[BUG] v2.1.68 (updated 2026-03-04) opens 3 blank VS Code windows when claude is started in the integrated terminal.

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

The timeline is crystal clear now. Each MCP server startup triggers a new VS Code window:
┌──────────┬─────────────────────────────────────┬────────────────┐
│ Time │ MCP Event │ VS Code Window │ ├──────────┼─────────────────────────────────────┼────────────────┤
│ 23:25:09 │ serena/context7/playwright start │ │ ├──────────┼─────────────────────────────────────┼────────────────┤ │ 23:25:10 │ serena.exe initializes │ Window 1 opens │ ├──────────┼─────────────────────────────────────┼────────────────┤ │ 23:25:13 │ context7-mcp + playwright-mcp ready │ Window 2 opens │ ├──────────┼─────────────────────────────────────┼────────────────┤ │ 23:25:16 │ playwright launches firefox │ Window 3 opens │ └──────────┴─────────────────────────────────────┴────────────────┘ It's the 3 MCP servers (serena, context7, playwright) that each trigger a new VS Code window when they initialize. This is likely a bug in the Claude Code VS Code extension v2.1.68 (updated today) - it's creating new windows for each MCP server connection. It's the Claude Code VS Code extension v2.1.68 itself (updated today). The plugin cache likely gets regenerated on startup,

What Should Happen?

fix the bug that startsup vscode sessions

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

The timeline is crystal clear now. Each MCP server startup triggers a new VS Code window:
┌──────────┬─────────────────────────────────────┬────────────────┐
│ Time │ MCP Event │ VS Code Window │ ├──────────┼─────────────────────────────────────┼────────────────┤
│ 23:25:09 │ serena/context7/playwright start │ │ ├──────────┼─────────────────────────────────────┼────────────────┤ │ 23:25:10 │ serena.exe initializes │ Window 1 opens │ ├──────────┼─────────────────────────────────────┼────────────────┤ │ 23:25:13 │ context7-mcp + playwright-mcp ready │ Window 2 opens │ ├──────────┼─────────────────────────────────────┼────────────────┤ │ 23:25:16 │ playwright launches firefox │ Window 3 opens │ └──────────┴─────────────────────────────────────┴────────────────┘ It's the 3 MCP servers (serena, context7, playwright) that each trigger a new VS Code window when they initialize. This is likely a bug in the Claude Code VS Code extension v2.1.68 (updated today) - it's creating new windows for each MCP server connection.

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

2.1.66

Claude Code Version

2.1.68

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

VS Code integrated terminal

Additional Information

_No response_