Improve user-facing error messages for IDE mode (#5522)

packages/core/src/ide/detect-ide.ts

@@ -11,9 +11,12 @@ export enum DetectedIde {
 export function getIdeDisplayName(ide: DetectedIde): string {
   switch (ide) {
     case DetectedIde.VSCode:
-      return 'VSCode';
-    default:
-      throw new Error(`Unsupported IDE: ${ide}`);
+      return 'VS Code';
+    default: {
+      // This ensures that if a new IDE is added to the enum, we get a compile-time error.
+      const exhaustiveCheck: never = ide;
+      return exhaustiveCheck;
+    }
   }
 }
 

packages/core/src/ide/ide-installer.test.ts

@@ -45,32 +45,6 @@ describe('ide-installer', () => {
       vi.restoreAllMocks();
     });
 
-    describe('isInstalled', () => {
-      it('should return true if command is in PATH', async () => {
-        expect(await installer.isInstalled()).toBe(true);
-      });
-
-      it('should return true if command is in a known location', async () => {
-        vi.spyOn(child_process, 'execSync').mockImplementation(() => {
-          throw new Error('Command not found');
-        });
-        vi.spyOn(fs, 'existsSync').mockReturnValue(true);
-        // Re-create the installer so it re-runs findVsCodeCommand
-        installer = getIdeInstaller(DetectedIde.VSCode)!;
-        expect(await installer.isInstalled()).toBe(true);
-      });
-
-      it('should return false if command is not found', async () => {
-        vi.spyOn(child_process, 'execSync').mockImplementation(() => {
-          throw new Error('Command not found');
-        });
-        vi.spyOn(fs, 'existsSync').mockReturnValue(false);
-        // Re-create the installer so it re-runs findVsCodeCommand
-        installer = getIdeInstaller(DetectedIde.VSCode)!;
-        expect(await installer.isInstalled()).toBe(false);
-      });
-    });
-
     describe('install', () => {
       it('should return a failure message if VS Code is not installed', async () => {
         vi.spyOn(child_process, 'execSync').mockImplementation(() => {
@@ -81,9 +55,7 @@ describe('ide-installer', () => {
         installer = getIdeInstaller(DetectedIde.VSCode)!;
         const result = await installer.install();
         expect(result.success).toBe(false);
-        expect(result.message).toContain(
-          'not found in your PATH or common installation locations',
-        );
+        expect(result.message).toContain('VS Code CLI not found');
       });
     });
   });

packages/core/src/ide/ide-installer.ts

@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ const VSCODE_COMPANION_EXTENSION_FOLDER = 'vscode-ide-companion';
 
 export interface IdeInstaller {
   install(): Promise<InstallResult>;
-  isInstalled(): Promise<boolean>;
 }
 
 export interface InstallResult {
@@ -95,16 +94,12 @@ class VsCodeInstaller implements IdeInstaller {
     this.vsCodeCommand = findVsCodeCommand();
   }
 
-  async isInstalled(): Promise<boolean> {
-    return (await this.vsCodeCommand) !== null;
-  }
-
   async install(): Promise<InstallResult> {
     const commandPath = await this.vsCodeCommand;
     if (!commandPath) {
       return {
         success: false,
-        message: `VS Code command-line tool not found in your PATH or common installation locations.`,
+        message: `VS Code CLI not found. Please ensure 'code' is in your system's PATH. For help, see https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/configure/command-line#_code-is-not-recognized-as-an-internal-or-external-command. You can also install the companion extension manually from the VS Code marketplace.`,
       };
     }
 
@@ -141,12 +136,12 @@ class VsCodeInstaller implements IdeInstaller {
       return {
         success: true,
         message:
-          'VS Code companion extension installed successfully. Restart gemini-cli in a fresh terminal window.',
+          'VS Code companion extension was installed successfully. Please restart your terminal to complete the setup.',
       };
     } catch (_error) {
       return {
         success: false,
-        message: 'Failed to install VS Code companion extension.',
+        message: `Failed to install VS Code companion extension. Please try installing it manually from the VS Code marketplace.`,
       };
     }
   }
@@ -154,7 +149,7 @@ class VsCodeInstaller implements IdeInstaller {
 
 export function getIdeInstaller(ide: DetectedIde): IdeInstaller | null {
   switch (ide) {
-    case 'vscode':
+    case DetectedIde.VSCode:
       return new VsCodeInstaller();
     default:
       return null;