Starting VS Code from conda environment fails to activate that environment

[davidfokkema]

Type: Bug

Behaviour

When starting Visual Studio Code from the terminal with a conda environment activated does say that environment is selected in the status bar (and with the 'run' button, scripts run using that environment's interpreter) but that environment is not activated in the terminal.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Open a terminal and activate an environment:

   conda activate my_env

2. Start Visual Studio Code:

   code .

3. See that that my_env is active, according to the statusbar.
4. See that pressing the run button does run a Python script using my_env's Python interpreter.
5. Open an integrated terminal.
6. See that the prompt gives no indication my_env is activated.
7. Run:

   conda info

and see that only the base environment is activated.

Alternatively, start VS Code from a fresh terminal using:

conda run -n my_env code .

with the same results.

Diagnostic data

NOTE: the environment I tested with was actually called cli-board-manager. Sorry about that.

Output for Python in the Output panel (View→Output, change the drop-down the upper-right of the Output panel to Python)

2024-06-07 15:43:46.313 [info] Experiment 'pythonRecommendTensorboardExt' is active
2024-06-07 15:43:46.313 [info] Experiment 'pythonTerminalEnvVarActivation' is active
2024-06-07 15:43:46.313 [info] Experiment 'pythonTestAdapter' is active
2024-06-07 15:43:46.345 [info] Default formatter is set to null for workspace /Users/david/tmp/test-code-env
2024-06-07 15:43:46.352 [info] Test server listening.
2024-06-07 15:43:46.352 [info] VS Code was launched from an activated environment: 'cli-board-manager', selecting it as the interpreter for workspace.
2024-06-07 15:43:46.352 [info] Python interpreter path: /opt/homebrew/Caskroom/miniconda/base/envs/cli-board-manager/bin/python
2024-06-07 15:43:46.363 [info] > pyenv which python
2024-06-07 15:43:46.363 [info] cwd: .
2024-06-07 15:43:46.492 [info] > conda info --json
2024-06-07 15:43:46.492 [info] shell: zsh
2024-06-07 15:43:46.897 [info] > conda run -n cli-board-manager --no-capture-output python ~/.vscode-insiders/extensions/ms-python.python-2024.4.1/python_files/get_output_via_markers.py ~/.vscode-insiders/extensions/ms-python.python-2024.4.1/python_files/printEnvVariables.py
2024-06-07 15:43:46.897 [info] shell: zsh
2024-06-07 15:43:47.313 [info] Starting Pylance language server.
2024-06-07 15:43:47.315 [info] > /opt/homebrew/bin/python3.12 ~/.vscode-insiders/extensions/ms-python.python-2024.4.1/python_files/printEnvVariables.py
2024-06-07 15:43:47.315 [info] shell: zsh
2024-06-07 15:43:47.361 [info] Setting environment variable CONDA_SHLVL in collection to 4 {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2024-06-07 15:43:47.361 [info] Setting environment variable CONDA_PROMPT_MODIFIER in collection to  {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2024-06-07 15:43:47.362 [info] Setting environment variable _CE_CONDA in collection to  {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2024-06-07 15:43:47.362 [info] Setting environment variable CONDA_PREFIX_3 in collection to /opt/homebrew/Caskroom/miniconda/base {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2024-06-07 15:43:47.362 [info] Setting environment variable CONDA_PREFIX_2 in collection to /opt/homebrew/Caskroom/miniconda/base/envs/cli-board-manager {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2024-06-07 15:43:47.362 [info] Setting environment variable _CE_M in collection to  {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2024-06-07 15:43:47.362 [info] Setting environment variable XPC_SERVICE_NAME in collection to 0 {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2024-06-07 15:43:47.362 [info] Send text to terminal: /opt/homebrew/bin/python3.12 /Users/david/.vscode-insiders/extensions/ms-python.python-2024.4.1/python_files/printEnvVariablesToFile.py /Users/david/.vscode-insiders/extensions/ms-python.python-2024.4.1/python_files/deactivate/zsh/envVars.txt
2024-06-07 15:43:52.355 [info] > conda info --json

Output for Python Debugger in the Output panel (View→Output, change the drop-down the upper-right of the Output panel to Python Debugger)

2024-06-07 15:43:46.494 [info] Name: Python Debugger
2024-06-07 15:43:46.494 [info] Module: debugpy
2024-06-07 15:43:46.494 [error] sendDebugpySuccessActivationTelemetry() failed. [Error: Extension 'ms-python.debugpy' CANNOT use API proposal: debugVisualization.
Its package.json#enabledApiProposals-property declares: portsAttributes, contribIssueReporter but NOT debugVisualization.
 The missing proposal MUST be added and you must start in extension development mode or use the following command line switch: --enable-proposed-api ms-python.debugpy
	at E (/Applications/Visual Studio Code - Insiders.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/api/node/extensionHostProcess.js:140:50959)
	at Object.registerDebugVisualizationTreeProvider (/Applications/Visual Studio Code - Insiders.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/api/node/extensionHostProcess.js:162:43818)
	at t.registerDebugger (/Users/david/.vscode-insiders/extensions/ms-python.debugpy-2024.6.0-darwin-arm64/dist/extension.js:2:880949)
	at e.activate (/Users/david/.vscode-insiders/extensions/ms-python.debugpy-2024.6.0-darwin-arm64/dist/extension.js:2:1128292)
	at W.jb (/Applications/Visual Studio Code - Insiders.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/api/node/extensionHostProcess.js:158:13382)
	at W.ib (/Applications/Visual Studio Code - Insiders.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/api/node/extensionHostProcess.js:158:13092)
	at /Applications/Visual Studio Code - Insiders.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/api/node/extensionHostProcess.js:158:11114
	at async c.n (/Applications/Visual Studio Code - Insiders.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/api/node/extensionHostProcess.js:142:6231)
	at async c.m (/Applications/Visual Studio Code - Insiders.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/api/node/extensionHostProcess.js:142:6194)
	at async c.l (/Applications/Visual Studio Code - Insiders.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/api/node/extensionHostProcess.js:142:5651)]

Extension version: 2024.4.1
VS Code version: Code - Insiders 1.88.0-insider (Universal) (be210b3, 2024-03-15T05:49:14.505Z)
OS version: Darwin arm64 23.5.0
Modes:

• Python version (& distribution if applicable, e.g. Anaconda): 3.12.3
• Type of virtual environment used (e.g. conda, venv, virtualenv, etc.): Conda
• Value of the python.languageServer setting: Default

User Settings

languageServer: "Pylance"

Installed Extensions

Extension Name	Extension Id	Version
JavaScript Debugger	ms-vscode.js-debug	1.87.0
JavaScript Debugger Companion Extension	ms-vscode.js-debug-companion	1.1.2
Pylance	ms-python.vscode-pylance	2024.6.1
Python	ms-python.python	2024.4.1
Python Debugger	ms-python.debugpy	2024.6.0
Table Visualizer for JavaScript Profiles	ms-vscode.vscode-js-profile-table	1.0.8

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	Apple M2 Pro (12 x 24)
GPU Status	2d_canvas: enabled canvas_oop_rasterization: enabled_on direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok gpu_compositing: enabled multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on opengl: enabled_on rasterization: enabled raw_draw: disabled_off_ok skia_graphite: disabled_off video_decode: enabled video_encode: enabled webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled webgpu: enabled
Load (avg)	2, 2, 3
Memory (System)	16.00GB (0.12GB free)
Process Argv	. --crash-reporter-id 1571364c-c8c2-454c-9aea-30d78628cd73
Screen Reader	no
VM	0%

A/B Experiments

vsliv368:30146709
vspor879:30202332
vspor708:30202333
vspor363:30204092
vscod805:30301674
vsaa593cf:30376535
py29gd2263:31024238
c4g48928:30535728
a9j8j154:30646983
962ge761:30841072
pythongtdpath:30726887
welcomedialog:30812478
pythonidxpt:30768918
pythonnoceb:30776497
asynctok:30898717
dsvsc013:30777762
dsvsc014:30777825
dsvsc015:30821418
pythontestfixt:30866404
pythonregdiag2:30926734
pythonmypyd1:30859725
pythoncet0:30859736
2e7ec940:31000449
pythontbext0:30879054
accentitlementst:30870582
dsvsc016:30879898
dsvsc017:30880771
dsvsc018:30880772
cppperfnew:30980852
pythonait:30973460
jchc7451:31067543
showvideot:31016890
chatpanelt:31014475
0ee40948:31013168
a69g1124:31018687
dvdeprecation:31040973
pythonprt:31036556
dwnewjupyter:31046869
impr_priority:31057980
26j00206:31048877
nativerepl2:31063928

[karthiknadig]

1. Turn off auto activation. To do this, disable these two settings, ideally only for the project you are working on:
   
2. Exit VS Code.
3. Open Anaconda Prompt, navigate to your project.
4. Activate the environment that you want.
5. Run code . or code project.code-workspace to launch VS Code.

This will give you an activated environment, and the extension will not have to try and activate every time a terminal is created.

Also, look for the inherit env setting and see if toggling it helps.

[davidfokkema]

I disabled both settings and tried both variations of "inherit env". Whenever I run VS Code from an activated environment, only the base environment is activated in the integrated terminals. So, unfortunately, this did not work.

[davidfokkema]

BTW, this is certainly related to #22879 since before that, it worked just fine.

[davidfokkema]

I copy/pasted the output of the Python extension in VS Code in the case of running code from the base environment, and running code from a conda environment (testabc). I looked at the diff. Three observations when running from the testabc environment (which results in a broken terminal):

1. We get [info] VS Code was launched from an activated environment: 'testabc', selecting it as the interpreter for workspace., which is nice because you don't have to manually select the correct interpeter. Love this!
2. We don't get: [info] Prepending environment variable PATH in collection to /Users/david/.cargo/bin:/Users/david/perl5/bin:/opt/homebrew/Caskroom/miniconda/base/envs/testabc/bin:etc. etc. which is actually the only thing missing to correctly activate the environment.
3. We don't get: [info] Setting environment variable CONDA_DEFAULT_ENV in collection to testabc {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}, which sets the environment name in the prompt and shows that it is activated.

Ad 2.: Since the extension correctly figures out the environment, it should be no problem to add to the path. It looks like the extension when running 'clean' takes the PATH from conda info --json, replaces the string containing the location of the base environment with the location of the testabc environment (determined when manually selecting the interpreter) and prepends that to the PATH of the newly-created terminal. Nice. When starting from the environment, however, the PATH from conda info --json is already correct. However: VS Code creates a new env from a login shell which does not contain any conda initialisation so the correct PATH is nuked? The setting 'inherit env' didn't seem to do anything, also on macOS.

Another observation: VS Code claims: [debug] VS Code was not launched from the command line but I literally typed code . in a terminal.

[davidfokkema]

So, I guess the solution would be to execute steps 2 and 3 (see above) no matter when you're running from an activated environment or not. If I manually apply those two steps after creating a terminal, that terminal is fixed.