Fixing mise shims not working in VS Code on Ubuntu: avoid the Snap build

TL;DR

If mise shims work in your normal terminal but not in the VS Code integrated terminal on Ubuntu (especially with zsh), the fastest fix may be:

• Do not use the Ubuntu Snap for VS Code
• Install the official .deb package from code.visualstudio.com for your architecture instead

After switching from Snap to .deb, the integrated terminal typically behaves like a standard shell session and mise shims resolve correctly.

The symptom

You have mise set up and working fine in a regular terminal:

• node, python, etc. resolve via ~/.local/share/mise/shims
• mise doctor looks good
• Your ~/.zprofile / ~/.zshrc configuration is correct

But inside VS Code → Terminal, one or more of the following happens:

• command not found for tools that should be shimmed
• which node points to a system binary (or nothing) instead of a shim
• $PATH in VS Code is missing ~/.local/share/mise/shims
• Shell initialization seems inconsistent compared to your external terminal

Why this happens (in practice)

On Ubuntu, the Snap build of VS Code runs inside Snap confinement. That confinement can affect:

• Environment variable propagation (including PATH)
• Shell startup behavior in the integrated terminal
• Access to or resolution of user-level paths and toolchains

The net effect: even with correct mise setup, the VS Code integrated terminal may not see the same environment as your regular terminal session, so shims fail to resolve.

The fix: install VS Code via .deb instead of Snap

1) Remove the Snap build

sudo snap remove code

1) Remove the Snap build

sudo snap remove code

2) Install the official .deb package

Download the .deb for your architecture from the official Visual Studio Code site:

• Go to https://code.visualstudio.com/
• Download the Debian/Ubuntu (.deb) package that matches your CPU (x64, ARM64, etc.)

Then install it:

sudo apt install ./code_*.deb

(Use the exact filename you downloaded.)

3) Reopen VS Code and re-check the terminal

Open a new integrated terminal and verify that shims are on PATH:

echo "$PATH" | tr ':' '\n' | head -n 20
command -v mise
command -v node python ruby go 2>/dev/null || true

You should see ~/.local/share/mise/shims early in the output, and tool lookups should resolve through mise again.

Notes and tips

• If you use zsh, ensure mise activation is configured appropriately (commonly in ~/.zprofile and/or ~/.zshrc).
• If you rely heavily on VS Code’s integrated terminal for toolchains, using the .deb build generally reduces surprises on Ubuntu compared to Snap confinement.
• If you manage VS Code updates via apt repositories, consider adding Microsoft’s repo (optional) for smoother updates.

Conclusion

This was a classic “everything is configured correctly, but the environment differs” situation. In my case, the root cause wasn’t mise or zsh at all—it was the Snap packaging of VS Code. Switching to the official .deb build immediately restored normal PATH/shim behavior and made mise work in the integrated terminal as expected.