Web - VSCode launches on localhost:8080 by default, refused to connect

Describe the bug It is concerning that the default Flutter app created in VSCode has a configuration that prevents a workable launch, following the official doc instructions. There is also no official documentation (and limited online community) coverage on this issue.

To Reproduce Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Install VSCode and Flutter according to https://flutter.dev/docs/get-started/install/macos#web-setup
2. Create a new Flutter app in VSCode
3. Click Run > Run Without Debugging
4. Chrome window opens with localhost:8080, page shows refused to connect error
5. If I launch by terminal, or replace the default “pwa-chrome” config in launch.json by the following

        {
            "name": "Flutter for web",
            "type": "dart",
            "request": "launch",
            "program": "lib/main.dart",
            "args": [
              "-d",
              "chrome"
            ]
        }

then it launches as desired

Expected behavior

1. Click Run > Run Without Debugging
2. Chrome window launches with the app

Screenshots If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem.

Versions (please complete the following information):

• VS Code version: 1.50.1
• Dart extension version: 3.15.1
• Dart/Flutter SDK version: 1.23.0-18.1.pre

[DanTup]

Ah, I see. pwa-chrome is not related to this extension, and therefore we can’t control what it does. I suspect when you tried to run the project you didn’t have a Dart file open, so it should’ve shown this prompt:

Here only the “Dart & Flutter” option will invoke our code. If you run the others, it will invoke their debuggers.

Let me know if you have any further issues/questions!

[WarmBreezeRising]

@DanTup Thanks for your replies and explanations. It helped a lot for me and hope it helps others. I voted for the issue you opened. Any of the solutions would indeed make more sense and be less confusing (at least for beginners). Anyway, thanks a lot