Console Output Capture Bug Report (last line)

[Artemonim]

Console Output Capture Bug Report

Issue Summary

Severity: Medium
Status: Partially Mitigated
Date Reported: 2025-08-21
Reporter: Cursor Chat Agent: GPT-5-low + Auto

Version: 1.5.1 (user setup)
VSCode Version: 1.99.3
Commit: 43090fc55ee2f0081ba84ba373ff3125a1f14f50
Date: 2025-08-20T18:57:00.723Z
Electron: 34.5.8
Chromium: 132.0.6834.210
Node.js: 20.19.1
V8: 13.2.152.41-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.22631

Problem Description

The console output capture mechanism consistently cuts off the last line of output from PowerShell scripts. This affects both simple test scripts and the main build script (build.ps1), where the final RFID status message “No reads detected and audio is empty or no card was attached.” is not visible in the captured output.

Reproduction Steps

1. Create a PowerShell script with multiple output lines
2. Execute the script through the console capture mechanism
3. Observe that the last line is consistently missing from the captured output

Test Cases Executed

Test Script 1:

Write-Host "=== Test Script 1: Output Methods ===" -ForegroundColor Green
Write-Host "Line 1: Write-Host with color" -ForegroundColor Red
Write-Output "Line 2: Write-Output"
Write-Information "Line 3: Write-Information" -InformationAction Continue
Write-Warning "Line 4: Write-Warning"
Write-Verbose "Line 5: Write-Verbose" -Verbose
Write-Host "Line 6: Final Write-Host" -ForegroundColor Yellow
Write-Output "Line 7: Final Write-Output"
Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 100
Write-Host "Line 8: After sleep" -ForegroundColor Cyan

Expected Output: 8 lines
Actual Captured Output: 7 lines (missing “Line 8: After sleep”)

Test Script 2:

Write-Host "=== Test Script 2: Order & Timing ===" -ForegroundColor Blue
Write-Output "Step 1: Initial output"
Write-Host "Step 2: Host output" -ForegroundColor Magenta
Write-Output "Step 3: Another output"
Write-Host "Step 4: Final host message" -ForegroundColor Green
Write-Output "Step 5: Final output message"
Write-Host "Step 6: Very last line" -ForegroundColor Red
Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 50
Write-Output "Step 7: After delay"
Write-Host "Step 8: Final colored line" -ForegroundColor Yellow

Expected Output: 8 steps
Actual Captured Output: 6 steps (missing “Step 7: After delay” and “Step 8: Final colored line”)

Root Cause Analysis

The issue appears to be with the console output capture mechanism itself, not with PowerShell or the specific scripts. The problem is consistent across different output methods:

• Write-Host
• Write-Output
• Write-Information
• Write-Warning
• Write-Verbose

The capture mechanism seems to close the output stream before the final lines can be captured, regardless of the output method used.

Impact Assessment

• Build Script: Final status messages are not visible to AI
• User Experience: AI miss important information about card detection status
• Debugging: Difficult to verify if scripts completed successfully
• General: Any PowerShell script execution through this mechanism loses the last line

Mitigation Implemented

1. Dual Output Methods: Modified build.ps1 to use both Write-Output and Write-Host for RFID summary
2. Log Persistence: Added RFID summary to build.log for persistence
3. Summary Section Integration: Moved RFID status to the final summary section for better visibility
4. Multiple Output Streams: Ensured the message appears in multiple places to increase chances of capture

Recommended Solutions

Short-term (Implemented)

• Use multiple output methods (Write-Output + Write-Host)
• Log critical messages to files for persistence
• Place important messages earlier in the output sequence

Long-term (Requires Investigation)

• Investigate the console capture mechanism implementation
• Consider adding a small delay before script termination
• Implement output buffering to ensure all lines are captured
• Add output validation to detect truncated captures

Technical Details

• Environment: Windows PowerShell 7.5.3
• Capture Method: Console output redirection/capture
• Affected Commands: All PowerShell output commands
• Pattern: Last line consistently missing regardless of content or timing

Testing Recommendations

1. Test with different PowerShell versions
2. Verify if the issue occurs in different terminal environments
3. Test with various output methods and timing
4. Investigate if the issue is specific to certain capture mechanisms

Status

• Bug Identified:
• Root Cause: Console capture mechanism
• Mitigation Implemented:
• Long-term Fix: Requires investigation of capture mechanism
• Testing Required: Mitigation verified and working

Notes

This appears to be a systemic issue with the console output capture rather than a bug in our scripts. The mitigation ensures that critical information is still accessible through multiple channels, but the underlying issue should be investigated for a permanent solution.

Mitigation Results

Successfully Implemented and Verified:

• RFID summary now appears in the final summary section
• Message is duplicated using both Write-Output and Write-Host
• Message is logged to build.log for persistence
• Console output now shows the RFID status message

Test Results:

• Before: RFID message was cut off and not visible
• After: RFID message appears in final summary and is properly captured
• Log persistence: Message successfully written to build.log

[Artemonim]

■■■■ still happens

Version: 1.5.5 (user setup)
VSCode Version: 1.99.3
Commit: 823f58d4f60b795a6aefb9955933f3a2f0331d70
Date: 2025-08-25T17:40:25.290Z
Electron: 34.5.8
Chromium: 132.0.6834.210
Node.js: 20.19.1
V8: 13.2.152.41-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.22631

[condor]

hi @Artemonim thanks for updating the issue and the detailed report.

Could you post a Request ID with privacy disabled so we can look into the details? Cursor – Getting a Request ID

[Artemonim]

It seems to be happening randomly. I noticed it now when the Agent couldn’t read the response of a script that only outputs one line in response.

The report above contains an example of the code your Agent developed for testing. Try testing it.