Can't run vscode extension app in certain vscode versions - visual-studio-code

Question

I created a vscode extension app and it works perfectly for some versions of vscode and not for others. So far, I've noticed this issue only in mac, but doesn't mean the same issue might happen for other versions of windows. In mac, when I try my extension app on version 1.40.2 it doesn't seem to work. There is no option to run my app in command palette or context menu. It's missing. But if I try it on version 1.55.2 (Universal) then the extension app appears and runs successfully in context menu and command palette no problem.
When I run it on my mac on version 1.40.2, I get the dialog message Extension is not compatible with Code 1.40.2. Extension requires: ^1.55.0.
Another error I've seen is in the console it come up with this error, which I created a new project by running yo code in that problem vscode version and hit F5 on a fresh template and I still got this error so not sure if it's related or not.
Error: Invalid problemMatcher reference: $ts-webpack-watch
Error: Invalid problemMatcher reference: $tslint-webpack-watch
I've also seen this error too
Why am I having a version compatibility issue? I don't think it's something in my extension.ts file because if I remove all my code ie
'use strict';
import * as vscode from 'vscode';
const ncp = require("copy-paste");
const os = require('os');
let folderOutput: string;
let fileOutput: vscode.Uri;
export function activate(context: vscode.ExtensionContext) {
let disposable = vscode.commands.registerCommand('my-app.startApp', async (uri: vscode.Uri) => {
});
context.subscriptions.push(disposable);
}
then the issue is still there so that eliminates that file from being the issue. I appreciate any help!
Package.json
{
"name": "my-app",
"displayName": "my app",
"description": "does something interesting",
"version": "0.0.1",
"engines": {
"vscode": "^1.55.0"
},
"categories": [
"Other"
],
"activationEvents": [
"onCommand:my-app.startApp"
],
"main": "./dist/extension.js",
"contributes": {
"commands": [
{
"command": "my-app.startApp",
"title": "Start My App"
}
],
"menus": {
"editor/context": [
{
"command": "my-app.startApp"
}
]
}
},
"scripts": {
"vscode:prepublish": "npm run package",
"compile": "webpack",
"watch": "webpack --watch",
"package": "webpack --mode production --devtool hidden-source-map",
"test-compile": "tsc -p ./",
"test-watch": "tsc -watch -p ./",
"pretest": "npm run test-compile && npm run lint",
"lint": "eslint src --ext ts",
"test": "node ./out/test/runTest.js"
},
"devDependencies": {
"#types/vscode": "^1.55.0",
"#types/glob": "^7.1.3",
"#types/mocha": "^8.0.4",
"#types/node": "^12.11.7",
"eslint": "^7.19.0",
"#typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin": "^4.14.1",
"#typescript-eslint/parser": "^4.14.1",
"glob": "^7.1.6",
"mocha": "^8.2.1",
"typescript": "^4.1.3",
"vscode-test": "^1.5.0",
"ts-loader": "^8.0.14",
"webpack": "^5.19.0",
"webpack-cli": "^4.4.0"
},
"dependencies": {
"copy-paste": "^1.3.0",
"simple-git": "^2.38.0"
}
}