Virtual environment activation does not work in workspace

[motmic]

Type: Bug

Behaviour

Venv activation for multi-folder workspace work only if venv is in it and only for that folder

Steps to reproduce:

1. Create multiple empty folders: mkdir test1 test2 test3
2. Create vs code workspace and add folders to it
3. Create new venv in one of folders
4. Set that venv as workspace level interpreter
5. Open integrated terminal for some/all folders
6. Check venv activation for all terminals e.g. which python or echo $PATH

User Settings

Version: 1.98.2
Commit: ddc367ed5c8936efe395cffeec279b04ffd7db78
Date: 2025-03-12T13:32:45.399Z
Electron: 34.2.0
ElectronBuildId: 11161602
Chromium: 132.0.6834.196
Node.js: 20.18.2
V8: 13.2.152.36-electron.0
OS: Linux x64 6.8.0-57-generic snap

Extension version: 2025.4.0
VS Code version: Code 1.98.2 (ddc367ed5c8936efe395cffeec279b04ffd7db78, 2025-03-12T13:32:45.399Z)
OS version: Linux x64 6.8.0-57-generic snap

Installed Extensions

Extension Name	Extension Id	Version
cmake	twx	0.0.17
cmake-tools	ms-	1.20.53
copilot	Git	1.297.0
copilot-chat	Git	0.25.1
cpptools	ms-	1.24.5
cpptools-extension-pack	ms-	1.3.1
cpptools-themes	ms-	2.0.0
debugpy	ms-	2025.6.0
docker	doc	0.4.4
even-better-toml	tam	0.21.2
git-graph	mhu	1.30.0
gitlens	eam	17.0.1
js-debug	ms-	1.97.1
js-debug-companion	ms-	1.1.3
makefile-tools	ms-	0.12.17
pdf	tom	1.2.2
plantuml	jeb	2.18.1
python	ms-	2025.4.0
remote-containers	ms-	0.401.0
todo-tree	Gru	0.0.226
vscode-docker	ms-	1.29.5
vscode-js-profile-table	ms-	1.0.10
vscode-pylance	ms-	2025.4.1
vscode-xml	red	0.28.0
vscode-yaml	red	1.17.0
xml	Dot	2.5.1

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1260P (16 x 3741)
GPU Status	2d_canvas: unavailable_software canvas_oop_rasterization: disabled_off direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok gpu_compositing: disabled_software multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on opengl: disabled_off rasterization: disabled_software raw_draw: disabled_off_ok skia_graphite: disabled_off video_decode: disabled_software video_encode: disabled_software vulkan: disabled_off webgl: unavailable_software webgl2: unavailable_software webgpu: disabled_off webnn: unavailable_software
Load (avg)	1, 1, 1
Memory (System)	62.38GB (55.70GB free)
Process Argv	--no-sandbox --force-user-env --crash-reporter-id 02eefcbd-9a5e-45ab-9d40-c07dacf644c4
Screen Reader	no
VM	0%
DESKTOP_SESSION	ubuntu
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP	Unity
XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP	ubuntu
XDG_SESSION_TYPE	wayland

A/B Experiments

vsliv368cf:30146710
vspor879:30202332
vspor708:30202333
vspor363:30204092
vswsl492:30256859
pythonvspyt551cf:31249601
vscod805:30301674
binariesv615:30325510
c4g48928:30535728
azure-dev_surveyonecf:30548226
2i9eh265:30646982
962ge761:30959799
h48ei257:31000450
pythontbext0:30879054
cppperfnew:31000557
dwnewjupyter:31046869
pythonrstrctxt:31112756
nativeloc2:31192216
5fd0e150:31155592
dwcopilot:31170013
6074i472:31201624
dwoutputs:31242946
customenabled:31248079
9064b325:31222308
copilot_t_ci:31222730
968h8231:31277804
pythoneinst12:31262605
bgtreat:31268568
4gafe986:31271826
31787653:31262186
3e8i5726:31271747
49da9784:31280259
g20af354:31278749
7h9a3989:31280522

[karthiknadig]

@motmic Can you add this to your User settings and reload and see if it helps?

    "python.experiments.optOutFrom": ["pythonTerminalEnvVarActivation"]

[motmic]

@karthiknadig Thank you for suggestion. With that option added, everything works as expected.

[anthonykim1]

We are planning to deprecate this in favor of shell activation coming from python environment extension.

Could you try out the Python environment extension(https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-python.vscode-python-envs) with

python-envs.terminal.autoActivationType set to shell startup?
This is supposed to be the "better"/"proper" activation without showing the source... activate on your terminal.