Nifty Python REPL

Send lines, blocks and # %% cells to a Python or IPython REPL that stays open, with multi-line code that just works, run-and-advance and cell lenses.

Maintained. No sign-in. No telemetry. Works in VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium and other editors that use Open VSX.

Features

Ctrl+Enter ran a # %% cell, a function with blank lines inside and its result, in a Python REPL below the script

Shift+Enter sends the statement under the cursor to a Python REPL that stays open, then moves to the next statement, so you can walk through a script one step at a time. It sends the whole statement: a def with its decorators and body, an if with its else, a call spread over several lines. With a selection, it sends the selection.
Multi-line code that just works. The classic REPL chokes on blank lines inside functions and needs an empty line to finish a block. Code is re-flowed so it runs as written, indented selections are dedented, and strings and brackets are left alone. For IPython and Python 3.13+, which indent as you type, code goes in as a bracketed paste instead. This is detected automatically. (On Windows, where Python's new REPL doesn't finish a bracketed paste, the classic REPL is started instead.)
# %% cells, as in Jupyter, Spyder and PyCharm. Ctrl+Enter runs the cell and Alt+Enter runs it and moves to the next one. Run Cell and Run Above lenses sit above each marker.
Run the whole file in the REPL (%run in IPython), keeping every variable around to poke at afterwards.
IPython with one setting. Uses the interpreter the Python extension has selected, or any you set.
No Jupyter kernel and no notebook, just a terminal. Works in VS Code, VSCodium, Cursor and the rest, with or without the Python extension.

Command	Key	What it does
`Nifty Python REPL: Send Selection or Statement to REPL`	`Shift+Enter`	Send and move to the next statement
`Nifty Python REPL: Run Cell`	`Ctrl+Enter`	Run the `# %%` cell at the cursor
`Nifty Python REPL: Run Cell and Go to Next`	`Alt+Enter`	Run it and move on
`Nifty Python REPL: Run Cells Above`		Everything before the current cell
`Nifty Python REPL: Run File in REPL`		The whole file, interactively
`Nifty Python REPL: Open REPL` / `Restart REPL`

If the Python extension's own Shift+Enter gets in the way, turn off nifty.python-repl.keybindings and bind the commands to keys you like.

Setting	Default	What it does
`nifty.python-repl.python`	selected interpreter	The Python to run
`nifty.python-repl.ipython`	`false`	Use IPython
`nifty.python-repl.args`	`[]`	Extra interpreter arguments
`nifty.python-repl.pasteMode`	`auto`	`bracketed` or `lines` to override detection
`nifty.python-repl.advance`	`true`	Move to the next statement after sending
`nifty.python-repl.cwd`	`file`	Start in the file's folder or the workspace
`nifty.python-repl.keybindings`	`true`	Shift/Ctrl/Alt+Enter in Python files
`nifty.python-repl.codeLens`	`true`	Lenses above cells

VS Code: search for "Nifty Python REPL" in the Extensions view, or install from the Visual Studio Marketplace.
Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium, Kiro, Antigravity: install from Open VSX.

This extension collects no telemetry and needs no account.

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