"Visual Studio Code run code fails to trigger external terminal and doesn't appear in Automation on macOS (MacBook Pro 2013)"

Hello, I'm currently using a 2013 MacBook Pro running macOS Big Sur. I installed Visual Studio Code using the official .zip Universal download from the Microsoft website, since I couldn't find a .dmg version.

My goal is to execute C code using the “Run Code” feature in VSCode and have the output appear in a new external Terminal window (not the integrated terminal). This works well on my Ubuntu Linux machine after much configuration, but I’m having serious trouble getting it to work properly on macOS.

Here are the issues I'm facing:

When I run C code using the code-runner extension, it opens the external Terminal, but I get the following error:

execution error: Users variable not defined (-2753)

Even though I granted full permissions to Terminal and iTerm in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Automation, Visual Studio Code does not appear in the Automation list.

I also tried installing and moving VSCode into /Applications but it still doesn’t show up under Automation permissions.

Since I’m using the .zip version, I wonder if that’s why macOS doesn’t recognize VSCode as a fully signed app and therefore it’s not listed in the Automation panel.

I’d like to ask:

Is there a .dmg version of VSCode available for macOS to fix this?

Or is there any way to force macOS to show VSCode in the Automation settings?

Has anyone succeeded in configuring code-runner on macOS to launch external terminal output?

Thank you for your help!