False validation error for PublishCodeCoverageResults@2 in azure-pipelines.yml

[NikolayGurinov]

Description

VS Code shows a false validation error for a valid Azure Pipelines task in azure-pipelines.yml.

The pipeline runs successfully in Azure DevOps, but in the editor I get errors like:

• PublishCodeCoverageResults is deprecated
• String does not match the pattern of "^PublishCodeCoverageResults@1$"

The task in the YAML is:

- task: PublishCodeCoverageResults@2
  condition: and(always(), eq(variables.conditionRulePR, true))
  inputs:
    summaryFileLocation: '$(Agent.TempDirectory)/changed_only_report/Cobertura.xml'
    pathToSources: '$(buildContextDirectory)'
    failIfCoverageEmpty: false

Why this looks wrong

The tooltip/schema info shows PublishCodeCoverageResults@2 as an allowed value, but validation still reports that the task must match ^PublishCodeCoverageResults@1$.

So the schema/validation appears to be internally inconsistent.

Environment
• VS Code: latest
• Red Hat YAML extension installed
• Azure Pipelines extension was uninstalled, but the issue still reproduces
• File language mode: YAML
• The current file is still associated with Azure Pipelines YAML pipelines definition

Minimal repro:

trigger:
- master

pool:
  vmImage: ubuntu-latest

steps:
- task: PublishCodeCoverageResults@2
  inputs:
    summaryFileLocation: 'coverage.xml'
    pathToSources: '.'
    failIfCoverageEmpty: false

Expected behavior

PublishCodeCoverageResults@2 should not be marked as deprecated or invalid.

Actual behavior

The editor highlights valid YAML in red and reports a false validation error.

[LodewijkSioen]

Same here, only the plugin thinks that it's powershell:

[pavel-sinkevich]

Similar issue. Pipeline runs successfully, but VS Code shows validation error "PublishCodeCoverageResults is deprecated - Publish Cobertura or JaCoCo code coverage results from a build".
VS Code is flagging not just the "PublishCodeCoverageResults", but all tasks in a job. The validation error message is the same for all of them, even for unrelated tasks.

I am using VS Code extension "YAML" by Red Hat, which associates azure-pipelines.yml with schema file https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/azure-pipelines-vscode/master/service-schema.json. So it looks like the the problem is with the JSON schema, not with the extension itself.
As a temporary workaround, I disabled schema validation for azure-pipelines.yml by updating .vscode/settings.json like this:

"yaml.schemas": {
	"azure-pipelines.yml": "azure-pipelines.yml"
}

VS Code version:

Version: 1.116.0 (user setup)
Commit: 560a9dba96f961efea7b1612916f89e5d5d4d679
Date: 2026-04-15T00:28:13Z
Electron: 39.8.7
ElectronBuildId: 13797146
Chromium: 142.0.7444.265
Node.js: 22.22.1
V8: 14.2.231.22-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26200