2.3
SerializationVersion: 1.1.0.1
**********************
PS>CommandInvocation(Out-String): "Out-String"
>> ParameterBinding(Out-String): name="InputObject"; value="Exception calling "ReadLine" with "2" argument(s): "Specified method is not supported.""
Exception calling "ReadLine" with "2" argument(s): "Specified method is not supported."
At C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\PSReadLine\2.0.0\PSReadLine.psm1:4 char:5
+     [Microsoft.PowerShell.PSConsoleReadLine]::ReadLine($host.Runspace ...
+     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NotSupportedException
Exception calling "ReadLine" with "2" argument(s): "Specified method is not supported."
At C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\PSReadLine\2.0.0\PSReadLine.psm1:4 char:5
+     [Microsoft.PowerShell.PSConsoleReadLine]::ReadLine($host.Runspace ...
+     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NotSupportedException
PS>$OutputEncoding = [System.Console]::OutputEncoding = [System.Console]::InputEncoding = [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8 ; Get-CimInstance Win32_PageFileUsage | Select AllocatedBaseSize, CurrentUsage

AllocatedBaseSize CurrentUsage
----------------- ------------
             9728            4


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Windows PowerShell transcript start
Start time: 20241203145230
Username: xxxx\xxxxx
RunAs User: xxxx\xxxxx
Configuration Name: 
Machine: xxxxxxxxx (Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.22631.0)
Host Application: powershell.exe -NoProfile -NoLogo -InputFormat Text -NoExit -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command -
Process ID: 6868
PSVersion: 5.1.22621.4391
PSEdition: Desktop
PSCompatibleVersions: 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 5.1.22621.4391
BuildVersion: 10.0.22621.4391
CLRVersion: 4.0.30319.42000
WSManStackVersion: 3.0
PSRemotingProtocolVersion: 2.3
SerializationVersion: 1.1.0.1
**********************
PS>CommandInvocation(Out-String): "Out-String"
>> ParameterBinding(Out-String): name="InputObject"; value="Exception calling "ReadLine" with "2" argument(s): "Specified method is not supported.""
Exception calling "ReadLine" with "2" argument(s): "Specified method is not supported."
At C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\PSReadLine\2.0.0\PSReadLine.psm1:4 char:5
+     [Microsoft.PowerShell.PSConsoleReadLine]::ReadLine($host.Runspace ...
+     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NotSupportedException
Exception calling "ReadLine" with "2" argument(s): "Specified method is not supported."
At C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\PSReadLine\2.0.0\PSReadLine.psm1:4 char:5
+     [Microsoft.PowerShell.PSConsoleReadLine]::ReadLine($host.Runspace ...
+     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NotSupportedException
PS>exit
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Windows PowerShell transcript end
End time: 20241203145230
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Steps to reproduce the issue

1. Go to Visual Studio
2. Enable the Amazon Q extension
3. Check powershell logs.

Expected behavior

Don't do this.

System details (run AWS: About and/or Amazon Q: About)

• OS: Windows 11
• Visual Studio Code version: 1.95.3
• AWS Toolkit version: 3.37.0 (edited 12/4/2024)
• AWS CLI V2 2.18.7
• Amazon Q version: 1.39.0

[nistSean]

This started for me 11/19/24 likely after updating VS Code and/or VS Code extensions.

[justinmk3]

This started for me 11/19/24

For reference, Amazon Q 1.36.0 was released on 11/14.

AWS Toolkit version: 2.18.7

Is that version correct? Latest is AWS Toolkit 3.35.0.

If you uninstall AWS Toolkit, does the problem still occur? This will help narrow down the issue.

[justinmk3]

Steps to reproduce the issue

1. Go to Visual Studio
2. Enable the Amazon Q extension
3. Check powershell logs.

Can you give more specific details about where to find "powershell logs"? Is this a OS-global logs (Windows EventLog)? Exact steps about how to find these logs will help.

I've searched:

1. the code in this repo,
2. the code in node_modules used to build this project, and
3. the final webpack'd extension/dist/src/extensionNode.js

and did not find anything like (case-insensitive) out-string, ExecutionPolicy.*Unrestricted, etc.

Our dev-dependencies (non-production) use readline-sync but that is not shipped as part of the production build.

Powershell supports aliases, so it's possible there is some pwsh command invocation using a different "spelling" than what is reported in your logs. It's also possible that something is indirectly triggering a powershell script on your system?

[nistSean]

This started for me 11/19/24

For reference, Amazon Q 1.36.0 was released on 11/14.

AWS Toolkit version: 2.18.7

Is that version correct? Latest is AWS Toolkit 3.35.0.

If you uninstall AWS Toolkit, does the problem still occur? This will help narrow down the issue.

Are you looking for the version of AWS Toolkit installed on the Machine or in VS Code? That is the version number for the AWS Toolkit (or maybe CLI) installed on the machine. The AWS Toolkit VS Code plugin is 3.37.0

[nistSean]

In our environment, our systems are configured to log all PowerShell executions. I am attempting to get the details on how that is configured but I assume it's a group policy setting. Regardless of the logging, there is something executing over and over (>43K/day) when the Amazon Q plug-in is enabled.

I removed all plugins from VS Code except Amazon Q (1.39.0). With the plug-in disabled I get one entry in the log when starting VS Code:

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Windows PowerShell transcript start
Start time: 20241204072146
Username: ****\*****
RunAs User: ****\*****
Configuration Name: 
Machine: ********** (Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.22631.0)
Host Application: C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -noexit -command try { . "c:\Users\*****\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\resources\app\out\vs\workbench\contrib\terminal\common\scripts\shellIntegration.ps1" } catch {}
Process ID: 11944
PSVersion: 5.1.22621.4391
PSEdition: Desktop
PSCompatibleVersions: 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 5.1.22621.4391
BuildVersion: 10.0.22621.4391
CLRVersion: 4.0.30319.42000
WSManStackVersion: 3.0
PSRemotingProtocolVersion: 2.3
SerializationVersion: 1.1.0.1
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PS>try { . "c:\Users\*****\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\resources\app\out\vs\workbench\contrib\terminal\common\scripts\shellIntegration.ps1" } catch {}
PS>TerminatingError(Get-PSReadLineKeyHandler): "A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name 'Chord'."
PS>TerminatingError(Get-PSReadLineKeyHandler): "A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name 'Chord'."
PS>TerminatingError(Get-PSReadLineKeyHandler): "A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name 'Chord'."
PS>TerminatingError(Get-PSReadLineKeyHandler): "A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name 'Chord'."
�]633;A �]633;P;Cwd=C:\x5cUsers\x5c*****\x5cOneDrive - NIST\x5cDocuments\x5csource\x5cgit-documentation PS C:\Users\*****\OneDrive - NIST\Documents\source\git-documentation> �]633;B
`

As soon as I enable the Amazon Q extension, these logs start:
`
**********************
Windows PowerShell transcript start
Start time: 20241204074011
Username: ****\*****
RunAs User: ****\*****
Configuration Name: 
Machine: ********** (Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.22631.0)
Host Application: powershell.exe -NoProfile -NoLogo -InputFormat Text -NoExit -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command -
Process ID: 25140
PSVersion: 5.1.22621.4391
PSEdition: Desktop
PSCompatibleVersions: 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 5.1.22621.4391
BuildVersion: 10.0.22621.4391
CLRVersion: 4.0.30319.42000
WSManStackVersion: 3.0
PSRemotingProtocolVersion: 2.3
SerializationVersion: 1.1.0.1
**********************
**********************
Windows PowerShell transcript start
Start time: 20241204074011
Username: ****\*****
RunAs User: ****\*****
Configuration Name: 
Machine: ******** (Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.22631.0)
Host Application: powershell.exe -NoProfile -NoLogo -InputFormat Text -NoExit -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command -
Process ID: 25140
PSVersion: 5.1.22621.4391
PSEdition: Desktop
PSCompatibleVersions: 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 5.1.22621.4391
BuildVersion: 10.0.22621.4391
CLRVersion: 4.0.30319.42000
WSManStackVersion: 3.0
PSRemotingProtocolVersion: 2.3
SerializationVersion: 1.1.0.1
**********************
PS>CommandInvocation(Out-String): "Out-String"
>> ParameterBinding(Out-String): name="InputObject"; value="Exception calling "ReadLine" with "2" argument(s): "Specified method is not supported.""
Exception calling "ReadLine" with "2" argument(s): "Specified method is not supported."
At C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\PSReadLine\2.0.0\PSReadLine.psm1:4 char:5
+     [Microsoft.PowerShell.PSConsoleReadLine]::ReadLine($host.Runspace ...
+     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NotSupportedException
Exception calling "ReadLine" with "2" argument(s): "Specified method is not supported."
At C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\PSReadLine\2.0.0\PSReadLine.psm1:4 char:5
+     [Microsoft.PowerShell.PSConsoleReadLine]::ReadLine($host.Runspace ...
+     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NotSupportedException
PS>$OutputEncoding = [System.Console]::OutputEncoding = [System.Console]::InputEncoding = [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8 ; Get-CimInstance Win32_Battery | select BatteryStatus, DesignCapacity, DesignVoltage, EstimatedChargeRemaining, DeviceID | fl
**********************
Windows PowerShell transcript start
Start time: 20241204074012
Username: ****\*****
RunAs User: ****\*****
Configuration Name: 
Machine: ********** (Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.22631.0)
Host Application: powershell.exe -NoProfile -NoLogo -InputFormat Text -NoExit -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command -
Process ID: 25140
PSVersion: 5.1.22621.4391
PSEdition: Desktop
PSCompatibleVersions: 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 5.1.22621.4391
BuildVersion: 10.0.22621.4391
CLRVersion: 4.0.30319.42000
WSManStackVersion: 3.0
PSRemotingProtocolVersion: 2.3
SerializationVersion: 1.1.0.1
**********************
PS>CommandInvocation(Out-String): "Out-String"
>> ParameterBinding(Out-String): name="InputObject"; value="Exception calling "ReadLine" with "2" argument(s): "Specified method is not supported.""
Exception calling "ReadLine" with "2" argument(s): "Specified method is not supported."
At C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\PSReadLine\2.0.0\PSReadLine.psm1:4 char:5
+     [Microsoft.PowerShell.PSConsoleReadLine]::ReadLine($host.Runspace ...
+     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NotSupportedException
Exception calling "ReadLine" with "2" argument(s): "Specified method is not supported."
At C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\PSReadLine\2.0.0\PSReadLine.psm1:4 char:5
+     [Microsoft.PowerShell.PSConsoleReadLine]::ReadLine($host.Runspace ...
+     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NotSupportedException
PS>exit
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Windows PowerShell transcript end
End time: 20241204074012
********************** 

[nistSean]

This should be able to be recreated locally by enabling the following policy at either the Computer or User configuration via gpedit

Administrative Templates --> Windows Components --> Windows PowerShell --> "Turn on PowerShell Transcript"

This will allow you to see the logs. But I believe this process is being constantly executed whether logging is enabled or not. Could it be related to #5780

[justinmk3]

Could it be related to #5780

I think that issue is referring to a "Activating extensions..." message which vscode will show when activating extensions. Unrelated to this issue.

there is something executing over and over (>43K/day) when the Amazon Q plug-in is enabled.

This could be...

• the Amazon Q "Auto Reviews" feature. Click the Amazon Q statusbar item and try disabling Auto Reviews in the menu:
  
• the workspace indexing feature. In vscode settings, ensure that amazonQ.workspaceIndex is disabled:
  

Let me know if you find improvement after the above steps. We'll still want to make this less noisy.

Meanwhile we will try to narrow this down.

[nistSean]

Could it be related to #5780

I think that issue is referring to a "Activating extensions..." message which vscode will show when activating extensions. Unrelated to this issue.

there is something executing over and over (>43K/day) when the Amazon Q plug-in is enabled.

This could be...

• the Amazon Q "Auto Reviews" feature. Click the Amazon Q statusbar item and try disabling Auto Reviews in the menu:
  
• the workspace indexing feature. In vscode settings, ensure that amazonQ.workspaceIndex is disabled:
  

Let me know if you find improvement after the above steps. We'll still want to make this less noisy.

Meanwhile we will try to narrow this down.

Thanks for the suggestions but it made no noticeable difference.
I unchecked the index workspace in the settings and tried pausing both reviews and suggestions but it didn't appear to make any difference.

I also uninstalled and reinstalled everything from scratch today AWS CLI, VS Code, Extensions etc. (haven't added back AWS Toolkit, I mostly use the CLI) but that also didn't have any affect.