command 'java.dashboard.refresh' not found

[rubensa]

Describe the bug
Running command 'Java: Refresh' from the command palette shows the error command 'java.dashboard.refresh' not found

Environment

• Operating System: DevContainer whith mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/java:3-25-trixie Docker image on Debian WSL under Windows 11
• JDK version: openjdk 25.0.2 2026-01-20 LTS
• Visual Studio Code version: 1.113.0
• Java extension version: 1.53.0

Additional Information
I tried to run the command after I saw 'Project configuration is not up-to-date with pom.xml, requires an update.' in the PROBLEMS view.

[rubensa]

Still present in 1.55.0, and unchanged on main (1.56.0). I dug into the shipped bundle —
here's a deterministic reproduction and the root cause, with a minimal fix.

This affects a second command that I missed in the original report: Java: Dump State
(java.dashboard.dumpState) fails the same way, for the same reason. Both are Java Dashboard
toolbar buttons, and any fix needs to cover the pair.

Also reproduces on a different environment

The original report was 1.53.0 on the mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/java:3-25-trixie image.
This also reproduces on:

• Java extension version: 1.55.0 (linux-x64)
• Operating System: DevContainer built from mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/base:trixie with the
  ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/java feature, on Debian WSL2 under Windows 11
• JDK version: openjdk 25.0.3 2026-04-21 LTS (Temurin-25.0.3+9)
• Workspace: a multi-module Maven project

Despite both reports coming from devcontainers, this is not remote- or container-specific — the
cause below is in the extension's own command registration and manifest, with nothing
remote-related involved. It should reproduce on a plain local install.

Steps to reproduce

The pom.xml warning in my original report was incidental. The bug reduces to:

1. Open a Java workspace in a fresh window, and do not open the Java Dashboard.
2. Open the Command Palette and run Java: Refresh → command 'java.dashboard.refresh' not found
3. Open the Command Palette and run Java: Dump State → command 'java.dashboard.dumpState' not found

Expected: either the commands do not appear in the Command Palette at all — they are Java Dashboard
webview toolbar buttons, not standalone user-facing commands — or invoking them works.

Root cause

Two independent issues combine. Both are visible in the shipped dist/extension.js of 1.55.0.

1. The handlers only exist while the dashboard webview is alive

java.dashboard.refresh and java.dashboard.dumpState are registered with
vscode.commands.registerCommand inside the dashboard webview class, and pushed onto that
instance's disposables:

this.disposables.push(vscode.commands.registerCommand("java.dashboard.refresh", () => { this.refreshLSInfo() }))
...
this.disposables.push(vscode.commands.registerCommand("java.dashboard.dumpState", () => { ... }))

So before the dashboard is opened for the first time — and again after it is closed and disposed —
no handler is registered, and dispatching the command throws command '…' not found. By contrast
java.dashboard.open is registered at activation and always works.

2. The java:dashboard context key is never initialized at activation

Both commands carry "when": "java:dashboard == true" in contributes.commands. The key is set to
false only on dispose:

onDidDispose(() => { ...; vscode.commands.executeCommand("setContext", "java:dashboard", false) })

It is never set to false at activation, so in a window where the dashboard has not yet been opened
it is undefined rather than false.

Note also that "when" on a contributes.commands entry is not the supported mechanism for
controlling Command Palette visibility — contributes.menus.commandPalette is. The dashboard
commands have no commandPalette entry at all.

Suggested fix

The extension already uses the canonical idiom for precisely this case:
contributes.menus.commandPalette currently holds 21 entries, 11 of which use "when": "false" to
hide internal commands (java.open.serverStdoutLog, java.action.showClassHierarchy,
java.action.doCleanup, …). The two dashboard commands were simply never added to that list — still
the case on main at 1.56.0.

Minimal fix — add to contributes.menus.commandPalette in package.json:

{ "command": "java.dashboard.refresh",   "when": "false" },
{ "command": "java.dashboard.dumpState", "when": "false" }

This hides both from the palette unconditionally while leaving the editor/title toolbar buttons
(gated on webviewId == java.dashboard) fully working. It matches the existing convention in the
same file and needs no code change.

Optionally, also make the context key well-defined at activation, so the when clauses in
contributes.commands behave as written rather than depending on undefined:

vscode.commands.executeCommand("setContext", "java:dashboard", false);

If instead the intent is for these to be genuine palette commands, they should be registered once at
activation and delegate to the dashboard — opening it (or no-op'ing) when it is closed — rather than
being registered per webview instance.

Workaround for anyone else hitting this

Run Java: Open Java Dashboard (java.dashboard.open, registered at activation), then use the
↻ Refresh and {} Dump State icons in the dashboard tab's title bar. Do not invoke
Java: Refresh / Java: Dump State from the Command Palette.

For the original symptom that led me here — "Project configuration is not up-to-date with pom.xml,
requires an update" — the command actually wanted is Java: Reload Projects
(java.projectConfiguration.update), which is unrelated to the dashboard and works from the palette.