"Run python file in terminal" does not respect cwd configuration

[Mithrillion]

Type: Bug

Behaviour

When checking the "Use Environments Extension" option, "run Python file in terminal" will use conda run command to execute the file. However, it will always execute the file in workspace root and not the file directory even when "cwd": "${fileDirname}", option is configured in launch.json. This causes relative paths in scripts meant to be executed from file directory to be invalid.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Set "cwd": "${fileDirname}", in launch.json.
2. Check "Use Environments Extension" in Python settings.
3. In a python script, read a file using relative path starting from the file directory. e.g. np.load("data/test.npy")
4. Right click and choose "run Python file in terminal"

Diagnostic data

launch.json configuration

XXX

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

XXX

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

XXX

Extension version: 0.3.11971010
VS Code version: Code 1.102.1 (7adae6a56e34cb64d08899664b814cf620465925, 2025-07-15T16:41:17.147Z)
OS version: Linux x64 6.15.6-1-default
Modes:

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 16-Core Processor (32 x 4130)
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: disabled_software vulkan: disabled_off webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled webgpu: disabled_off webnn: disabled_off
Load (avg)	4, 3, 2
Memory (System)	62.69GB (49.16GB free)
Process Argv	--crash-reporter-id 3100afbf-018b-455d-96a1-4d73a707463e
Screen Reader	no
VM	0%
DESKTOP_SESSION	plasmawayland
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP	KDE
XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP	KDE
XDG_SESSION_TYPE	wayland

A/B Experiments

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pythonvspyt551cf:31249601
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dwcopilot:31170013
6074i472:31201624
dwoutputs:31242946
hdaa2157:31222309
copilot_t_ci:31333650
e5gg6876:31282496
pythoneinst12:31285622
c7cif404:31314491
pythonpulldiag:31343502
996jf627:31283433
pythonrdcb7:31342333
usemplatestapi:31297334
0aa6g176:31307128
747dc170:31275177
6518g693:31334701
aj953862:31281341
generatesymbolt:31295002
convertfstringf:31295003
pylancequickfixf:31329273
9d2cg352:31346308
usemarketplace:31343026
nesew2to5:31336538
agentclaude:31335815
nes-diff-11:31337487
2j0jg872-first:31348500
replacestringexc:31348966
6abeh943:31336334
yijiwantestdri0626-c:31336931
4gdec884:31348710

[eleanorjboyd]

thank you- I will investigate!

[eleanorjboyd]

Gave it a try myself and everything worked fine- could you take a look at this repo I made when trying reproduce the bug and see what looks different from yours

env-conda-cwd.zip

[Mithrillion]

When I tried the same script it showed the following error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/mnt/Nova/source_repos/by-issue-env/folder-with/script.py", line 2, in <module>
    with open("data/test.txt", "r") as file:
         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'data/test.txt'

When I run the file, the conda run command is executed in the project root e.g. ...source_repos/by-issue-env> conda run --live-stream.... If I manually cd into the file directory and rerun conda run, the script will execute correctly. When I execute conda run --cwd folder-with/ ... from project root it also works.

No error if useEnvironmentsExtension is toggled off. The option only takes effect after reloading the window.

[Mithrillion]

I double checked and toggled on the "execute in file dir" option for the workspace as well, but the issue seems to persist.

{
    "python-envs.defaultEnvManager": "ms-python.python:conda",
    "python-envs.defaultPackageManager": "ms-python.python:conda",
    "python-envs.pythonProjects": [],
    "python.terminal.activateEnvInCurrentTerminal": true,
    "python.useEnvironmentsExtension": true,
    "python.terminal.executeInFileDir": true
}

[eleanorjboyd]

Hi! Just to clarify you are running this though a launch.json and not from the run button in the top right hand corner of the file when you have your script file open right? Those are two separate flows and one (the run button in the file) works and the other (launch.json run) doesn't work for a known API issue I am trying to fix

[Mithrillion]

I am using right click -> Run Python -> Run Python File in Terminal. However it seems the behaviour has reverted to using conda activate first then executing the script now after an update. I do not know exactly when conda run is triggered, whether it is a reverted update or only used when certain settings are turned on...

Current version:
Version: 1.105.0
Commit: 03c265b1adee71ac88f833e065f7bb956b60550a
Date: 2025-10-08T14:09:35.891Z
Electron: 37.6.0
ElectronBuildId: 12502201
Chromium: 138.0.7204.251
Node.js: 22.19.0
V8: 13.8.258.32-electron.0
OS: Linux x64 6.17.0-1-default

[eleanorjboyd]

Hi- it should just do conda activate then will run via just calling the script like "python xyz.py". You can change the activation type setting to "shell startup" and that should avoid it always injecting the activate command