"Spawn EINVAL" exception in Windows OS

[buzzzler]

Applies To

• Notebooks (.ipynb files)
• Interactive Window and/or Cell Scripts (.py files with #%% markers)

What happened?

OS Windows.
TypeScript raw kernel tslab v1.0.22 installed globally over npm.

An exception "spawn EINVAL" occurs when trying to start this kernel.
A search revealed that it's because of this security patch in NodeJS april-2024-security-releases-2.
It is also mentioned here electron-30-update.

When spawning files *.bat and *.cmd on Windows now need to pass an additional { shell: true } option to the spawn function.

VS Code Version

Version: 1.98.0-insider (system setup) Commit: 6609ac3d66f4eade5cf376d1cb76f13985724bcb Date: 2025-03-04T19:22:25.096Z Electron: 34.2.0 ElectronBuildId: 11044223 Chromium: 132.0.6834.196 Node.js: 20.18.2 V8: 13.2.152.36-electron.0 OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.19045

Jupyter Extension Version

2025.2.2025021801

Jupyter logs

Visual Studio Code - Insiders (1.98.0-insider, undefined, desktop)
Jupyter Extension Version: 2025.2.2025021801.
Python Extension Version: 2025.1.2025022501.
Pylance Extension Version: 2025.2.103.
Platform: win32 (x64).
Home = c:\Users\bzlr
Temp Storage folder ~\AppData\Roaming\Code - Insiders\User\globalStorage\ms-toolsai.jupyter\version-2025.2.2025021801
Workspace folder d:\proj\ts
13:59:40.657 [info] Experiments are disabled, only manually opted experiments are active.
13:59:40.657 [info] User belongs to experiment group 'DoNotWaitForZmqPortsToBeUsed'
13:59:40.936 [info] Starting Kernel (TypeScript) for 'd:\proj\ts\ts.ipynb' (disableUI=true)
13:59:41.119 [info] Launching Raw Kernel TypeScript # tslab.cmd
13:59:41.125 [error] Failed to connect raw kernel session: Error: spawn EINVAL
13:59:41.125 [error] Failed to connect raw kernel session: Error: spawn EINVAL
13:59:41.125 [warn] Failed to shutdown kernel, .tslab.tslab.cmd.\.tslab.cmd#kernel#--conf~-path#{connection_file} [TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'dispose')
	at Z_.shutdown (c:\Users\~\.vscode-insiders\extensions\ms-toolsai.jupyter-2025.2.2025021801-win32-x64\dist\extension.node.js:301:13745)
	at async eT.shutdown (c:\Users\~\.vscode-insiders\extensions\ms-toolsai.jupyter-2025.2.2025021801-win32-x64\dist\extension.node.js:301:22578)]
13:59:41.126 [warn] Error occurred while trying to start the kernel, options.disableUI=true Error: Failed to start the Kernel 'TypeScript'. 
View Jupyter [log](command:jupyter.viewOutput) for further details. spawn EINVAL
    > at new n (c:\Users\~\.vscode-insiders\extensions\ms-toolsai.jupyter-2025.2.2025021801-win32-x64\dist\extension.node.js:98:4480)
    > or~inalException = Error: spawn EINVAL

Coding Language and Runtime Version

TypeScript via tslab raw kernel v1.0.22 (NodeJS v23.10)

Language Extension Version (if applicable)

No response

Anaconda Version (if applicable)

No response

Running Jupyter locally or remotely?

Local