Expand tilde in Coder settings paths (#667)

Closes #417

Author: EhabY

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -2,11 +2,16 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+### Added
+
+- Support for paths that begin with a tilde (`~`).
+
 ### Fixed
 
 - Fixed race condition when multiple VS Code windows download the Coder CLI binary simultaneously.
   Other windows now wait and display real-time progress instead of attempting concurrent downloads,
   preventing corruption and failures.
+- Remove duplicate "Cancel" buttons on the workspace update dialog.
 
 ### Changed
 
@@ -15,9 +20,9 @@
 
 ## [v1.11.4](https://github.com/coder/vscode-coder/releases/tag/v1.11.4) 2025-11-20
 
-### Fixed
+### Added
 
-- Add support for `google.antigravity-remote-openssh` Remote SSH extension.
+- Support for the `google.antigravity-remote-openssh` Remote SSH extension.
 
 ### Changed
 
@@ -55,7 +60,7 @@
 
 ### Changed
 
-- Always enable verbose (`-v`) flag when a log directory is configured (`coder.proxyLogDir`).
+- Always enable verbose (`-v`) flag when a log directory is configured (`coder.proxyLogDirectory`).
 - Automatically start a workspace without prompting if it is explicitly opened but not running.
 
 ### Added
@@ -134,7 +139,7 @@
 
 ### Added
 
-- Coder extension sidebar now displays available app statuses, and let's
+- Coder extension sidebar now displays available app statuses, and lets
   the user click them to drop into a session with a running AI Agent.
 
 ## [v1.7.1](https://github.com/coder/vscode-coder/releases/tag/v1.7.1) (2025-04-14)

src/util.ts

@@ -119,13 +119,14 @@ export function toSafeHost(rawUrl: string): string {
 }
 
 /**
- * Expand a path with ${userHome} in the input string
- * @param input string
- * @returns string
+ * Expand a path if it starts with tilde (~) or contains ${userHome}.
  */
 export function expandPath(input: string): string {
 	const userHome = os.homedir();
-	return input.replace(/\${userHome}/g, userHome);
+	if (input.startsWith("~")) {
+		input = userHome + input.substring("~".length);
+	}
+	return input.replaceAll("${userHome}", userHome);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -145,5 +146,6 @@ export function countSubstring(needle: string, haystack: string): number {
 }
 
 export function escapeCommandArg(arg: string): string {
-	return `"${arg.replace(/"/g, '\\"')}"`;
+	const escapedString = arg.replaceAll('"', String.raw`\"`);
+	return `"${escapedString}"`;
 }

test/unit/util.test.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
+import os from "node:os";
 import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
 
-import { countSubstring, parseRemoteAuthority, toSafeHost } from "@/util";
+import {
+	countSubstring,
+	escapeCommandArg,
+	expandPath,
+	parseRemoteAuthority,
+	toSafeHost,
+} from "@/util";
 
 it("ignore unrelated authorities", () => {
 	const tests = [
@@ -124,3 +131,62 @@ describe("countSubstring", () => {
 		expect(countSubstring("aa", "aaaaaa")).toBe(3);
 	});
 });
+
+describe("escapeCommandArg", () => {
+	it("wraps simple string in quotes", () => {
+		expect(escapeCommandArg("hello")).toBe('"hello"');
+	});
+
+	it("handles empty string", () => {
+		expect(escapeCommandArg("")).toBe('""');
+	});
+
+	it("escapes double quotes", () => {
+		expect(escapeCommandArg('say "hello"')).toBe(String.raw`"say \"hello\""`);
+	});
+
+	it("preserves backslashes", () => {
+		expect(escapeCommandArg(String.raw`path\to\file`)).toBe(
+			String.raw`"path\to\file"`,
+		);
+	});
+
+	it("handles string with spaces", () => {
+		expect(escapeCommandArg("hello world")).toBe('"hello world"');
+	});
+});
+
+describe("expandPath", () => {
+	const home = os.homedir();
+
+	it("expands tilde at start of path", () => {
+		expect(expandPath("~/foo/bar")).toBe(`${home}/foo/bar`);
+	});
+
+	it("expands standalone tilde", () => {
+		expect(expandPath("~")).toBe(home);
+	});
+
+	it("does not expand tilde in middle of path", () => {
+		expect(expandPath("/foo/~/bar")).toBe("/foo/~/bar");
+	});
+
+	it("expands ${userHome} variable", () => {
+		expect(expandPath("${userHome}/foo")).toBe(`${home}/foo`);
+	});
+
+	it("expands multiple ${userHome} variables", () => {
+		expect(expandPath("${userHome}/foo/${userHome}/bar")).toBe(
+			`${home}/foo/${home}/bar`,
+		);
+	});
+
+	it("leaves paths without tilde or variable unchanged", () => {
+		expect(expandPath("/absolute/path")).toBe("/absolute/path");
+		expect(expandPath("relative/path")).toBe("relative/path");
+	});
+
+	it("expands both tilde and ${userHome}", () => {
+		expect(expandPath("~/${userHome}/foo")).toBe(`${home}/${home}/foo`);
+	});
+});