Configuring the PATH variable in VS Code - python

I am using Microsoft Visual Studio Code 1.30.2 on macOS Mojave 10.14.3. In the settings of VS Code, I have required it to use the external Terminal.app application on macOS. I also have an Anaconda distribution of Python installed.
Note that the PATH variable here reads:
~ » $PATH
bash: /usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/Library/TeX/texbin:/anaconda3/bin:/anaconda3/condabin: No such file or directory
The order above is different from what I get if I fire up the regular Terminal app and get the PATH.
~ » $PATH
-bash: /anaconda3/bin:/anaconda3/condabin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/Library/TeX/texbin: No such file or directory
What this effectively does is switch the versions of Python when I type in python in the two cases. In the regular terminal, I get Python 3 right away, whereas in VS Code, I am faced with Python 2.
How do I change the PATH in VS Code so that whenever I type the words python, I am always given Python 3 instead of 2?
P.S. Please note that while editing Python code in VS Code, I can always select which interpreter I want to use, but that does not change the situation with the terminal underneath.

I had the same problem, and I have a workaround solution.
I just add one line
export PATH="/Users/username/anaconda3/bin:$PATH" into .bash_profile or .zshrc
The orifinal $PATH in vscode is
/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/Users/username/anaconda3/bin:/Users/username/anaconda3/condabin
And then my $PATH in vscode become /Users/username/anaconda3/envs/py36/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/Users/username/anaconda3/bin:/Users/username/anaconda3/condabin
Please give it a try. I wish the workaround might help. Thanks :)

It sounds like your Workspace setting python.pythonPath is set explicitly to the /usr/bin. Set that to match your preferred $PATH and you should be good to go.
Go to Preferences in VS Code, search for python.pythonPath, switch to Workspace, and set as desired.

Related

Unable to change Python 2.7 to Python 3.8 on Sublime and VS code

I have been trying to change my python interpreter on sublime text and VS code and no matter what I do, both of them refuse to change. It always picks the default Python 2.7 version.
On sublime, I tried to create a new build tool, added the path to Python3 but nothing is working.
And on, VS code, even if I select Python3 from the drop-down menu, it doesn't change anything.
I changed the system's default python interpreter from 2.7 to 3.9 and set the path on bash profile. It fixed the issue for me.
I don't know about Sublime, but for VS Code, there looks to be quite a few things to verify:
Check your User Settings on whether you've set up a default interpreter for your applications
Are you using Window 10 WSL? Then you might want to check out issue 3227 for vscode-remote-release where the comment was:
So I was having this same exact issue until I read this article on a wsl tutorial. In there it says we should have "Remote - WSL" extension installed (already did). In the bottom left corner "Remote - WSL" installs a status button that has the "greater than" and "less than" symbols displayed. If you click that button and tell VSCode to open up in the remote WSL distro environment it fixed my issue where vscode was unable to find an interpreter for python.
For Sublime, you need to hit ⌘B with your script pane focused in order to use your new python3.sublime-build build system.
It looks like you are running your script within Terminus, which is fine, but you need to use the python3 command when running it from the command line, even if that command line is within Sublime.
Please check out my answer here on how to make a Python build system that accepts user input, as the Sublime "console" doesn't allow you to interact with your program. Since you already have Terminus installed, I'd recommend going down to the bottom of the answer and using the Terminus build system. That way, you won't have to deal with Terminal windows opening every time you run a build.
The terminal window uses your PATH, not the IDE settings, so manually typing out python --version isn't testing anything except the PATH variable
In order for the terminal to use the "correct" python binary you've specified, it would need to give the absolute path to it, which I believe using Command+B (using the build options) in Sublime would do. Similarly, you can use the Run/Debug Configurations in VSCode.
Or you can modify your ~/.zshrc to fix your PATH, for example installing pyenv to change the entire system Python version, or the one for the current folder

Django manage.py [duplicate]

Today when I tried to run simple code on Sublime Text 3, the following message appeared:
Python was not found but can be installed from the Microsoft Store: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?linkID=2082640
And when I type Python in CMD, it opens the Windows Store for me to download Python 3.7. This problem started today for no good reason. I didn't change or download anything about Python and already tried reinstalling Python, and the Path environment variable is correct.
Use the Windows search bar to find "Manage app execution aliases". There should be two aliases for Python. Unselect them, and this will allow the usual Python aliases "python" and "python3". See the image below.
I think we have this problem when installing Python because in a new Windows installation the aliases are in the ON position as in image below. When turned on, Windows puts an empty or fake file named python.exe and python3.exe in the directory named %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps. This is the alias.
Then Microsoft put that directory at the top of the list in the "Path" environment variables.
When you enter "python" in cmd, it searches the directories listed in your "Path" environment variables page from top to bottom. So if you installed Python after a new Windows 10 install then get redirected to the Windows Store, it's because there are two python.exe's: The alias in the App Execution Alias page, and the real one wherever you installed Python. But cmd finds the App execution, alias python.exe, first because that directory is at the top of the Path.
I think the easiest solution is to just check the python.exe and python3.exe to OFF as I suggested before, which deletes the fake EXE file files. Based on this Microsoft Devblog, they stated they created this system partially for new Python users, specifically kids learning Python in school that had trouble installing it.
Creating this alias was to help kids just starting Python to install it and focus on learning to code. I think Windows probably deletes those aliases if you install Python from the Windows App Store. We are noticing that they do not get deleted if you manually install from another source.
(Also, the empty/fake python.exe is not really empty. It says 0 KB in the screenshot, but entering "start ms-windows-store:" in cmd opens the Windows App Store, so it probably just has a line with that and a way to direct it to the Python page.)
Finally, as Chipjust suggested, you can create a new alias for Python using something like DOSKEY as explained in this article for example:
How to set aliases for the command prompt in Windows
The main problem here is that the order in the path calls the windows from top to bottom, and that there is python.exe in %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps which is called first if there are no other python.exes in the PATH above that line.
To ensure that the correct python.exe is called, add the Python interpreter installation folder (containing python.exe) to the PATH, above %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps
Here is an example:
To get to this location, click "Start" → start typing "Env" → Select "Edit the system environment variables" → "Environment variables" button → Select the entry for "Path" in the upper list → Click "Edit".
Python components should be at the top, as in step 5. If not, move them up by pressing the button in step 6.
If the Python interpreter is already installed, then go to Apps & features from settings, select Python, and then select modify.
Again select modify and select Next:
Then this window will appear:
Select "add Python to environment variable" and click on the install button. Then again go to apps & features, click modify and click Repair.
Now go to CMD and type Python.
Problem solved.
This is a PowerShell script that does the magic.
Remove-Item $env:USERPROFILE\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\python*.exe
I had problems with this as well, where Windows didn't recognize Python or Anaconda in a double click or cmd (command) prompt.
Problem: unable to import libraries in "python" cmd in Windows. Instead the Windows "python" cmd took users somewhere they don't want to go.
Problem Cause: In Windows "Environmental Variables", Windows adds a python.exe and python3.exe (I don't know where these link to) in the "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps" directory.
Solution: I tried deleting the python*.exe files in the WindowsApp directory, but Windows wouldn't allow it, so I opened a command prompt in the "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps" directory and typed:
del python.exe
del python3.exe
Then I created an environment variable linking to the installed Python interpreter link. In my case, it was C:\Anaconda3; C:\Anaconda3\Scripts, and some others for good measure.
Because this is a common issue and this appears to be the canonical question, I want to try to give a complete overview of The Python 3.7 Windows Store Fiasco (TM).
Why is it possible for this to happen?
A convergence of two things: the previous introduction of the Python Launcher for Windows in 2011 (hereafter py), and a Windows 10 update in May 2019 that was apparently intended to make installing Python easier for Windows users.
Oops. Turns out that installation path isn't great; it bypasses the "lengthy" setup wizard... which contains some options that some users find very useful. It caused other issues, too. Not to mention that it just works in slightly non-standard ways, has limitations on file system access because it's a Store app, initially couldn't itself be launched by py....
Okay, but why do those factors result in the problem?
Since the introduction of py, by default, Windows Python installers do not add the new Python install to the PATH. Why? Because the entire point of py is that it uses its own logic to find a Python installation, based on some combination of command-line switches and possibly the source file's own shebang line. Now your source files can be associated with py instead of any particular python.exe, and you can get Linux-like behaviour when double-clicking a file. Meanwhile, by running py at the command line, you have easy access to whatever you need, and you don't have to think about which version of Python was installed most recently. So there's seemingly no good reason to put any of those Python installations on the PATH. It only risks confusing you when, for example, the most recently installed version isn't the most up-to-date one. Right?
In the update, Windows 10 put a "python.exe" into a Windows Apps-related folder, which is a wrapper app to open a Microsoft Store link. The idea is that it's on the PATH, but way near the end; so if you have an installed Python, it gets used, and otherwise the wrapper is invoked and helpfully prompts you to install Python - so that you can actually run that random, totally trusted .py file your friend sent you on Discord.
And it would work perfectly, if your installed Python were on the PATH.
Oops.
(But, you know, py had been introduced around 8 years prior. You'd think someone at Microsoft would have been aware of the potential issue. Maybe instead of a special shortcut link, they could have made an actual script that checks for the presence of C:\Windows\py.exe or something.)
So what are my options?
You can check the option to add new Python versions to the PATH when you install them, and deal with the fact that python at the command line means a specific one of them. If you need to change that, you can manually tweak your PATH variable.
You can just manually tweak the PATH variable after the fact. (or "Modify" a Python installation to fix it.) This is covered in several other answers.
Independently of that, you can disable the wrappers, as shown in the top answer. You should probably do this anyway; seeing python fail at the command line is less aggravating than dealing with a random GUI window popping up and offering to install something for you, especially when you know you have it already.
If you want to keep the PATH empty, consider using virtual environments for your projects. Whenever a virtual environment is active, the PATH is temporarily modified such that python means the Python installation of that environment. It's quite convenient, really.
You might be able to tell your IDEs to use py instead of a specific Python installation, and it might even be helpful to do so. I don't know. I don't use one.
As a person who does Python development in Sublime Text, I know you said the Python interpreter path was correct, but when you install the Python interpreter make sure to tick the option to add Python to PATH.
I had the same issue back in the day till I did this.
You can manually add Python to the Windows path by doing this:
Start the Run box and enter sysdm.cpl
Go to the Advanced tab and click the Environment Variables button
Now you’ll need to locate the relevant Python paths
Here is how a Python application path looks like:
And this is how a Python Scripts path looks like:
Select the Path variable, press edit and add both paths (Python application and Python Scripts)
If it doesn't show, press new instead of edit and fill the New User Variable box
This is how my Variable value looks like:
C:\Users\Ron\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37-32;C:\Users\Ron\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37-32\Scripts
That’s it! You just added Python to the Windows Path.
Source: Data To Fish
So, I had the same problem.
My answer was to add python to PATH not only for User variables, it was there, but also for System variables. And now everything works.
So, I've got the same problem in VENV.
I solved it by typing >> python**.exe**
But to add every time .exe a little bit nervous.
Also try to type python.exe in cmd.
This is an additional note for anyone using pyenv-win: after turning off the application execution aliases, run pyenv rehash. You may also need to close/reopen your CMD or PowerShell window.
I have put together a powershell snippet, which reorders WindowsApps and Python folder so that Python is first. Run this as Admin:
$appsFld="$env:USERPROFILE\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps";
$pyPath=(Resolve-Path "$env:USERPROFILE\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python*\")
$Env:Path = (($Env:Path.Split(';') | Where-Object { $_ -ne "$appsFld" }) -join ';');
$Env:Path = (($Env:Path.Split(';') | Where-Object { $_ -ne "$pyPath" }) -join ';');
$Env:Path += ";$pyPath";
$Env:Path +=";$appsFld";
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("PATH", "$Env:Path", "Machine")
Then I can run python just fine:
> python
Python 3.10.7 (tags/v3.10.7:6cc6b13, Sep 5 2022, 14:08:36) [MSC v.1933 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> quit
Adding a bit to the question. Even when I typed pip freeze, it wasn't showing anything.
Here's what I did:
There were multiple instances for the Python application in /AppData/Local/Microsoft/WindowApps.
I deleted those and then it worked.

Trouble with Flake8 and atom

I am trying to use Linter with atom, on some python files and I keep getting this error.
Console Error Output. I am not sure what to do here, Python is on the PATH and so is flake8.
Can anyone provide clarification here?
Also I am using Python 3.7.0
Let speak a bit about your environment. Unfortunately, I can't suggest what exactly you need to do as you provided very little information. Nevertheless, your question contains enough information for a generic answer.
The flake8 tool could be in your PATH in terminal (whatever you use), but not in PATH of the Atom editor. You could achieve your goal by one of the following actions or a combination of them.
Modifying global PATH, like user PATH in Windows Environment variables, or /etc/paths in macOS (I have no information if ~/.profile would work)
Trying to run tool directly by full path (for example, /opt/local/Library/… or C:\Python37\…)
Use script-wrapper, which will set required variables and enables Virtual Environment if needed.

python not recognized in Windows CMD even after adding to PATH

I'm trying to -learn to write and- run Python scripts on my Windows 7 64 bit machine. I installed Python in C:/Python34, and I added this to my Windows' PATH variable :
C:\Python34; C:\Python34\python.exe
(the second one is probably meaningless but I tried) and still I get this error in Windows command line :
C:\Users\me>python test.py
'python' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
So how do I truly install Python on my Windows x64 machine ?
This might be trivial, but have you tried closing your command line window and opening a new one? This is supposed to reload all the environment variables.
Try typing
echo %PATH%
into the command prompt and see if you can find your Python directory there.
Also, the second part of your addition to the PATH environment variable is indeed unnecessary.
I had the same problem: python not being recognized, with python in the path which was was not truncated.
Following the comment of eryksun in yossim's answer:
Also, if you installed for all users you should have %SystemRoot%\py.exe, which >is typically C:\Windows\py.exe. So without setting Python's directory in PATH >you can simply run py to start Python; if 2.x is installed use py -3 since >Python 2 is the default. – eryksun
I tried to use py instead of python and it worked.
Meaning:
python setup.py build -> does NOT work.
py setup.py build -> does work.
Hope it helps
I was also having the same problem.
Turns out the path I added included '..\python.exe' at the end, which as turns out was not required. I only needed to add the directory in which 'python.exe' is in (which in my case is the Anaconda's distribution directory in Users folder), similar to what we do when installing JDK in our system's PATH variable.
Hope it helps!
It wasn't working for me even after adding the path. What finally did the trick, was changing the order of listed paths in the PATH variable. I moved %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps down vs. having it the first path listed there.
Environment PATH Length Limitation is 1024 characters
If restarting your cmd window does not work you might have reached the character limit for PATH, which is a surprisingly short 1024 characters.
Note that the user interface will happily allows you to define a PATH that is way longer than 1024, and will just truncate anything longer than this. Use
echo %PATH%
in your cmd window to see if the PATH being truncated.
Solution
Unfortunately, there is no good way to fix this besides removing something else from your PATH.
NOTE: Your PATH = SYSTEM_PATH + USER_PATH, so you need to make sure the combined is < 1024.
I did everything:
Added Python to PATH
Uninstall all the Pythons - Both from downloaded python.org and Microsoft Store and reinstall from python.org
Change the order of PATH
Deleted %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps from PATH
But nothing worked. What worked for me was:
Settings > Application > App execution aliases. Then disable all the Pyhtons from here and it worked!
Also, make sure to leave no spaces after the semi-colon.
For example, this didn't work for me:
C:\Windows\system32; C:\Python27; C:\Python27\Scripts;
But, this did:
C:\Windows\system32;C:\Python27;C:\Python27\Scripts;
I'm late to the game here, but I'd like to share my solution for future users. The previous answers were on the right track, but if you do not open the CMD as an administrator, then you will be thrown that same error. I know this seems trivial and obvious, but after spending the past 8 hours programming before attempting to install Django for the first time, you might be surprised at the stupid mistakes you might make.
I have faced same problem even though my path contains 400 characters.
Try to update the path from the command line(Run as administrator)
Command to update path: setx path "%path%;c:\examplePath"
After this command I could see that paths that I configured earlier in environment variables got updated and working.
To check the configured paths: echo %PATH%
I was facing similar porblem. What helped me is where command.
C:\WINDOWS\system32>where python
C:\Users\xxxxxxx\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\python.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual
Studio\Shared\Python39_86\python.exe
On updating PATH variable to point to only one desired directory (basically I removed %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps from PATH) fixed my problem.
I had the same issue with Python 2.7 on Windows 10 until I changed the file path in Enviroment Variables to the folder path, ie C:\Python27\python.exe didn't work but C:\Python27\ did work.
For me, installing the 'Windows x86-64 executable installer' from the official python portal did the trick.
Python interpreter was not initially recognized, while i had installed 32 bit python.
Uninstalled python 32 bit and installed 64 bit.
So, if you are on a x-64 processor, install 64bit python.
I tried it multiple times with the default installer option, the first one, (Python 3.7.3) with both 'add to environment variable' and 'all users' checked, though the latter was greyed out and couldn't be unchecked.
It failed to work for other users except for the user I installed it under until I uninstalled it and chose "Custom Install". It then clearly showed the install path being in the C:\Program Files\Python37 directory when it was failing to install it there the other way even though the 'All Users' option was checked.
Same thing was happening with me when i was trying to open the python immediately with CMD.
Then I kept my in sleep mode and started CMD using these Key Windows_key+R, typed cmd and OK. Then the package of python worked perfectly.
Uninstall python and pyqt
Then go to pyqt setup and open installation but don't install. You will see a message box saying something like pyqt version built with python version 32bit/64bit.
Then see python version bit and download that version from python.org from all release menu.
Then first install python and then install pyqt. It will work like butter.
I spent sometime checking and rechecking the path and restarting to no avail.
The only thing that worked for me was to rename the executable C:\Python34\python.exe to C:\Python34\python34.exe. This way, calling typing python34 at the command line now works.
On windows it seems that when calling 'python', the system finds C:\Python27 in the path before it finds C:\Python34
I'm not sure if this is the right way to do this, seems like a hack, but it seems to work OK.

Command Prompt: Set up for Python 2.7 by default

My command prompt is currently running Python 3.2 by default how do I set it up to run Python 2.7 by default, I have changed the PATH variable to point towards Python 2.7, but that did not work.
UPDATE:
It still does not work. :(
Still running python3 - to be specific it runs python3 when I am trying to install flask - which is what I want to do.
More generally, when I simply type python into the command line, it does nothing.
I get a 'python' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program, or batch file error.
No idea what to do.
If you call your Python scripts directly using python script.py then setting the PATH to have the 2.7 directory first should be enough.
If you want to call Python scripts indirectly with the shell, i.e. by writing just script.py or by executing the file from the explorer, you need to set the 2.7 installation as the default program handler for the .py extension. The easiest way to do that is to run the Python installer again and choose the option “make this installation the default”.
Note that with the new launcher, that ships with 3.3+, you don’t need this, as you can specify the version number using a shebang line and the launcher will automatically pick the appropriate interpreter.
Changing your PATH environment variable should do the trick. Some troubleshooting tips:
Make sure you didn't just change the local, but rather the system variable to reflect the new location
Make sure you restarted your CL window (aka close "cmd" or command prompt and reopen it). This will refresh the system variables you just updated.
Make sure you remove all references to C:\Python32\ or whatever the old path was (again, check local and system PATH - they are both found on the same environmental variables window).
Check to see if Python3.2 is installed where you think it is... (just rename the directory to something like OLD_Python3.2 and go to your CLI and enter "python" - does it start up? If it does is it 2.7? or 3.2? If not, you did something wrong with your PATH variable.
All else fails - reboot and try again (you might have some persistent environment variable - which I don't see how that can be - but hey, we are brainstorming here! - and a reboot would give you a fresh start.
If that doesn't work then I'd think you are doing something else wrong (aka user error). CMD has to know where to look for python before it can execute. It knows this from your PATH variable... now granted, I work almost exclusively in 2.6/2.7, so if they did something to the registry (which I doubt) then I wouldn't know about that.
Good luck!
Change the two las lines to you current python desired build path:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
' Extracted from Python 2.7 silent installation By Elektro H#cker
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.py]
#="Python.File"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.pyc]
#="Python.CompiledFile"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.pyo]
#="Python.CompiledFile"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.pyw]
#="Python.NoConFile"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Python.File\Shell\Open\Command]
#="CMD /K \"\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Python\\Python.exe\" \"%1\" %*\""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Python.NoConFile\Shell\open\command]
#="CMD /K \"\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Python\\Pythonw.exe\" \"%1\" %*\""
Could you try this as root:
$ ln -s python2.7 /usr/local/bin/python
Logout & login again as root:
$ python -V
It works for me, hoping the same to you.
Cheers,

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