Allow for using the "old" source way of activating virtual environments #22289

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1. Brett Cannon (brettcannon)

   added

   feature-requestRequest for new features or functionalityRequest for new features or functionality

   on Oct 23, 2023
2. github-actions

   added

   triage-neededNeeds assignment to the proper sub-teamNeeds assignment to the proper sub-team

   on Oct 23, 2023
3. Brett Cannon (brettcannon)

   added

   area-environmentsFeatures relating to handling interpreter environmentsFeatures relating to handling interpreter environments

   needs community feedbackAwaiting community feedbackAwaiting community feedback

   community askFeature request that the community expressed interest inFeature request that the community expressed interest in

   and removed

   triage-neededNeeds assignment to the proper sub-teamNeeds assignment to the proper sub-team

   on Oct 23, 2023
4. github-actions commented on Oct 23, 2023

   

   github-actionsbot

   on Oct 23, 2023

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   Thanks for the feature request! We are going to give the community 60 days from when this issue was created to provide 7 👍 upvotes on the opening comment to gauge general interest in this idea. If there's enough upvotes then we will consider this feature request in our future planning. If there's unfortunately not enough upvotes then we will close this issue.
5. Brett Cannon (brettcannon)

   added

   needs proposalNeed to make some design decisionsNeed to make some design decisions

   and removed

   needs community feedbackAwaiting community feedbackAwaiting community feedback

   on Jan 11, 2024
6. brettcannon commented on Jan 11, 2024

   

   Brett Cannon (brettcannon)

   on Jan 11, 2024

   MemberAuthor

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   Thank you to everyone who upvoted this issue! Since the community showed interest in this feature request we will leave this issue open as something to consider implementing at some point in the future.

   We do encourage people to continue 👍 the first/opening comment as it helps us prioritize our work based on what the community seems to want the most.
7. EeyoreLee commented on Jan 30, 2024

   

   EeyoreLee (EeyoreLee)

   on Jan 30, 2024

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   Brett Cannon (@brettcannon) - hi, does it mean the terminal will auto-activated with correct conda env without the setting conda config --set auto_activate_base False. Like auto run a command conda activate xxx when the terminal is first initialized.
8. brettcannon commented on Jan 30, 2024

   

   Brett Cannon (brettcannon)

   on Jan 30, 2024

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   Like auto run a command conda activate xxx when the terminal is first initialized.

   This feature request would bring back the old way of activating environments as an option. If you're asking about the current way via environment variables, then please open a Discussion.
9. MicaelJarniac commented on May 7, 2024

   

   Micael Jarniac (MicaelJarniac)

   on May 7, 2024

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   I need this! I've been using Zsh for Humans, and something about it just doesn't work at all with the new activation method. I think it's related to it running inside a headless tmux session, or something like that.

   The old way worked perfectly for me.

   Here's what's happening to me with this new method:

   Boring stuff

   ❯ which python
   /home/micael/.pyenv/shims/python
   ❯ which mypy
   /home/micael/projects/playground/.venv/bin/mypy
   ❯ echo $VIRTUAL_ENV
   
   ❯ echo $PATH
   /home/micael/.pyenv/shims:/home/micael/bin:/home/micael/.vscode/extensions/ms-python.python-2024.7.11281013/python_files/deactivate/zsh:/home/micael/projects/playground/.venv/bin:/home/micael/.pyenv/bin:/home/micael/.local/bin:/home/micael/.cargo/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin:/home/micael/.cache/zsh4humans/v5/fzf/bin
   ❯ . .venv/bin/activate
   ❯ which python
   /home/micael/projects/playground/.venv/bin/python
   ❯ which mypy
   /home/micael/projects/playground/.venv/bin/mypy
   ❯ echo $VIRTUAL_ENV
   /home/micael/projects/playground/.venv
   ❯ echo $PATH
   /home/micael/projects/playground/.venv/bin:/home/micael/.pyenv/shims:/home/micael/bin:/home/micael/.vscode/extensions/ms-python.python-2024.7.11281013/python_files/deactivate/zsh:/home/micael/projects/playground/.venv/bin:/home/micael/.pyenv/bin:/home/micael/.local/bin:/home/micael/.cargo/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin:/home/micael/.cache/zsh4humans/v5/fzf/bin

   Notice how which python and echo $VIRTUAL_ENV change after manually activating the venv. I also don't get the venv indicator on my prompt without activating manually.

   👍React with 👍2Reacted by ldepaulatrac and Fioravante
10. TheFlux7 commented on May 29, 2024

    

    TheFlux7

    on May 29, 2024

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    #11039 is still labelled as "experiment"

    So as a workaround, you can use the old source way of activating virtual environments by adding one of these options in your settings.json (from specific to general):

    • "python.experiments.optOutFrom": ["pythonTerminalEnvVarActivation"]: it will disable this specific experiment
    • "python.experiments.enabled": false: it will disable all python experiments
    • "telemetry.telemetryLevel": "off": it will opt you out of A/B testing from VS Code and all other Microsoft extensions
11. eleanorjboyd commented on Dec 8, 2025

    

    Eleanor Boyd (eleanorjboyd)

    on Dec 8, 2025

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    Hi there! 👋
    Please see this document for all the ways to configure activation here
12. Eleanor Boyd (eleanorjboyd)

    closed this as completedon Dec 8, 2025
13. github-actions

    removed

    needs proposalNeed to make some design decisionsNeed to make some design decisions

    on Dec 8, 2025