showOpenDialog ignores defaultUri and opens on “Recent” / user working directory instead

[ayatarek831]

Bug description:
When a VS Code extension is executed in Theia (via @theia/plugin-ext), calling [vscode.window.showOpenDialog({ defaultUri })] does not open the dialog in the provided [defaultUri].

Instead, the Theia file dialog opens on a “Recent” view or falls back to another directory, even though the extension passes a valid URI.

Expected behavior:
The open dialog should start in the folder specified by [options.defaultUri]
(or its parent when [defaultUri] points to a file / non-existing file).

Actual behavior: The dialog does not navigate to [defaultUri] and starts in a “Recent” tab / different folder.
Run Theia with plugin-ext enabled.

Steps to Reproduce
Execute an extension command that calls:
[vscode.window.showOpenDialog({ defaultUri: vscode.Uri.file('/home/dir1/dir2/'), canSelectFiles: true, canSelectFolders: false })]
Observe the open dialog starting in “Recent” / unexpected directory rather than [dir2]

This bug is also found in showSaveDialog

[JonasHelming]

Do you have an existing example extension to test a fix or is there any official one that can be used?

[ayatarek831]

Do you have an existing example extension to test a fix or is there any official one that can be used?

You can use this example by adding an exist path
`

import * as vscode from "vscode";

export function activate(context: vscode.ExtensionContext) {
  const disposable = vscode.commands.registerCommand(
    "testDefaultUri.openDialog",
    async () => {
      // Use a known existing directory - change this path as needed
      const testPath = "/tmp";

      // Log for debugging
      console.log("[Test Extension] Testing showOpenDialog with defaultUri");
      console.log("[Test Extension] defaultUri path:", testPath);

      const defaultUri = vscode.Uri.file(testPath);
      console.log("[Test Extension] defaultUri as URI:", defaultUri.toString());

      const result = await vscode.window.showOpenDialog({
        defaultUri: defaultUri,
        canSelectFiles: true,
        canSelectFolders: false,
        canSelectMany: false,
        openLabel: "Select File",
        title: "Test Dialog - Should open in " + testPath,
      });

      if (result && result.length > 0) {
        vscode.window.showInformationMessage(
          `Selected: ${result[0].fsPath}`
        );
      } else {
        vscode.window.showInformationMessage("No file selected");
      }
    }
  );

  context.subscriptions.push(disposable);

  vscode.window.showInformationMessage(
    'Test extension activated. Run command "Test: Open Dialog with defaultUri"'
  );
}

export function deactivate() {}

[colin-grant-work]

Using your extension code, I'm not able to reproduce the bug as described: the showOpenDialog call does open the dialog at the directory set as default by the extension, not the dialog system's default.

Can you provide any additional details about the environment in which you're seeing the bug, e.g. OS and Theia version, whether your call is targeting an existing or a missing directory?

[ayatarek831]

Using your extension code, I'm not able to reproduce the bug as described: the showOpenDialog call does open the dialog at the directory set as default by the extension, not the dialog system's default.

Can you provide any additional details about the environment in which you're seeing the bug, e.g. OS and Theia version, whether your call is targeting an existing or a missing directory?

The bug occurs on Linux with Theia version 1.57.1. When I open an existing directory in Linux, it opens on the recent tab which is , not the default path. Also, the Home tab opens in the current working directory from which I launched Theia.

[colin-grant-work]

@ayatarek831, did you intend to close the ticket?

[ayatarek831]

@ayatarek831, did you intend to close the ticket?

No by mistake sorry

[ndoschek]

Hi @ayatarek831, I've attempted to reproduce the problem you're experiencing.

I tested both scenarios on my system (Ubuntu 24.04) using the current master branch of Theia with the Electron example. I used a custom extension that calls both showOpenDialog and showSaveDialog. In both cases, the dialog opened correctly in the directory specified by the defaultUri parameter. If the path doesn't exist, it falls back to my home directory as expected.

To help narrow this down, could you share more details about your setup? Specifically:

• Which Linux distribution are you using?
• Which Theia version and which extension?
• Does this affect all paths or only specific ones?
• Does the dialog consistently show the "Recent" tab, or does it sometimes open to a different location?
• Are there any errors in the developer tools console when the dialog opens?

Just a small note for next time: it’s helpful for us if you use the bug report issue template as is, as it includes a checklist that makes it easier for us to investigate issues. Thanks!

[msujew]

@ayatarek831 To add onto the previous message: You mentioned you're currently using Theia 1.57.1, which is quite old (>1 year) at this point. Please retry this with the latest version. We generally don't offer support for versions that aren't (1) the latest version or (2) the latest community version.