We’re excited to announce that the October 2025 release of the Python extensions for Visual Studio Code are now available!

This release includes the following announcements:

• Python Environments extension improvements
• Enhanced testing workflow with Copy Test ID in gutter menu
• Shell startup improvements for Python environment activation

If you’re interested, you can check the full list of improvements in our changelogs for the Python and Pylance extensions.

Python Environments Extension Improvements

The Python Environments extension received several fixes and updates to enhance your Python development experience in VS Code. Highlights include improved performance and reliability when working with conda environments – now lauching code directly without conda run, a smoother environment flow with Python versions now sorted in descending order for easier acces to the latest releases, fixes for crashes when running Python files that use input(), and improvements to false-positive environment configuration warnings.

The extension also now automatically refreshes environment managers when expanding tree nodes, keeping your environment list up to date without any extra steps.

We appreciate the community feedback that helped identify and prioritize these improvements. Please continue to share your thoughts, suggestions and bug reports on the Python Environments GitHub repository as we continue rolling out this extension.

Enhanced Testing Workflow with Copy Test ID

We’ve improved the testing experience by adding a “Copy Test ID” option to the gutter icon context menu for test functions. This feature allows you to quickly copy test identifiers in pytest format directly from the editor gutter, making it easier to run specific tests from the command line or share test references with teammates.

Improved Shell Startup for Python Environment Activation

We have made improvements to shell start up to reduce issues where terminals created by GitHub Copilot weren’t properly activating Python virtual environments. With the new shell startup approach, you’ll get a more reliable environment activation across terminal creation methods while reducing redundant permission prompts.

Additionally, virtual environment prompts such as (.venv) now appear correctly when PowerShell is activated through shell integration, and we have resolved issues with activation in WSL.

To benefit from these improvements, set your python-envs.terminal.autoActivationType to shellStartup in your VS Code settings.

Other Changes and Enhancements

We have also added small enhancements and fixed issues requested by users that should improve your experience working with Python and Jupyter Notebooks in Visual Studio Code. Some notable changes include:

• Enhanced contributor experience with new Copilot Chat instruction files that provide guidance for testing features and understanding VS Code components when contributing to the Python extension (#25473, #25477)
• Updated debugpy to version 1.8.16 (#795)

We would also like to extend special thanks to this month’s contributors:

• Morikko: Upgraded jedi-language-server to 0.45.1 (#25450)
• cnaples79: Fixed mypy diagnostics parsing from stderr in non-interactive mode (#375)
• renan-r-santos: Display activate button when a terminal is moved to the editor window (#764)
• lev-blit: Added py.typed to debugpy distributed package (#1960)

Try out these new improvements by downloading the Python extension and the Jupyter extension from the Marketplace, or install them directly from the extensions view in Visual Studio Code (Ctrl + Shift + X or ⌘ + ⇧ + X). You can learn more about Python support in Visual Studio Code in the documentation. If you run into any problems or have suggestions, please file an issue on the Python VS Code GitHub page.