PYTHONSTARTUP is set even if the shell integration setting is off #25485
Description
Type: Bug
Behaviour
I noticed earlier today that my python shell was behaving strangely. I have narrowed it down to the fact that my custom PYTHONSTARTUP was being nuked by this extension. I have disabled both the python.terminal.shellIntegration.enabled and the overarching terminal.integrated.shellIntegration.enabled setting, and yet it is still being set to PYTHONSTARTUP=/home/brian/.config/Code/User/workspaceStorage/35fff5972bee4bfdc8e3450cd43f75b8/ms-python.python/pythonrc.py
Steps to reproduce:
- Disable these settings
printenv | grep PYTHON, observe that PYTHONSTARTUP is still being modified
Diagnostic data
Output for Python in the Output panel (View→Output, change the drop-down the upper-right of the Output panel to Python)
2025-09-25 15:18:40.390 [warning] Dir "/home/brian/Dev/cpp/tinystan/.pixi/envs" is not watchable (directory does not exist)
2025-09-25 15:18:40.390 [info] Skipping ActivatedEnv Detection: process.env.VSCODE_CLI !== '1'
2025-09-25 15:18:40.404 [info] > conda info --json
2025-09-25 15:18:40.420 [info] > pyenv which python
2025-09-25 15:18:40.420 [info] cwd: .
2025-09-25 15:18:40.971 [info] > ~/.miniforge3/envs/bridgestan/bin/python -I ~/.vscode/extensions/ms-python.python-2025.14.0-linux-x64/python_files/get_output_via_markers.py ~/.vscode/extensions/ms-python.python-2025.14.0-linux-x64/python_files/interpreterInfo.py
2025-09-25 15:18:41.004 [info] Python interpreter path: ~/.miniforge3/envs/bridgestan/bin/python
2025-09-25 15:18:41.007 [info] Using interpreter path: /home/brian/.miniforge3/envs/bridgestan/bin/python
2025-09-25 15:18:41.504 [info] Using direct conda activate command: conda activate bridgestan
2025-09-25 15:18:43.331 [info] Starting Pylance language server.
Extension version: 2025.14.0
VS Code version: Code 1.104.1 (0f0d87fa9e96c856c5212fc86db137ac0d783365, 2025-09-17T23:36:24.973Z)
OS version: Linux x64 6.8.0-84-generic
Modes:
- Python version (& distribution if applicable, e.g. Anaconda): 3.11.0
- Type of virtual environment used (e.g. conda, venv, virtualenv, etc.): Conda
- Value of the
python.languageServersetting: Default
User Settings
condaPath: "<placeholder>"
languageServer: "Pylance"
experiments
• enabled: false
Installed Extensions
| Extension Name | Extension Id | Version |
|---|---|---|
| anycode | ms- | 0.0.75 |
| anycode-c-sharp | ms- | 0.0.8 |
| anycode-cpp | ms- | 0.0.7 |
| anycode-go | ms- | 0.0.8 |
| anycode-java | ms- | 0.0.8 |
| anycode-kotlin | ms- | 0.0.8 |
| anycode-php | ms- | 0.0.8 |
| anycode-python | ms- | 0.0.7 |
| anycode-rust | ms- | 0.0.8 |
| anycode-typescript | ms- | 0.0.7 |
| autodocstring | njp | 0.6.1 |
| black-formatter | ms- | 2025.2.0 |
| cmake | twx | 0.0.17 |
| copilot | Git | 1.372.0 |
| copilot-chat | Git | 0.31.2 |
| cpptools | ms- | 1.27.7 |
| debugpy | ms- | 2025.10.0 |
| even-better-toml | tam | 0.21.2 |
| git-graph | mhu | 1.30.0 |
| isort | ms- | 2025.0.0 |
| jenkins-pipeline-linter-connector | jan | 1.2.0 |
| js-debug | ms- | 1.104.0 |
| js-debug-companion | ms- | 1.1.3 |
| jupyter | ms- | 2025.8.0 |
| jupyter-keymap | ms- | 1.1.2 |
| jupyter-renderers | ms- | 1.3.0 |
| language-julia | jul | 1.149.2 |
| language-x86-64-assembly | 13x | 3.1.5 |
| latex-workshop | Jam | 10.10.2 |
| linter-gfortran | for | 3.2.0 |
| Lisp | mat | 0.1.12 |
| LiveServer | rit | 5.7.9 |
| material-theme | zhu | 3.19.0 |
| mesonbuild | mes | 1.27.0 |
| mypy-type-checker | ms- | 2025.2.0 |
| ocaml-platform | oca | 1.32.3 |
| tom | 1.2.2 | |
| prettier-vscode | esb | 11.0.0 |
| project-manager | ale | 12.8.0 |
| python | ms- | 2025.14.0 |
| python-snippets | cst | 0.1.2 |
| quarto | qua | 1.124.0 |
| rainbow-csv | mec | 3.22.0 |
| remote-containers | ms- | 0.427.0 |
| remote-explorer | ms- | 0.6.2025081809 |
| remote-server | ms- | 1.5.3 |
| remote-ssh | ms- | 0.121.2025081515 |
| remote-ssh-edit | ms- | 0.87.0 |
| remote-wsl | ms- | 0.104.2 |
| rust-analyzer | rus | 0.3.2593 |
| shellcheck | tim | 0.38.3 |
| simple-rst | tro | 1.5.4 |
| todo-tree | Gru | 0.0.226 |
| vscode-ansi | ili | 1.1.7 |
| vscode-clangd | llv | 0.2.0 |
| vscode-dash | dee | 2.4.0 |
| vscode-firefox-debug | fir | 2.15.0 |
| vscode-github-actions | git | 0.27.2 |
| vscode-js-profile-table | ms- | 1.0.10 |
| vscode-jupyter-cell-tags | ms- | 0.1.9 |
| vscode-jupyter-slideshow | ms- | 0.1.6 |
| vscode-ocaml-expect-inline | rel | 0.7.2 |
| vscode-pylance | ms- | 2025.8.2 |
| vscode-python-envs | ms- | 1.8.0 |
| vscode-remote-extensionpack | ms- | 0.26.0 |
| vscode-stan-extension | war | 3.0.0 |
| vscode-table-formatter | shu | 1.2.1 |
| wasm-dwarf-debugging | ms- | 1.0.1 |
System Info
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| CPUs | Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1065G7 CPU @ 1.30GHz (8 x 3316) |
| GPU Status | 2d_canvas: enabled 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 trees_in_viz: disabled_off video_decode: enabled video_encode: disabled_software vulkan: disabled_off webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled webgpu: disabled_off webnn: disabled_off |
| Load (avg) | 1, 1, 1 |
| Memory (System) | 30.93GB (23.38GB free) |
| Process Argv | |
| Screen Reader | no |
| VM | 0% |
| DESKTOP_SESSION | ubuntu |
| XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP | Unity |
| XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP | ubuntu |
| XDG_SESSION_TYPE | wayland |
Activity
anthonykim1 commentedon Sep 29, 2025
Thanks for filing the issue. Are you testing this in a new terminal after you turned off all these settings?
Also make sure both user and workspace settings are turned off.
WardBrian commentedon Sep 30, 2025
I am no longer able to recreate this. I was opening new terminals, but perhaps I needed to restart vscode entirely.
As a suggestion: if the user has PYTHONSTARTUP set themselves, consider either not enabling the integrations or at least logging a message about this. It was quite confusing to track down
anthonykim1 commentedon Oct 17, 2025
Brian Ward (@WardBrian) Good point, thanks for the feedback. Will create feature request for this.
For environment contributions coming from extensions.
workbench.action.terminal.showEnvironmentContributionsis a pretty useful command to use from the command palette, there you should be able to look at which extensions is contributing to which variables for the terminal.