Create handle to update settings.json when new distro is added to WSL #23817

Open
opened 2026-01-31 08:53:24 +00:00 by claunia · 0 comments
Owner

Originally created by @bitglitcher on GitHub (Nov 20, 2025).

Description of the new feature

I have developed a script to setup the development environment for a team of around 20 people.

The installation of distributions goes smoothly. But I'm unable to update the names of these distributions programmatically. I have to prompt the user to manually open the settings.json file in order to force WindowsTerminal to generate updated settings.json file.

This is required because I'm using jq to parse settings.json to modify distribution profile settings in order to add settings to them. This is impossible if the settings have not been created yet.

I was thinking on requesting a new feature. Something like a command line argument that we can call with WindowsTerminal to update the Settings.json file.

I envision something like this.

wt.exe --update-profiles

This way the settings.json file gets populated with newly added profiles.

Proposed technical implementation details

No response

Originally created by @bitglitcher on GitHub (Nov 20, 2025). ### Description of the new feature I have developed a script to setup the development environment for a team of around 20 people. The installation of distributions goes smoothly. But I'm unable to update the names of these distributions programmatically. I have to prompt the user to manually open the `settings.json` file in order to force WindowsTerminal to generate updated `settings.json` file. This is required because I'm using `jq` to parse `settings.json` to modify distribution profile settings in order to add settings to them. This is impossible if the settings have not been created yet. I was thinking on requesting a new feature. Something like a command line argument that we can call with WindowsTerminal to update the `Settings.json` file. I envision something like this. ``` wt.exe --update-profiles ``` This way the settings.json file gets populated with newly added profiles. ### Proposed technical implementation details _No response_
claunia added the Issue-FeatureNeeds-TriageNeeds-Tag-Fix labels 2026-01-31 08:53:25 +00:00
Sign in to join this conversation.
1 Participants
Notifications
Due Date
No due date set.
Dependencies

No dependencies set.

Reference: starred/terminal#23817