In Intellij IDEA CE. Commands are sent to terminal (fish) before terminal is ready to accept input

[gertjana]

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Bug

Copilot Feature Area

JetBrains & Xcode

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Intellij IDEA CE 2025.2.6 with Copilot plugin 1.5.62-243

When being asked to run a suggested command in the terminal the following happens

• new terminal (fish shell) opens
• commands are put in by copilot
• fish prompt appears and shell is ready for input

So the commands are not executed and Copilot is waiting for results that are not coming

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[nameless-web-master]

1. Verify the Shell Configuration (Fish Shell)

Fish shell is a bit different from bash or zsh, and sometimes it can behave differently in integrated terminals. Copilot might be expecting a certain shell behavior (such as executing commands immediately), but Fish might be introducing delays or needing additional setup.

• Try configuring IntelliJ to use a more typical shell like bash or zsh to see if the problem persists. You can change the default terminal shell in IntelliJ by navigating to:

  • Settings/Preferences > Tools > Terminal
  • In the Shell path section, specify /bin/bash or /bin/zsh, for example.

2. Copilot Plugin and Shell Compatibility

It's possible that the Copilot plugin has some issues with non-default shells like Fish. To narrow it down:

• Try running Copilot in a standard shell (bash or zsh) and see if it executes the commands properly.
• Check for updates to the Copilot plugin in case there’s a fix for this kind of shell incompatibility.

3. Disable/Configure Fish Prompt

The Fish shell might be waiting for an input prompt or executing an incomplete command because it doesn’t recognize the input as a full command. Fish prompts can sometimes need special handling to differentiate between command outputs and input.

• You can try disabling the custom Fish prompt temporarily or modify the configuration to ensure that commands are treated as fully executed after Copilot inputs them.

• Check the .config/fish/config.fish file for any unusual prompts or settings that might be interfering with command execution.

4. Check Copilot Settings

Sometimes the Copilot plugin has settings that can control how it interacts with terminals. Check the plugin settings to see if there are any options related to how it interacts with the terminal or shell.

• Look for any settings in Settings/Preferences > Copilot that might affect terminal command execution.

5. Run Commands Manually

If you’re able to copy the commands from the Copilot plugin and manually execute them in the terminal, this can help determine whether the problem is with the terminal itself or the plugin.

6. Review IntelliJ and Copilot Logs

There may be relevant error messages or warnings in the logs that could give you more insight into why Copilot is not executing commands. You can check the logs in IntelliJ by going to:

• Help > Show Log in Explorer/Finder
• Look through the log files for any errors related to the terminal or Copilot plugin.

7. Update Copilot and IntelliJ IDEA

Ensure you have the latest version of both IntelliJ IDEA and the Copilot plugin. Sometimes bugs are fixed in newer versions:

• Help > Check for Updates in IntelliJ
• Update the Copilot plugin through the plugin manager in Settings/Preferences > Plugins.

8. Test with a Clean IntelliJ Setup

If the problem persists, you could try creating a fresh IntelliJ IDEA project or use a clean IntelliJ configuration to see if the issue is tied to your current settings or project configuration.

If these suggestions don’t resolve the issue, there may be more specific integration problems between Copilot and the Fish shell. In that case, contacting GitHub Copilot’s support or checking IntelliJ forums for others with similar setups may be helpful.