How do I integrate x64 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS 2019 in VS code?

Question

I am trying to make "x64 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS 2019" as an integrated console for Visual Studio Code. There was a solution for doing so with Developer Powershell, but I have not seen one for what I'm trying to attempt. I know that "x64 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS 2019" is a shortcut to

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvars64.bat

, but running it includes a few forms I'm not familiar with. For example, running C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvars64.bat directly I imagine does the proper setup to enable me to compile for a 64-bit target, but the console does not stick around afterwards (it closes subsequently). The shortcut works for some reason by having %comspec% /k prepended to the path as its target. So, running

%comspec% /k "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvars64.bat"

with Run (win+r) gives me what I need. How do I replicate this in VS Code in settings.json just like with any other terminal/console profile? I've attempted the following, which I've taken from How to make visual studio code run vcvarsx86_arm64.bat instead of vcvarsall.bat directly?:

"x64 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS 2019": {
    "path": [
        "${env:windir}\\Sysnative\\cmd.exe",
        "${env:windir}\\System32\\cmd.exe"
    ],
    "args": [
        "/d",
        "/c",
        "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Visual Studio\\2019\\Community\\VC\\Auxiliary\\Build\\vcvars64.bat",
        "&"
    ],
    "icon": "terminal-cmd"
},

Answer 1

The is the config which worked for me:

"DevCmd": {
    "path": [
        "${env:windir}\\Sysnative\\cmd.exe",
        "${env:windir}\\System32\\cmd.exe"
    ],
    "args": [
        "/d",
        "/k", 
        "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Visual Studio\\2022\\BuildTools\\VC\\Auxiliary\\Build\\vcvarsall.bat",
        "amd64"]
}

In your example the argument /c means 'carry out the command and return', which in this scenario has the effect of'exit the shell'.

• /k means 'carry out the command and remain in the shell'.

• /d means _'don't run the Auto commands for CMD in the registry.

• & is the call operator and is not needed. It's typically for chaining commands together on single line.

To get a complete list and explanation of available arguments run this in a Command Prompt:

%comspec% /?