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Code debugging starts before conda env activates #895

Closed as not planned
Closed as not planned
Code debugging starts before conda env activates#895
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eleanorjboyd
Labels
info-neededIssue requires more information from postertriage-neededNeeds assignment to the proper sub-team

Description

@Sunlight-zero
Sunlight Zero (Sunlight-zero)
opened on Jul 27, 2025

Type: Bug

Behaviour

When trying to debug a .py file in conda environment on Windows 11, the debugger runs the python file before conda activate <env>.

In detail, there are two conda activating commands that the Python extension will automatically run:

<conda env path>/Scripts/activate
conda activate <env name>

But when debugging a Python code, the debugger starts after <conda env path>/Scripts/activate but before conda activate <env name>, which may cause some incorrect environment settings, like a wrong PATH and cannot find dynamic link libraries.

Steps to reproduce:

  1. Ensure conda has been installed.
  2. Select a conda environment's python exe as the python interpreter for .py
  3. Debug a .py file.

Diagnostic data

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

PS D:\program\Python\auto-workflows> D:/program/Python/anaconda/envs/math_model/Scripts/activate
PS D:\program\Python\auto-workflows>  & 'd:\program\Python\anaconda\envs\workflow\python.exe' 'c:\Users\Sunlight\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.debugpy-2025.10.0-win32-x64\bundled\libs\debugpy\launcher' '8419' '--' 'd:\program\Python\auto-workflows\helloworld.py' 
Hello World
PS D:\program\Python\auto-workflows> conda activate workflow
(workflow) PS D:\program\Python\auto-workflows>

Extension version: 2025.11.2025072501
VS Code version: Code 1.102.2 (c306e94f98122556ca081f527b466015e1bc37b0, 2025-07-22T12:15:48.520Z)
OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26100
Modes:

System Info
Item Value
CPUs 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-12700H (20 x 2688)
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
vulkan: disabled_off
webgl: enabled
webgl2: enabled
webgpu: enabled
webnn: disabled_off
Load (avg) undefined
Memory (System) 15.63GB (3.50GB free)
Process Argv --crash-reporter-id 59651958-9740-4efc-af64-7724da49518f
Screen Reader no
VM 50%
A/B Experiments 
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convertfstringf:31295003
pylancequickfixt:31350061
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convertlamdat:31350063
usemarketplace:31343026
nesew2to5:31336538
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nes-diff-11:31337487
replacestringexc:31350595
nes-set-on:31351930
testaa123:31335226
6abeh943:31336334
yijiwantestdri0626-t:31336930
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Activity

  1. github-actions
    added
    triage-neededNeeds assignment to the proper sub-team
    on Jul 27, 2025

  2. yonatan-rozenek commented on Jul 28, 2025

    @yonatan-rozenek
    Yonatan Rozenek (yonatan-rozenek)
    on Jul 28, 2025

    I experience a similar issue on linux which causes the debugger to sometimes run before my .zshrc file. This file also contains my conda init logic and therefore causes similar issue.

  3. eleanorjboyd commented on Aug 4, 2025

    @eleanorjboyd
    Eleanor Boyd (eleanorjboyd)
    on Aug 4, 2025
    Member

    Hi! Can you check to see if the behavior changes if you disable the "Python Environments Extension?"?

  4. Eleanor Boyd (eleanorjboyd)
    self-assigned this
    on Aug 4, 2025
  5. Eleanor Boyd (eleanorjboyd)
    added
    info-neededIssue requires more information from poster
    on Aug 4, 2025

  6. yonatan-rozenek commented on Aug 5, 2025

    @yonatan-rozenek
    Yonatan Rozenek (yonatan-rozenek)
    on Aug 5, 2025

    TL;DR Disabling the Powerlevel10k Instant Prompt feature resolved the issue for me.

    In my case, the issue was caused by the Instant Prompt feature of Powerlevel10k. It seems that this feature caused my .zshrc to execute in a non-blocking way, allowing subsequent Zsh commands (such as debugging) to run before it finished. I also noticed that sometimes the conda environment attempted to activate before the .zshrc init code had fully run, which also led me to suspect that my .zshrc wasn’t blocking as expected.

  7. Sunlight-zero commented on Aug 5, 2025

    @Sunlight-zero
    Sunlight Zero (Sunlight-zero)
    on Aug 5, 2025
    Author

    Hi! Can you check to see if the behavior changes if you disable the "Python Environments Extension?"?

    No. After disabling Python Environments Extension, the problem still exists.

    PS D:\program\Python\auto-workflows> D:/program/Python/miniconda/Scripts/activate
PS D:\program\Python\auto-workflows>  & 'd:\program\Python\anaconda\envs\workflow\python.exe' 'c:\Users\Sunlight\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.debugpy-2025.10.0-win32-x64\bundled\libs\debugpy\launcher' '8663' '--' 'd:\program\Python\auto-workflows\helloworld.py' 
Hello World
PS D:\program\Python\auto-workflows> conda activate workflow
(workflow) PS D:\program\Python\auto-workflows>
  8. github-actions
    removed
    info-neededIssue requires more information from poster
    on Aug 5, 2025

  9. eleanorjboyd commented on Aug 13, 2025

    @eleanorjboyd
    Eleanor Boyd (eleanorjboyd)
    on Aug 13, 2025
    Member

    Sunlight Zero (@Sunlight-zero) are you using something similar to @yonaroz like Powerlevel10k Instant Prompt?

    cc Anthony Kim (@anthonykim1)

  10. github-actions
    added
    info-neededIssue requires more information from poster
    on Aug 13, 2025

  11. Sunlight-zero commented on Aug 15, 2025

    @Sunlight-zero
    Sunlight Zero (Sunlight-zero)
    on Aug 15, 2025
    Author

    Eleanor Boyd (@eleanorjboyd) I have disabled or uninstalled all other plugins and left Python and Python Debugger only, but the problem still exists.

    Image 
    PS D:\program\Python\auto-workflows> D:/program/Python/miniconda/Scripts/activate
PS D:\program\Python\auto-workflows>  & 'd:\program\Python\anaconda\envs\workflow\python.exe' 'c:\Users\Sunlight\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.debugpy-2025.10.0-win32-x64\bundled\libs\debugpy\launcher' '2612' '--' 'd:\program\Python\auto-workflows\helloworld.py' 
Hello World
PS D:\program\Python\auto-workflows> conda activate workflow
(workflow) PS D:\program\Python\auto-workflows>
  12. github-actions
    removed
    info-neededIssue requires more information from poster
    on Aug 15, 2025

  13. eleanorjboyd commented on Dec 12, 2025

    @eleanorjboyd
    Eleanor Boyd (eleanorjboyd)
    on Dec 12, 2025
    Member

    Hi! Are people still experiencing this issue?

  14. Eleanor Boyd (eleanorjboyd)
    added
    info-neededIssue requires more information from poster
    triage-neededNeeds assignment to the proper sub-team
    on Dec 12, 2025
  15. Eleanor Boyd (eleanorjboyd)
    transferred this issue frommicrosoft/vscode-pythonon Dec 12, 2025

  16. vs-code-engineering commented on Dec 20, 2025

    @vs-code-engineering
    vs-code-engineeringbot
    on Dec 20, 2025 – with VS Code Engineering

    This issue has been closed as it has been labeled with info-needed and has not received the additional information that was requested from the issue author. It has been labeled as info-needed for 7 days.

  17. vs-code-engineering
    closed this as not plannedon Dec 20, 2025
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