VS Code IntelliSense for C++ does not work if the project directory is a symlink

Question

VS Code (C++) error squiggles does not work if the project directory is a symlink (Linux).

For instance,

a
└── b
    └── c
        └── file.cpp
sl
└─── ─> c

When sl is a symlink to a/b/c, opening sl as a project directory prevents error squiggles from functioning properly.

Opening a/b/c (left), and opening sl (right)

   

The problem can be reproduced easily.

There is no specific C++ settings (all defaults from vscode and the "C/C++", "C/C++ Extension Pack", and "C/C++ Themes" extensions). I completely removed all configs and then reinstalled vscode to ensure all defaults are set.

Is there a way to fix this (config or otherwise)?

NB, About VS Code:

Answer 1

This is one or multiple of known issues. See the following issue tickets:

• IntelliSense does not work if folder opened through a symbolic link #4573
  • Detect opening a workspace folder with a symlink on the path and output a warning message #9498
• Go to declaration always shows 2 files, relative and absolute paths #3288
  • Intellisense doesn't work for symlink #3456

You can give those issue tickets a thumbs up reaction to show support for them and increase their prioritization, and subscribe to them to get notified of discussion and progress. ^{_{But please don't make a "me too" comment. "me too" comments generally come off as annoying to repo maintainers because they clutter up discussion and don't contribute anything of significant value.}} Besides that, you can offer to contribute a fix, or wait patiently for one to come.

For your reference / learning purposes, the above issue tickets were found by googling "github vscode cpptools issues symlink intellisense".

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For Clangd extension users, it also has symlink issues. For example, clangd (vscode): Goto definition performs symlink resolution #544.