posit-dev / posit-dev/positron

Positron still tries to discover Python interpreters despite setting that it should be disabled

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bug lang: python support
Dominant language
TypeScript
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Forks
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

System details:

Positron and OS details:

Positron Version: 2025.05.0 (system setup) build 103
Code - OSS Version: 1.99.0
Commit: 6ea5bf42fff8529b04a6b1b9e8b0c2a7d622d54c
Date: 2025-04-28T03:48:54.330Z
Electron: 34.3.2
Chromium: 132.0.6834.210
Node.js: 20.18.3
V8: 13.2.152.41-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26100

Interpreter details:

R 4.5.0

Describe the issue:

During startup, Positron still tries to find Python installations / interpreters (indicated in the lower right part of the status bar), although I have disabled this in the settings.

  "[python]": {
    "interpreters.startupBehavior": "disabled"
  },

Disabling the Python extension solves this issue, but as far as I understand, doing so is discouraged?

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing startup on Windows with Python interpreter discovery disabled via the [python] interpreters.startupBehavior setting, and compare the status bar behavior when the Python extension is disabled. Trace the startup discovery path and verify that the disabled setting prevents discovery while leaving the extension enabled.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python, typescript
Domain
desktop, developer-experience
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
50/100

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