Pymanual (VS Code)

Highlight a Python module name in the editor, right-click → Show Documentation, and the extension opens the module's documentation page in your browser.

Accepts import names (json, os.path, numpy) and distribution names (pytest-cov, PyYAML).

Requirements

This extension shells out to the pymanual CLI, which must be installed separately:

pipx install pymanual
# or
uv tool install pymanual

Usage

Open a .py file.
Select a module name (on an import line, or anywhere in the file).
Right-click → Show Documentation. The resolved URL opens in your default browser.

If the selection can't be resolved to a module (e.g. a local variable), an information message is shown and no page is opened.

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
`pymanual.cliPath`	`pymanual`	Path to the CLI. Set this if it isn't on `PATH`.
`pymanual.useNetwork`	`true`	Allow the resolver to query PyPI when installed metadata is incomplete. When `false`, passes `--no-network`.
`pymanual.useCache`	`true`	Use the resolver's local cache. When `false`, passes `--no-cache`.
`pymanual.browser`	`external`	Where to open the URL: `external` (system default browser) or `internal` (VS Code's Simple Browser tab).

Development

npm install
npm run compile         # or: npm run watch

Press F5 in VS Code to launch an Extension Development Host.

Pymanual — Python Documentation

George Karpodinis

Pymanual (VS Code)

Requirements

Usage

Settings

Development