VSCode MSVC installation is once again giving me errors on the include path C++

this has been an ongoing issue with vscode where I keep getting include errors, I've finally reached my tipping point

This is the basic "Hello World" c++ program, as usual, vscode is giving me nothing

[{
    "resource": "/c:/Users/name/file.cpp",
    "owner": "clang-tidy",
    "code": "clang-diagnostic-error",
    "severity": 8,
    "message": "Error while processing",
    "source": "C/C++",
    "startLineNumber": 1,
    "startColumn": 1,
    "endLineNumber": 1,
    "endColumn": 2,
    "relatedInformation": [
        {
            "startLineNumber": 20,
            "startColumn": 10,
            "endLineNumber": 20,
            "endColumn": 11,
            "message": "'crtdbg.h' file not found",
            "resource": "/C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/BuildTools/VC/Tools/MSVC/14.38.33130/include/yvals.h"
        }
    ]
}]

This is being run on windows 10

I have tried brute forcing it through mingw installation, from mingw obtained from msys2 and these last 2-3 weeks trying to connect vscode to code::blocks just so that I can have a workspace I at least kind of understand.

This final attempt was done following the inbuild c++ tutorial where I install msvc using winget

winget install Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.BuildTools --force --override "--wait --passive --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.VCTools --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.Tools.x86.x64 --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.Windows10SDK"

I did manage to get it working with Code::Blocks, but only by the use of a tool that launches vscode at the current location, which is a little bit of progress in achieving C++ compatability, but after 4 years of trying it on and off, I doubt I can do this without external assistance.

Solution

I would first suggest installing with the BuildTools version of Visual Studio Installer (this takes care of installing any required workload dependencies). Here's the link: https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/#build-tools-for-visual-studio-2022. Make sure to check the "Desktop Development with C++".

To be able to use any of the MSVC BuildTools from the command line (both Command Prompt and Powershell), you need to invoke one of BuildTools environment setup scripts located under C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\BuildTools\VC\Auxiliary\Build\. The script vcvars64.bat will supplement the command line environment with the x64 host compiler tools targeting native x64 windows. This also applies to any static analysis tools: they rely on the same environment variables as the msvc compiler tools to deduce include paths, library paths and so on.

This is all explained on https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/build/building-on-the-command-line?view=msvc-170

PS: The Visual Studio installer also creates some start menu shortcuts, and new Windows Terminal profiles that does this setup automatically.