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fix: hide Python activity bar icon in non-Python workspaces #1663

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fix: hide Python activity bar icon in non-Python workspaces #1663

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88f9c13
fix: hide Python activity bar icon in non-Python workspaces
mohityadav8 Jul 25, 2026
96e6814
Add generic environment-creation utilities (PEP 723 PR 5a/16) (#1651)
StellaHuang95 Jul 27, 2026
293f0ec
marketplace: remove preview status (#1660)
eleanorjboyd Jul 27, 2026
96e0494
chore: decouple API package version from extension version (#1670)
Copilot Jul 28, 2026
f922e06
Merge branch 'main' of https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-python-env…
mohityadav8 Aug 6, 2026
d72d5df
fix: restore trailing newline in package.json
mohityadav8 Aug 7, 2026
df4e496
Merge branch 'main' into fix/conditional-activity-bar-icon-v2
mohityadav8 Aug 17, 2026
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6 changes: 3 additions & 3 deletions package.json
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -668,7 +668,7 @@
"id": "python",
"title": "Python",
"icon": "files/logo.svg",
"when": "config.python.useEnvironmentsExtension != false"
"when": "config.python.useEnvironmentsExtension != false && python-envs.workspaceHasPython"
}
]
},
Expand All @@ -679,14 +679,14 @@
"name": "Python Projects",
"icon": "files/logo.svg",
"contextualTitle": "Python Projects",
"when": "config.python.useEnvironmentsExtension != false"
"when": "config.python.useEnvironmentsExtension != false && python-envs.workspaceHasPython"

@StellaHuang95 Stella Huang (StellaHuang95) Jul 30, 2026

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The PR hides the activity-bar icon unless this context key is true:

python-envs.workspaceHasPython

That key is not defined initially. It only gets set after the extension’s  activate()  function runs:

registerWorkspacePythonContext(context.subscriptions);

However,  package.json currently activates the extension only when VS Code opens a Python-language document:

"activationEvents": [ "onLanguage:python" ]

This creates a circular dependency:

  1. The extension must activate to detect Python files and set the context key.
  2. The activity-bar icon is hidden until that key is set.
  3. A hidden view cannot be opened to activate the extension.
  4. If no  .py  file is opened,  onLanguage:python never activates the extension.

Example

A user opens a repository containing:

my-project/
├── pyproject.toml
├── requirements.txt
└── README.md

The repository is clearly a Python project, but the user has not opened a  .py  file yet.

Expected: The Python activity-bar icon appears because pyproject.toml  identifies the workspace as Python.

Actual: The extension does not activate, so it never searches for  pyproject.toml . The context key remains unset, and the icon stays hidden.

@mohityadav8 Mohit Yadav (mohityadav8) Jul 30, 2026

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Good catch. Fix is to add workspaceContains activation events to package.json so the extension activates even before a .py file is opened:

"activationEvents": [
"onLanguage:python",
"workspaceContains:**/*.py",
"workspaceContains:pyproject.toml",
"workspaceContains:requirements.txt",
"workspaceContains:Pipfile",
"workspaceContains:setup.py",
"workspaceContains:mspythonconfig.json",
"workspaceContains:.venv",
"workspaceContains:.conda"
]

This breaks the circular dependency - extension activates when any marker file is present in the workspace, sets the context key, and the icon appears without needing a .py file open first.

},
{
"id": "env-managers",
"name": "Environment Managers",
"icon": "files/logo.svg",
"contextualTitle": "Environment Managers",
"when": "config.python.useEnvironmentsExtension != false"
"when": "config.python.useEnvironmentsExtension != false && python-envs.workspaceHasPython"
}
]
},
Expand Down
4 changes: 3 additions & 1 deletion src/extension.ts
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Expand Up @@ -93,7 +93,8 @@
import { PythonStatusBarImpl } from './features/views/pythonStatusBar';
import { updateViewsAndStatus } from './features/views/revealHandler';
import { TemporaryStateManager } from './features/views/temporaryStateManager';
import { PythonEnvTreeItem } from './features/views/treeViewItems';
import { ProjectItem, PythonEnvTreeItem } from './features/views/treeViewItems';

Check failure on line 96 in src/extension.ts

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'ProjectItem' is defined but never used. Allowed unused vars must match /^_/u

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'ProjectItem' is declared but its value is never read.

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GitHub Actions / TypeScript Unit Tests (ubuntu-latest) 

'ProjectItem' is declared but its value is never read.

@heejaechang Heejae Chang (heejaechang) Aug 20, 2026

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Warning · Non-blocking recommendation

ProjectItem is newly imported but is not used by this change. Remove the import to avoid an unused-local lint or compile failure.

import { registerWorkspacePythonContext } from './features/views/workspacePythonContext';
import { collectEnvironmentInfo, getEnvManagerAndPackageManagerConfigLevels, runPetInTerminalImpl } from './helpers';
import { EnvironmentManagers, ProjectCreators, PythonProjectManager } from './internal.api';
import { registerInlineScriptFeatures } from './managers/builtin/inlineScript/main';
Expand All @@ -113,6 +114,7 @@
import { registerPyenvFeatures } from './managers/pyenv/main';

export async function activate(context: ExtensionContext): Promise<PythonEnvironmentApi | undefined> {
registerWorkspacePythonContext(context.subscriptions);
// Only skip activation if user explicitly set useEnvironmentsExtension to false.

@heejaechang Heejae Chang (heejaechang) Aug 19, 2026

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Warning · Non-blocking recommendation

Registration occurs before the useEnvironmentsExtension === false activation exit, so the disabled feature still creates a watcher and initiates discovery. Move registration after the configuration guard; the contribution-level condition already keeps the UI hidden.

// When disabled, the main Python extension handles environments instead (legacy mode).
const config = getConfiguration('python');
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24 changes: 24 additions & 0 deletions src/features/views/workspacePythonContext.ts
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@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
import { Disposable } from 'vscode';
import { executeCommand } from '../../common/command.api';
import { createFileSystemWatcher, findFiles, onDidChangeWorkspaceFolders } from '../../common/workspace.apis';

export const PYTHON_WORKSPACE_KEY = 'python-envs.workspaceHasPython';

const MARKER_GLOB = '**/{*.py,pyproject.toml,setup.py,requirements.txt,Pipfile,manage.py,app.py,.venv,.conda,mspythonconfig.json}';
const EXCLUDE = '**/{node_modules,.git,site-packages}/**';

@heejaechang Heejae Chang (heejaechang) Aug 19, 2026

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Warning · Non-blocking recommendation

The classifier omits legitimate notebook-only and stub-only workspaces (*.ipynb, *.pyi), while .venv and .conda may be directories that findFiles does not return. Reuse a canonical project classifier if available, or expand and test the taxonomy with reliable environment markers such as pyvenv.cfg.


async function refresh(): Promise<void> {
const hits = await findFiles(MARKER_GLOB, EXCLUDE, 1);

@StellaHuang95 Stella Huang (StellaHuang95) Jul 30, 2026

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Is this only searching inside open workspaces folders. What if user opens a standalone Python file without opening the folder?

@mohityadav8 Mohit Yadav (mohityadav8) Jul 30, 2026

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findFiles only searches workspace folders, so standalone file case is missed. Will add a fallback check on open text documents:

async function refresh(): Promise<void> {
    const hits = await findFiles(MARKER_GLOB, EXCLUDE, 1);
    if (hits.length > 0) {
        await executeCommand('setContext', PYTHON_WORKSPACE_KEY, true);
        return;
    }
    const hasPythonDoc = workspace.textDocuments.some(
        (doc) => doc.languageId === 'python',
    );
    await executeCommand('setContext', PYTHON_WORKSPACE_KEY, hasPythonDoc);
}

And subscribe to onDidOpenTextDocument in registerWorkspacePythonContext.

await executeCommand('setContext', PYTHON_WORKSPACE_KEY, hits.length > 0);
}

export function registerWorkspacePythonContext(disposables: Disposable[]): void {
const watcher = createFileSystemWatcher(MARKER_GLOB, false, true, false);
disposables.push(

@StellaHuang95 Stella Huang (StellaHuang95) Jul 30, 2026

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Is EXCLUDE only passed to findFiles() but not the createFileSystemWatchter? Does that mean the watcher still listens for every .py  file created or deleted under site-packages? I am a bit worried about the perf here.

@mohityadav8 Mohit Yadav (mohityadav8) Jul 30, 2026

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Correct-- createFileSystemWatcher has no exclude parameter in the VS Code API, so it fires for site-packages too. Fix is to filter in the event handlers:

const EXCLUDE_RE = /[\\/](node_modules|\.git|site-packages)[\\/]/;

watcher.onDidCreate((uri) => { if (!EXCLUDE_RE.test(uri.fsPath)) void refresh(); }),
watcher.onDidDelete((uri) => { if (!EXCLUDE_RE.test(uri.fsPath)) void refresh(); }),

This avoids unnecessary refresh() calls from excluded directories.

watcher,
watcher.onDidCreate(() => void refresh()),
watcher.onDidDelete(() => void refresh()),
onDidChangeWorkspaceFolders(() => void refresh()),
);
void refresh();

@heejaechang Heejae Chang (heejaechang) Aug 19, 2026

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Warning · Non-blocking recommendation

Independent refreshes can overlap, allowing an older findFiles result to overwrite newer workspace state. Serialize or invalidate superseded scans, and add coverage for searches resolving in reverse order.

@heejaechang Heejae Chang (heejaechang) Aug 19, 2026

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Warning · Non-blocking recommendation

Each refresh() promise is discarded, so failures from findFiles or setContext can become unhandled rejections. Route these calls through the extension's established async error-reporting or logging pattern.

@heejaechang Heejae Chang (heejaechang) Aug 19, 2026

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Warning · Non-blocking recommendation

This persistent UI policy has no regression coverage. Add focused tests for initial discovery, marker creation and last-marker deletion, exclusions, workspace-folder changes, directory markers, and overlapping refreshes.

@heejaechang Heejae Chang (heejaechang) Aug 20, 2026

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Warning · Non-blocking recommendation

Could concurrent fire-and-forget refreshes complete out of order and let an older scan overwrite newer workspace state? Serialize refreshes or use a generation token, and cover reverse-order findFiles resolution in a test.

}

@heejaechang Heejae Chang (heejaechang) Aug 20, 2026

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Issue · Please address or respond

This adds asynchronous initial discovery and event-driven context transitions without regression tests. Add coverage for initial state, marker creation, deletion of the final marker, workspace-folder changes, directory markers, and overlapping refreshes.

[verified]

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