Automatically keeps VS Code and Cursor pointed at the closest Python virtual environment (e.g. .venv) for the active file and optionally configures Pyright for workspace-wide analysis.
Watches editor changes and reacts only for Python files.
Walks up parent directories to locate the nearest virtual environment (.venv by default).
Sets python.defaultInterpreterPath at the workspace-folder scope so terminals/tasks inherit it.
Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows.
Optionally configures both VS Code and Cursor Pyright settings to analyse the whole project defined by the venv folder.
Provides a Nearest Venv: Refresh Interpreter command for manual refreshes.
Installation
Visual Studio Code / Cursor (VSIX)
Download the latest release .vsix from the Releases page (or build it locally with npm run compile followed by npx vsce package).
VS Code: run Extensions: Install from VSIX... and select the file.
Cursor: drag the .vsix onto the Cursor window or use the same command palette entry.
Local build
npm install
npm run compile
npx vsce package to produce nearest-venv-<version>.vsix
Configuration
nearestVenv.folderNames (array, default [".venv"]): folder names to search while walking up the tree.
nearestVenv.limitToWorkspace (boolean, default true): stop searching once the workspace root is reached.
nearestVenv.configurePyrightVirtualWorkspace (boolean, default false): when enabled, configures both VS Code and Cursor Pyright settings to analyse the venv directory as a virtual workspace.
How it works
When a Python editor becomes active, the extension walks up from the file directory toward the workspace root to find the first matching virtual environment folder. It then updates the workspace-folder interpreter using the official Python extension APIs. If Pyright virtual workspace support is enabled, it also updates python.analysis.* and cursorpyright.analysis.* to use the venv directory as the analysis root with sensible defaults for diagnostics and excludes.
If no interpreter is located, the extension logs a miss and leaves the existing interpreter untouched.
Development
npm install
npm run compile
Launch VS Code and use the Launch Extension debug configuration (F5) to test inside the Extension Host.
Release Notes
1.0.0
First public release packaged for VS Code and Cursor.
