Visual Studio Code – VS Code task throws an error, but the same command works in Terminal

I’m experiencing a weird bug whereby running npm run dev works in Terminal (shell), but it fails when executed as a VS Code task.

Here’s what the error looks like

Executing task: npm run dev 


> [email protected] dev
> next dev

/Users/bgorman/Projects/deleteme/node_modules/next/dist/server/web/spec-extension/request.js:28
class NextRequest extends Request {
                          ^

ReferenceError: Request is not defined
    at Object.<anonymous> (/Users/bgorman/Projects/deleteme/node_modules/next/dist/server/web/spec-extension/request.js:28:27)
    at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1126:14)
    at Object.Module._extensions..js (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1180:10)
    at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1004:32)
    at Function.Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:839:12)
    at Module.require (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1028:19)
    at Module.mod.require (/Users/bgorman/Projects/deleteme/node_modules/next/dist/server/require-hook.js:64:28)
    at require (node:internal/modules/cjs/helpers:102:18)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/Users/bgorman/Projects/deleteme/node_modules/next/dist/server/web/spec-extension/adapters/next-request.js:37:18)
    at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1126:14)

 *  Terminal will be reused by tasks, press any key to close it. 

This happens after I

1. Create a new Next.js project with npx create-next-app@latest

2. Create a launch.json file

   {
     "version": "0.2.0",
     "configurations": [
       {
         "type": "node",
         "request": "launch",
         "name": "Launch Program",
         "skipFiles": ["<node_internals>/**"],
         "program": "${file}"
       }
     ]
   }
   

3. Create a tasks.json file

   {
     "version": "2.0.0",
     "tasks": [
       {
         "type": "npm",
         "script": "dev",
         "label": "npm: dev",
         "detail": "next dev"
       }
     ]
   }
   

Other people have reported this error and suggested upgrading node to v18,

• Issue 1
• Issue 2

but I’m already using node version v18.18.0. And like I said, npm run dev works fine – the error only occurs when I execute the VS Code task. (Someone else reported the same behavior here.)

Versions

• node 18.18.0
• npm 10.2.1
• nvm 0.39.5
• next 14.0.0
• vs code 1.83.1
• mac os 14.0