Pixi Environment Manager for VS Code
A comprehensive VS Code extension for managing Pixi environments. This extension enables seamless integration of Pixi-managed toolchains directly into your VS Code workspace, providing a streamlined and fully integrated development experience.
Key Features
- Automatic Bootstrapping: Automatically downloads and installs the Pixi binary if it's not present, making onboarding new developers effortless.
- Full Window Context: Injects environment variables (like
PATH, CONDA_PREFIX, and custom variables) into the entire VS Code window context. This means terminals, other extensions, and tasks all inherit the activated environment automatically.
- Task Support: Integrate Pixi tasks natively into VS Code. Run tasks via the Status Bar, Command Palette, or standard VS Code "Run Task" menu.
- config Watcher: Automatically detects changes in
pixi.toml and pixi.lock (including external Git operations) and prompts to keep the environment in sync.
- Offline Support: Unique capability to generate and load "offline" environment packs (
.tar.gz + .pixi), enabling reproducible development in air-gapped or restricted networks.
🚀 Why this extension?
While there is an official Pixi extension, Pixi Environment Manager focuses on a different set of needs:
| Feature |
Pixi Environment Manager (This Extension) |
Official Pixi Extension |
| Scope |
Full Setup & Infrastructure. Automates binary download, offline packing, and deep system integration. |
Task Runner. Focused on running pixi run commands effectively. |
| Context Integration |
Window-Wide. Injects variables into the global collection, so all terminals and extensions see the environment by default. |
Terminal-Specific. Often focuses on specific task terminals. |
| Language Focus |
Language Agnostic. Designed for ANY toolchain managed by Pixi (C++, Rust, Python, Go, Node, System Tools). Not limited to Python. |
Often associated with Python workflows. |
| Offline Workflows |
Native commands to pack and unpack offline environments. |
Not a primary focus. |
Use this extension if:
- You want a "zero-setup" experience for your team (just open VS Code and it works).
- You use Pixi to manage general developer tooling (compilers, linters, cloud CLIs), not just Python.
- You want your
pixi.toml to drive the entire VS Code experience.
📦 Usage
Getting Started
- Open a folder containing a
pixi.toml.
- The extension will detect it. If Pixi is missing, it will ask to download it.
- The environment will automatically activate. Open a new terminal, and your tools are ready!
Commands (Command Palette: Pixi Env: ...)
- Create Environment: Initialize a new Pixi project or hydrate an existing one.
- Activate Environment: Manually activate a specific environment from
pixi.toml.
- Run Task: Run a task defined in
pixi.toml (also available via $(play) Pixi Tasks in Status Bar).
- Deactivate Environment: Deactivate the current Pixi environment in the window.
- Clear Environment: Clear the environment cache/state (
.pixi folder).
- Generate Offline Environment: Create a portable archive of your current environment (requires
pixi-pack).
- Load Offline Environment: Restore an environment from an offline archive.
- Generate Activation Scripts: Create shell scripts (
activate.sh, activate.bat) for external use.
Configuration
pixi.defaultEnvironment: Name of the environment to activate automatically on startup.pixi.environment: Fallback environment name to use if no specific environment is selected (default: default).pixi.showDefaultEnvironment: If true, the default environment is included in the environment selection list (default: false).pixi.checkUpdates: Automatically check for Pixi updates on startup (default: true).pixi.useSystemPixi: If true, use the system pixi executable instead of the self-contained one (default: false).pixi.disableConfigChangePrompt: If true, suppresses prompts when the Pixi environment (lockfile) is out of sync (default: false).pixi.offlineEnvironmentName: Name of the directory when unpacking an offline environment (default: env).pixi.autoReload: Automatically reload the window after activation to ensure all extensions pick up changes.
🔧 Building & Contributing
Please refer to docs/CONTRIBUTING.md for instructions on how to build, run, and contribute to this project. We welcome your contributions!
⚖️ Legal & Attribution
Disclaimer:
This extension is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or associated with prefix.dev or the Pixi project. It is an independent open-source tool designed to help developers use Pixi within VS Code.
Third-Party Software:
This extension downloads and uses the Pixi executable to manage environments.
Pixi is Copyright (c) prefix.dev GmbH and is licensed under the BSD 3-Clause License.
See THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md in the extension installation directory for full license text.
👏 Credits
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