Visual Studio Code is a popular editor that can be extended to support most programming languages through extensions.Python Extension The Python extension provides first-class Pixi environment support.
Install the Python Extension
Automatic Detection
The extension automatically detects and selects the Pixi default environment when you open a Python file.
Manual Selection (if needed)
If the environment isn’t detected, open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P) and run: Python: Select Interpreter
Choose your Pixi environment from the list. Features Available
IntelliSense and code completion
Debugging support
Test discovery and execution
Linting and formatting
Jupyter notebook support
Direnv Extension Direnv provides language-agnostic environment activation for VS Code.
Configure Direnv
Create a .envrc file in your workspace root to enable automatic environment activation.
Activate Environment
VS Code will automatically load environment variables when you open the workspace.
This works for any language supported by Pixi, not just Python.
Devcontainer Extension Devcontainers provide consistent development environments and work seamlessly with GitHub Codespaces .Basic Setup
Create .devcontainer Directory
Create Dockerfile
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/base:jammy ARG PIXI_VERSION=v0.65.0 RUN curl -L -o /usr/local/bin/pixi -fsSL --compressed \ "https://github.com/prefix-dev/pixi/releases/download/${PIXI_VERSION}/pixi-$(uname -m)-unknown-linux-musl" \ && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/pixi \ && pixi info # Set user and workdir for VS Code compatibility USER vscode WORKDIR /home/vscode RUN echo 'eval "$(pixi completion -s bash)"' >> /home/vscode/.bashrc
Create devcontainer.json
.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
{ "name" : "my-workspace" , "build" : { "dockerfile" : "Dockerfile" , "context" : ".." }, "customizations" : { "vscode" : { "settings" : {}, "extensions" : [ "ms-python.python" , "charliermarsh.ruff" , "GitHub.copilot" ] } }, "features" : { "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/docker-in-docker:2" : {} }, "mounts" : [ "source=${localWorkspaceFolderBasename}-pixi,target=${containerWorkspaceFolder}/.pixi,type=volume" ], "postCreateCommand" : "sudo chown vscode .pixi && pixi install" }
Open in Devcontainer
Click the green icon in the bottom-left corner
Select “Reopen in Container”
VS Code will build and start the container
The .pixi directory is mounted as a volume to avoid case-sensitivity issues on macOS and Windows. Some conda packages contain files that differ only in case.
Why Use a Volume for .pixi? Default filesystem mounts on macOS and Windows are case-insensitive, but some conda packages (like ncurses ) contain files that differ only in case. Mounting .pixi as a volume solves this issue.
Adding Secrets For private conda channels, add authentication secrets:
.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
{ "build" : { "dockerfile" : "Dockerfile" , "context" : ".." , "options" : [ "--secret" , "id=prefix_dev_token,env=PREFIX_DEV_TOKEN" ] } // ... }
# ... RUN --mount=type=secret,id=prefix_dev_token,uid=1000 \ test -s /run/secrets/prefix_dev_token \ && pixi auth login --token "$(cat /run/secrets/prefix_dev_token)" https://repo.prefix.dev
Secrets must be:
Tasks Integration Run Pixi tasks directly from VS Code:
tasks.json Configuration { "version" : "2.0.0" , "tasks" : [ { "label" : "Pixi: Run Tests" , "type" : "shell" , "command" : "pixi run test" , "group" : { "kind" : "test" , "isDefault" : true }, "problemMatcher" : [] }, { "label" : "Pixi: Start Dev Server" , "type" : "shell" , "command" : "pixi run dev" , "isBackground" : true , "problemMatcher" : [] }, { "label" : "Pixi: Lint" , "type" : "shell" , "command" : "pixi run lint" , "group" : "build" , "problemMatcher" : [] } ] }
Running Tasks
Open Command Palette: Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P
Run: Tasks: Run Task
Select your Pixi task
Launch Configuration Debug applications in Pixi environments:
{ "version" : "0.2.0" , "configurations" : [ { "name" : "Pixi: Debug Python" , "type" : "python" , "request" : "launch" , "program" : "${file}" , "console" : "integratedTerminal" , "justMyCode" : true }, { "name" : "Pixi: Debug Tests" , "type" : "python" , "request" : "launch" , "module" : "pytest" , "args" : [ "${file}" ], "console" : "integratedTerminal" , "justMyCode" : false } ] }
Workspace Settings Optimize VS Code for Pixi workspaces:
{ "python.defaultInterpreterPath" : "${workspaceFolder}/.pixi/envs/default/bin/python" , "python.terminal.activateEnvironment" : false , "files.watcherExclude" : { "**/.pixi/**" : true }, "search.exclude" : { "**/.pixi/**" : true }, "files.exclude" : { "**/.pixi/**" : false } }
This configuration:
Sets the default Python interpreter
Prevents auto-activation (Pixi handles this)
Excludes .pixi from file watching for performance
Excludes .pixi from search results
Keeps .pixi visible in the file explorer
Multi-Environment Projects For projects with multiple Pixi environments:
{ "python.envFile" : "${workspaceFolder}/.env" , "python.terminal.activateEnvInCurrentTerminal" : true }
Create environment-specific .env files:
Tips and Tricks
Auto-activate Terminal Pixi automatically activates environments in VS Code’s integrated terminal.
Extension Sync Use Settings Sync to share extensions and settings across machines.
Remote Development Use Remote-SSH extension to develop on remote machines with Pixi installed.
Multiple Workspaces Use VS Code workspaces to manage multiple Pixi projects simultaneously.
Troubleshooting Environment Not Detected
Reload the window: Developer: Reload Window
Manually select interpreter via Command Palette
Check that .pixi/envs/default exists
Add .pixi to watcher exclusions in settings (see Workspace Settings above).
Devcontainer Build Fails Check Docker logs:
docker logs < container-i d >
Ensure secrets are properly configured for private channels.
Additional Resources 