Visual Studio Code

This guide explains how to set up Visual Studio Code (VS Code) for working with Ribasim Python. This page is not specific to Ribasim Python but aims to help users get started. This guide assumes you have already installed Ribasim Python in a uv or Pixi environment as described in the installation guide. See also the VS Code docs for Python.

1 Recommended extensions

Install the following VS Code extensions for the best experience:

The Python Environments extension provides out-of-the-box support for venv environments, which is the environment type that uv creates.

2 Install packages for notebooks

VS Code requires ipykernel and pip to run Jupyter notebooks. Add these packages based on your package manager:

uv add ipykernel pip
pixi add ipykernel pip

3 Environment setup

uv creates a standard .venv virtual environment in your project folder. This environment type is supported out of the box by VS Code with the Python Environments extension.

VS Code should automatically detect the .venv environment. If not, select it manually:

  1. Open your project folder in VS Code
  2. Open the Command Palette ( or on macOS)
  3. Type “Python: Select Interpreter”
  4. Select the Python executable from your .venv folder (.venv/Scripts/python.exe on Windows, .venv/bin/python on Linux/macOS)

For Pixi environments, we recommend installing the Pixi extension. This helps the Python Environments extension detect Pixi environments.

VS Code should automatically detect the Pixi environment with these extensions installed. If not, select it manually:

  1. Open your project folder in VS Code
  2. Open the Command Palette ( or on macOS)
  3. Type “Python: Select Interpreter”
  4. Select the Python executable from your Pixi environment (.pixi/envs/default/python.exe on Windows, .pixi/envs/default/bin/python on Linux/macOS)