The launch and debug fails to launch Microsoft 365 Agents playground in VSCode for a basic bot built from template

[dushyantg123]

I have followed the steps to install the Agents Toolkit extensions following the instructions provided
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/toolkit/install-agents-toolkit?tabs=vscode

and subsequently created the basic custom engine agent following the steps noted here
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/agents-sdk/create-new-toolkit-project-vsc

Within VS Code, activity panel, Run And Debug -> I chose Debug in Microsoft 365 Agents Playground. I have tried it numerous times but I am not able to launch the playground.
Here are the error logs

• Executing task: npm install --no-audit

up to date in 558ms

30 packages are looking for funding
run npm fund for details

• Terminal will be reused by tasks, press any key to close it.

• Executing task: npm run dev:teamsfx:playground

basicbot@1.0.0 dev:teamsfx:playground
env-cmd --silent -f .localConfigs.playground npm run dev

'env-cmd' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

• The terminal process "C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\pwsh.exe -Command "npm run dev:teamsfx:playground"" terminated with exit code: 1.

• Terminal will be reused by tasks, press any key to close it.

• Executing task: npm run dev:teamsfx:launch-playground

basicbot@1.0.0 dev:teamsfx:launch-playground
env-cmd --silent -f env/.env.playground teamsapptester start

'env-cmd' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

• The terminal process "C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\pwsh.exe -Command "npm run dev:teamsfx:launch-playground"" terminated with exit code: 1.
• Terminal will be reused by tasks, press any key to close it.

Appreciate any feedback to help resolve this.
thank you
Dushyant

[m365-agent-toolkit-assistant]

👋 Hi @dushyantg123,

Thank you for reporting this issue! We want to let you know that:

⏱️ Our team will personally review your issue
🎯 You can expect a response within 2 business days

✨ This is an AI-generated initial response
🤖 AI-Generated Preliminary Analysis:

Your error indicates the env-cmd package is missing:
'env-cmd' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

Cause:
The debug/playground tasks use env-cmd to load environment variables, but it isn't installed locally or globally.

Solution:

1. Install env-cmd locally (recommended):

   npm install env-cmd --save-dev
   

   Or globally:

   npm install -g env-cmd
   

2. Rerun the debug task in VS Code.

Long-term note:
The toolkit maintainers are migrating from env-cmd to dotenv-cli (discussion). For future-proofing, consider replacing usage in scripts with dotenv-cli.

If errors persist after install, please provide:

• Your full package.json scripts
• The exact Agents Toolkit extension version in VS Code

Reference: GitHub issue #7904

✨We'd love your feedback! Please take a moment to fill out our survey.

---

Note: This is an automated first response generated by AI. A human team member will review your issue and provide a more detailed response soon. We appreciate your patience!

[dushyantg123]

Here is the package.json
{
"name": "basicbot",
"version": "1.0.0",
"msteams": {
"teamsAppId": null
},
"description": "Basic Custome Engine Agent with Microsoft 365 Agents SDK",
"engines": {
"node": "18 || 20 || 22"
},
"author": "Microsoft",
"license": "MIT",
"main": "./lib/src/index.js",
"scripts": {
"dev:teamsfx": "env-cmd --silent -f .localConfigs npm run dev",
"dev:teamsfx:playground": "env-cmd --silent -f .localConfigs.playground npm run dev",
"dev:teamsfx:launch-playground": "env-cmd --silent -f env/.env.playground teamsapptester start",
"dev": "nodemon --exec node --inspect=9239 --signal SIGINT -r ts-node/register ./src/index.ts",
"build": "tsc --build",
"start": "node ./lib/src/index.js",
"test": "echo "Error: no test specified" && exit 1",
"watch": "nodemon --exec "npm run start""
},
"repository": {
"type": "git",
"url": "https://github.com"
},
"dependencies": {
"@azure/identity": "^4.8.0",
"@azure/openai": "^2.0.0",
"@microsoft/agents-hosting": "^0.2.14",
"express": "^5.0.1",
"openai": "^4.94.0"
},
"devDependencies": {
"@types/express": "^5.0.0",
"@types/node": "^18.0.0",
"env-cmd": "^10.1.0",
"nodemon": "^3.1.7",
"shx": "^0.3.3",
"ts-node": "^10.4.0",
"typescript": "^5.5.4"
}
}

tsconfig.json
{
"compilerOptions": {
"declaration": true,
"target": "es2017",
"module": "commonjs",
"outDir": "./lib",
"rootDir": "./",
"sourceMap": true,
"incremental": true,
"tsBuildInfoFile": "./lib/.tsbuildinfo",
"esModuleInterop": true
}
}

[qinzhouxu]

Hi @dushyantg123, seems the package env-cmd is not recognized, which is used to load environment variables from file.
Could you please try npm install -g env-cmd and debug again?