Pixi for Visual Studio Code

Fast multi-language package management and workspace integration for Pixi in Visual Studio Code

Pixi brings fast, reproducible package management and polyglot workspace workflows to Visual Studio Code. Built upon a decoupled, language-agnostic core architecture, it provides unified project discovery, task execution, terminal profiles, manifest actions, and automatic multi-language toolchain scanning.

[!NOTE] Language Adapter Status: Python is fully supported with first-class environment integration via @vscode/python-environments (interpreter resolution, dynamic file-level environment routing, and package tree management). Automatic toolchain detection is also available for C/C++, R, and Rust, with additional language integrations planned.

Pixi Explorer Side Panel

A dedicated Activity Bar container providing complete visibility and control over your Pixi workspace:

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                             PIXI EXPLORER                              │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ ENVIRONMENTS     │ Installed / Uninstalled / Incompatible              │
│                  │ ├── Explicit vs Transitive Dependencies             │
│                  │ └── 1-click Install, Reinstall, Lock & Terminal     │
├──────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ TASKS            │ Native Pixi Tasks Lifecycle                         │
│                  │ ├── Add & Remove Tasks via Guided UI Wizards        │
│                  │ ├── 1-click Run & Run in Custom Environment         │
│                  │ └── Jump to Task Definition in Manifest             │
├──────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ GLOBAL TOOLS     │ User-level CLI Apps (~/.pixi/bin)                   │
│                  │ └── Inspect, Install, Sync, Update & Uninstall      │
├──────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ PIXI INFO        │ CLI Version, System Platform, Virtual Packages      │
│                  │ └── Cache Disk Measurement & 1-click Cleanup        │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Key Features

Workspace & Environment Lifecycle

• Automatic Project Discovery: Instantly detects pixi.toml and pyproject.toml manifests across single-root and multi-root workspaces.
• Dual Perspective Tree View: Toggle between Environment View (runtime status, toolchains, installed packages) and Feature View (declared features, reusable dependencies, environment references) with 1-click ($(organization)).
• Environment, Feature & Platform Management Hubs: Centralized command hubs (Pixi: Environment ..., Pixi: Feature ..., Pixi: Channel ..., and Pixi: Platform ...) to create, install, reinstall, configure environment features (--force), or manage target platforms and channels without writing raw TOML.
• Locked Dependency Inlay Hints & Navigation: Displays actual locked package versions inline in manifests (: 1.26.4), rich hover inspection cards (build, channel, license, multi-environment matrix diffs), and Ctrl/Cmd + Click navigation directly to package entries in pixi.lock.
• Offline Schema Validation & Manifest IntelliSense: Bundles official Pixi JSON schema definitions locally for 100% offline autocompletion of manifest sections ([workspace], [tasks], [dependencies], etc.), properties, channels, platforms, and rich hover documentation.
• Manifest Editor Actions: 1-click title bar buttons for manifest files to Lock, Install, Update, or Reinstall dependencies.
• File-Level Environment Routing: Map glob patterns directly to specific Pixi environments via pixi.environmentRules (e.g. tests/**=dev).
• Lifecycle Diagnostics: Categorizes environments into Installed (ready & executable), Uninstalled (declared in manifest, 1-click installable), and Incompatible (platform mismatch).

Aggregated Package Search & Discovery

• Dual-Source Search: High-performance real-time search across Conda repositories (conda-forge, etc.) and PyPI with live autocompletion.
• Rich Package Inspection: View package versions, target platforms, licenses, descriptions, and jump directly to package pages on prefix.dev.
• Dependency Diagnostics: Inspect full dependency trees and diagnose package origin with reverse dependency tree inspection ("Why is this package installed?").

Python & Multi-Language Toolchains

• Deep Python & Jupyter Integration: Connects with @vscode/python-environments for seamless interpreter switching, status bar indicators, package inspection, and clean Pixi environment grouping in Jupyter notebook kernel selection with ipykernel safeguard detection.
• Multi-Language Toolchain Scanner: Automatically scans installed environments for Python, C/C++ compilers (GCC, Clang, MSVC, CMake, Ninja, header paths), R (R, Rscript), and Rust (rustc, cargo).

Native Tasks, Terminals & Global Tools

• Interactive Task Lifecycle: Create new runnable tasks via guided wizards (name, shell command, environment, --depends-on task dependencies) and remove tasks directly from side panel actions or command palette.
• Manifest Task Actions (Hover & CodeLens): Non-intrusive hover tooltips with full command previews and instant execution links, plus customizable CodeLens modes (compact, full, header-only, or off).
• Intelligent Task Grouping: Organize workspace tasks in the side panel by namespace prefix (data-*, gui-*), by target environment, or in a flat list with 1-click grouping switcher.
• Native VS Code Tasks: Auto-registers Pixi tasks as native VS Code tasks (Terminal: Run Task...) with a dedicated QuickPick runner.
• Pre-Configured Terminals: Launch interactive terminal sessions with the target Pixi environment pre-activated.
• Global Tools Management: Easily inspect, install, update, and uninstall user-level CLI packages installed in ~/.pixi/bin.

Essential Commands

Launch any command via the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) by typing Pixi::

[!TIP] Contextual and view-specific actions (such as switching Environment/Feature or Task grouping modes via view title buttons, creating/removing features and environments, adding/removing tasks or packages, jumping to manifest declarations, and running tasks in custom environments) are also directly available via inline icon buttons and right-click context menus in the Pixi Explorer tree views and editor title bar.

Extension Settings

Example Configuration

Add this to your project's .vscode/settings.json:

{
    "pixi.environmentRules": ["tests/**=dev", "train/**=train", "scripts/*.py=dev"],
    "pixi.defaultManifestFormat": "pixi",
    "pixi.displayNameFormat": "${project}:${env} (${version})",
    "pixi.packages.displayMode": "grouped",
    "pixi.tasks.groupBy": "prefix"
}

Public Extension API

Other VS Code extensions can programmatically access Pixi's workspaces, environments, and toolchains:

import * as vscode from 'vscode';
import type { PixiExtensionApi } from 'sheeptao.pixi';

const pixi = vscode.extensions.getExtension<PixiExtensionApi>('sheeptao.pixi')?.exports;
if (pixi) {
    const projectPaths = pixi.getProjectPaths();
    const envs = pixi.getAllEnvironments();
    const packages = await pixi.getPackages('default', projectPaths[0]);

    // Active environment management
    const activeEnv = await pixi.getActiveEnvironment();
    await pixi.setActiveEnvironment(undefined, 'default');

    pixi.onDidChangeActiveEnvironment((e) => {
        console.log('Active environment changed:', e.environment?.pixiEnvName);
    });
}

Requirements & Quick Start

1. Install Pixi on your system.
2. Install Pixi from the VS Code Marketplace or Open VSX.
3. (Optional for Python) Install the official Python Environments extension for Python interpreter and package integration.
4. Open any workspace containing a pixi.toml or pyproject.toml.

Troubleshooting

• Check Output Logs: Open View → Output and select Pixi from the dropdown. To view detailed diagnostic logs (file scanning, background processes), run Developer: Set Log Level... from the Command Palette, select Pixi, and set to Trace or Debug.
• Binary Not Found: Verify pixi is available in your system PATH, or set pixi.executablePath.
• Environments Not Showing: Ensure pixi.toml exists and run pixi.install to initialize environment prefixes.

Acknowledgements & License

• Special thanks to Renan Santos and contributors of pixi-code for creating the original foundation.
• Thanks to the Prefix.dev team for building the incredible Pixi package manager and ecosystem.
• Licensed under the MIT License.