Python settings reference

The Python Extension for Visual Studio Code is highly configurable. This page describes the key settings you can work with.

For general information about working with settings in VS Code, refer to User and workspace settings, as well as the Variables reference for information about predefined variable support.

General settings

Setting Default Description
python.condaPath "conda" Path to the conda executable.
python.pythonPath "python" Path to the Python interpreter, or the path to a folder containing the Python interpreter. Can use variables like ${workspaceFolder} and ${workspaceFolder}/.venv. Using a path to a folder allows anyone working with a project to create an environment in the .venv folder as appropriate to their operating system, rather than having to specify an exact platform-dependent path. The settings.json file can then be included in a source code repository.
python.pipenvPath "pipenv" Path to the pipenv executable to use for activation.
python.disableInstallationCheck false If set to true, disables a warning from the extension if no Python interpreter is installed. On macOS, also disables a warning that appears if you're using the OS-installed Python interpreter. It's generally recommended to install a separate interpreter on macOS.
python.venvPath "" Path to a folder, where virtual environments are created. Depending on the virtualization tool used, it can be the project itself: ${workspaceFolder}, or separate folder for all virtual environments located side by side: .\envs, ~/.virtualenvs, and so on.
python.envFile "${workspaceFolder}/.env" Absolute path to a file containing environment variable definitions. See Configuring Python environments - environment variable definitions file.
python.globalModuleInstallation false Specifies whether to install packages for the current user only using the --user command-line argument (the default), or to install for all users in the global environment (when set to true). Ignored when using a virtual environment. For more information on the --userargument, see pip - User Installs.
python.poetryPath "poetry" Specifies the location of the Poetry dependency manager executable, if installed. The default value "poetry" assumes the executable is in the current path. The Python extension uses this setting to install packages when Poetry is available and there's a poetry.lock file in the workspace folder.
python.terminal.launchArgs [] Launch arguments that are given to the Python interpreter when you run a file using commands such as Python: Run Python File in Terminal. In the launchArgs list, each item is a top-level command-line element that's separated by a space (quoted values that contain spaces are a single top-level element and are thus one item in the list). For example, for the arguments --a --b --c {"value1" : 1, "value2" : 2}, the list items should be ["--a", "--b", "--c", "{\"value1\" : 1, \"value2\" : 2}\""]. Note that Visual Studio code ignores this setting when debugging because it instead uses arguments from your selected debugging configuration in launch.json.
python.terminal.executeInFileDir false Indicates whether to run a file in the file's directory instead of the current folder.
python.terminal.activateEnvironment true Indicates whether to automatically activate the environment you select using the Python: Select Interpreter command when a new terminal is created. For example, when this setting is true and you select a virtual environment, the extension automatically runs the environment's activate command when creating a new terminal (source env/bin/activate on macOS/Linux; env\scripts\activate on Windows).
python.terminal.activateEnvInCurrentTerminal false Specifies whether to activate the currently open terminal when the Python extension is activated, using the virtual environment selected.
python.insidersChannel off Specifies whether to participate in the Insiders program and the channel to use. Set to weekly or daily to automatically download and install the latest Insiders builds of the Python extension, which include upcoming features and bug fixes.

Workspace symbol (tags) settings

Workspace symbols are symbols in C source code generated by the ctags tool (described on Wikipedia and on ctags.sourceforge.net). To quote Wikipedia, ctags "generates an index (or tag) file of names found in source and header files of various programming languages." Where Python is concerned, ctags makes it easier to jump to defined functions and other symbols in C/C++ extension modules.

Setting
(python.workspaceSymbols.)		 Default Description
tagFilePath "${workspaceFolder}/.vscode/tags" Fully qualified path to tag file (an exuberant ctag file), used to provide workspace symbols.
enabled true Specifies whether to enable the Workspace Symbol provider.
rebuildOnStart true Specifies whether to rebuild the tags file on start.
rebuildOnFileSave true Specifies whether to rebuild the tags file on when saving a Python file.
ctagsPath "ctags" Fully qualified path to the ctags executable; default value assumes it's in the current environment.
exclusionPatterns ["**/site-packages/**"] Pattern used to exclude files and folders from ctags.

Code analysis settings

IntelliSense engine settings

Setting Default Description
python.jediEnabled true Indicates whether to use Jedi as the IntelliSense engine (true) or the Microsoft Python Language Server (false). Note that the language server requires a platform that supports .NET Core 2.1 or newer.
python.jediPath "" Path to folder containing the Jedi library (folder should contain a jedi subfolder).
python.jediMemoryLimit 0 Memory limit for the Jedi completion engine in megabytes. Zero (the default) means 1024 MB. -1 disables the memory limit check.
python.languageServer Microsoft Defines type of the language server (Microsoft, Jedi, None). At this time, only use this setting to disable IntelliSense by setting to None. To select the language server, use python.jediEnabled.

Python Language Server settings

The language server settings apply when python.jediEnabled is false. If you have any difficulties with the language server, see Troubleshooting in the language server repository.

Setting
(python.analysis.)		 Default Description
diagnosticPublishDelay 1000 The number of milliseconds to wait before transferring diagnostic messages to the problems list.
disabled
errors
warnings
information		 [] List of diagnostics messages to suppress or show as errors, warnings, or information. See below for applicable values. The classification of messages affects both what's shown in the Problems window and in the editor (such as the color of the underlining).
logLevel "Error" Defines the types of log messages that language server writes into the Problems window, one of "Error", "Warning", "Information", and "Trace". The "Warning" level implicitly includes "Error"; "Information" implicitly includes "Warning" and "Error"; "Trace" includes all messages.
openFilesOnly true When true, shows only errors and warnings for open files rather than for the entire workspace.
symbolsHierarchyDepthLimit 10 Limits the depth of the symbol tree in the document outline.
typeshedPaths [] Paths to look for typeshed modules on GitHub.

The disabled, errors, warnings, and information settings can contain the following values:

Value Default type Description or message text
inherit-non-class Warning Attempted to inherit something that is not a class.
too-many-function-arguments Warning Too many arguments have been provided to a function call.
too-many-positional-arguments-before-star Warning Too many arguments have been provided before a starred argument.
no-cls-argument Warning First parameter in a class method must be cls.
no-method-argument Warning Method has no arguments.
no-self-argument Warning First parameter in a method must be self.
parameter-already-specified Warning A argument with this name has already been specified.
parameter-missing Warning A required positional argument is missing.
positional-argument-after-keyword Warning A positional argument has been provided after a keyword argument.
positional-only-named Warning A positional-only argument (3.8+) has been named in a function call.
return-in-init Warning Encountered an explicit return in __init__ function.
typing-generic-arguments Warning An error occurred while constructing Generic.
typing-typevar-arguments Warning An error occurred while constructing TypeVar.
typing-newtype-arguments Warning An error occurred while constructing NewType.
unknown-parameter-name Warning The keyword argument name provided is unknown.
unresolved-import Warning An import cannot be resolved, and may be missing.
undefined-variable Warning A variable has been used that has not yet been defined.
variable-not-defined-globally Warning A variable is not defined in the global scope.
variable-not-defined-nonlocal Warning A variable is not defined in non-local scopes.

To suppress the "undefined-variable" messages, for example, use the setting "python.analysis.disabled": ["undefined-variable"]. To suppress those messages and "too-many-function-arguments" messages as well, use the setting "python.analysis.disabled": ["undefined-variable", "too-many-function-arguments"]. You can similarly set "python.analysis.errors", "python.analysis.warnings", and "python.analysis.information" to control the visibility and severity of the diagnostics.

AutoComplete settings

Setting
(python.autoComplete.)		 Default Description See also
addBrackets false Specifies whether VS Code automatically adds parentheses (()) when autocompleting a function name. Editing
extraPaths [] Specifies locations of additional packages for which to load autocomplete data. Editing

Formatting settings

Setting
(python.formatting.)		 Default Description See also
provider "autopep8" Specifies the formatter to use, either "autopep8", "black", or "yapf". Editing - Formatting
autopep8Path "autopep8" Path to autopep8 Editing - Formatting
autopep8Args [] Arguments for autopep8, where each top-level element that's separated by a space is a separate item in the list. Editing - Formatting
blackPath "black" Path to black Editing - Formatting
blackArgs [] Arguments for black, where each top-level element that's separated by a space is a separate item in the list. Editing - Formatting
yapfPath "yapf" Path to yapf Editing - Formatting
yapfArgs [] Arguments for yapf, where each top-level element that's separated by a space is a separate item in the list. Editing - Formatting

Refactoring - Sort Imports settings

Setting
(python.sortImports.)		 Default Description See also
path "" Path to isort script Editing - Refactoring - Sort Imports
args [] Arguments for isort, each argument as a separate item in the array. Editing - Refactoring - Sort Imports

Linting settings

General

Setting
(python.linting.)		 Default Description See also
enabled true Specifies whether to enable linting in general. Linting
lintOnSave true Specifies whether to line when saving a file. Linting
maxNumberOfProblems 100 Limits the number of linting messages shown. Linting
ignorePatterns [".vscode/*.py", "**/site-packages/**/*.py"] Exclude file and folder patterns. Linting

Pylint

Setting
(python.linting.)		 Default Description See also
pylintEnabled true Specifies whether to enable Pylint. Linting
pylintArgs [] Additional arguments for Pylint, where each top-level element that's separated by a space is a separate item in the list. Linting
python.linting.pylintUseMinimalCheckers true Specifies whether to use the default value for pylintArgs. Linting
pylintPath "pylint" The path to Pylint. Linting
pylintCategorySeverity.convention "Information" Mapping for Pylint convention message to VS Code type. Linting
pylintCategorySeverity.refactor "Hint" Mapping for Pylint refactor message to VS Code type. Linting
pylintCategorySeverity.warning "Warning" Mapping for Pylint warning message to VS Code type. Linting
pylintCategorySeverity.error "Error" Mapping for Pylint error message to VS Code type. Linting
pylintCategorySeverity.fatal "Error" Mapping for Pylint fatal message to VS Code type. Linting

Pep8/pycodestyle

Setting
(python.linting.)		 Default Description See also
pep8Enabled false Specifies whether to enable pep8. Linting
pep8Args [] Additional arguments for pep8, where each top-level element that's separated by a space is a separate item in the list. Linting
pep8Path "pep8" The path to pep8. Linting
pep8CategorySeverity.W "Warning" Mapping for pep8 W message to VS Code type. Linting
pep8CategorySeverity.E "Error" Mapping for pep8 E message to VS Code type. Linting

Flake8

Setting
(python.linting.)		 Default Description See also
flake8Enabled false Specifies whether to enable flake8. Linting
flake8Args [] Additional arguments for flake8, where each top-level element that's separated by a space is a separate item in the list. Linting
flake8Path "flake8" The path to flake8. Linting
flake8CategorySeverity.F "Error" Mapping for flake8 F message to VS Code type. Linting
flake8CategorySeverity.E "Error" Mapping for flake8 E message to VS Code type. Linting
flake8CategorySeverity.W "Warning" Mapping for flake8 W message to VS Code type. Linting

mypy

Setting
(python.linting.)		 Default Description See also
mypyEnabled false Specifies whether to enable mypy. Linting
mypyArgs ["--ignore-missing-imports", "--follow-imports=silent"] Additional arguments for mypy, where each top-level element that's separated by a space is a separate item in the list. Linting
mypyPath "mypy" The path to mypy. Linting
mypyCategorySeverity.error "Error" Mapping for mypy error message to VS Code type. Linting
mypyCategorySeverity.note "Information" Mapping for mypy note message to VS Code type. Linting

pydocstyle

Setting
(python.linting.)		 Default Description See also
pydocstyleEnabled false Specifies whether to enable pydocstyle. Linting
pydocstyleArgs [] Additional arguments for pydocstyle, where each top-level element that's separated by a space is a separate item in the list. Linting
pydocstylePath "pydocstyle" The path to pydocstyle. Linting

prospector

Setting
(python.linting.)		 Default Description See also
prospectorEnabled false Specifies whether to enable prospector. Linting
prospectorArgs [] Additional arguments for prospector, where each top-level element that's separated by a space is a separate item in the list. Linting
prospectorPath "prospector" The path to prospector. Linting

pylama

Setting
(python.linting.)		 Default Description See also
pylamaEnabled false Specifies whether to enable pylama. Linting
pylamaArgs [] Additional arguments for pylama, where each top-level element that's separated by a space is a separate item in the list. Linting
pylamaPath "pylama" The path to pylama. Linting

Testing settings

unittest framework

Setting
(python.testing.)		 Default Description See also
unittestEnabled false Specifies whether unittest is enabled for testing. Testing
unittestArgs ["-v", "-s", ".", "-p", "*test*.py"] Arguments to pass to unittest, where each top-level element that's separated by a space is a separate item in the list. Testing
cwd null Specifies an optional working directory for tests. Testing
promptToConfigure true Specifies whether VS Code prompts to configure a test framework if potential tests are discovered. Testing
debugPort 3000 Port number used for debugging of unittest tests. Testing
autoTestDiscoverOnSaveEnabled true Specifies whether to enable or disable auto run test discovery when saving a test file. Testing

pytest framework

Setting
(python.testing.)		 Default Description See also
pytestEnabled false Specifies whether pytest is enabled for testing. Testing
pytestPath "py.test" Path to pytest. Use a full path if pytest is located outside the current environment. Testing
pytestArgs [] Arguments to pass to pytest, where each top-level element that's separated by a space is a separate item in the list. When debugging tests with pytest-cov installed, include --no-cov in these arguments. Testing

Nose framework

Setting
(python.testing.)		 Default Description See also
nosetestsEnabled false Specifies whether Nose is enabled for testing. Testing
nosetestPath "nosetests" Path to Nose. Use a full path if pytest is located outside the current environment. Testing
nosetestArgs [] Arguments to pass to Nose, where each top-level element that's separated by a space is a separate item in the list. Testing

Predefined variables

The Python extension settings support predefined variables. Similar to the general VS Code settings, variables use the ${variableName} syntax. Specifically, the extension supports the following variables:

For additional information about predefined variables and example usages, see the the Variables reference in the general VS Code docs.

Next steps