Maven project creation fails on Windows - cmd.exe ignores PowerShell settings

[anushi13prsnl]

Description:
Problem:
VS Code's "Create Maven Project" command fails on Windows with "The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect" error.

Root Cause:
The Maven extension is using cmd.exe instead of PowerShell, despite terminal settings configured for PowerShell.

Error Message:
The terminal process "cmd.exe /c ""mvn org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-archetype-plugin:3.1.2:generate -DarchetypeArtifactId="maven-archetype-quickstart"..."" terminated with exit code: 1.

Settings Tried (all ignored):

• terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.windows: "PowerShell"
• terminal.integrated.automationProfile.windows: {"path": "powershell.exe"}
• terminal.integrated.shell.windows: "C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe"

Workaround:
Manual command in PowerShell works fine.

Environment:

• VS Code Version: [check Help → About]
• OS: Windows 11/10
• Extension Pack for Java Version: [check in Extensions]

[github-actions]

Hi @anushi13prsnl, I'm an AI Support assistant here to help with your issue. While the team reviews your request, I wanted to provide some possible tips and documentation that might help you in the meantime.

Solution

• Configure VS Code to use Windows PowerShell (powershell.exe) for automation (Maven) tasks. Add/update in your settings.json:

  "terminal.integrated.profiles.windows": {
    "Windows PowerShell": {
      "source": "PowerShell",
      "path": "C:\\Windows\\System32\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe"
    }
  },
  "terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.windows": "Windows PowerShell",
  "terminal.integrated.automationProfile.windows": "Windows PowerShell"

• Restart VS Code and run “Create Maven Project” again.
• Verify in the integrated terminal that you see Windows PowerShell (not pwsh) before the mvn command.

Why this works

• The Maven extension only recognizes powershell.exe to prepend the PowerShell invocation operator &. If it doesn’t see that binary name, it falls back to cmd.exe and misquotes the mvn command.
• See discussion:
  • “Maybe it’s recognized as another type of shell… only powershell.exe is recognized as PowerShell.”
  Create Maven Project:Unexpected token 'org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-archetype-plugin:3.1.2:generate' in expression or statement. vscode-maven#492 (comment)

Track progress / similar issues

• Already tracked in vscode-maven#492 → Create Maven Project:Unexpected token 'org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-archetype-plugin:3.1.2:generate' in expression or statement. vscode-maven#492

Other references with low confidence

• “'Create Maven Project' doesn’t work correctly when the directory has brackets on Windows”
  Brackets in a PowerShell path need -LiteralPath on cd.
  'Create Maven Project' doesn't work correctly when the directory has brackets on Windows vscode-maven#324

The team will respond to your issue shortly. I hope these suggestions are helpful in the meantime. If this comment helped you, please give it a 👍. If the suggestion was not helpful or incorrect, please give it a 👎. Your feedback helps us improve!