visual studio code - Python in VSCode: Set working directory to python file's path everytime

5
votes

So I want to migrate from Spyder to VSCode, and I come across this problem where I cannot access a dataset as my working directory is not the same as the dataset's path.

launch.json is not auto-generated for me as I'm not debugging anything (I tried this).

How do I set the working directory to always be the dir of the Python file I want to run, in VSCode? (and if it's bad practice, could you show me a config that is easy to work with?) I'd like to set this up for VSCode's IPython terminal.

4
pythonvisual-studio-codeworking-directory
That configuration you linked should achieve that, have you tried it? did it work? - bracco23
@bracco23 I don't know how to set it up. Is it under .vscode folder in root directory? - Fawwaz Yusran
did you figure this out without having to modify the debugging launch.json? I literally just want to run a python script and have it execute in the folder it resides in...I thought this was pretty basic? - Derek Eden

4 Answers

5
votes

Updated Solution: working as of 21/1/2021

Option 1:

  1. Locate and open the user settings file:
    • Windows %APPDATA%\Code\User\settings.json
    • macOS $HOME/Library/Application Support/Code/User/settings.json
    • Linux $HOME/.config/Code/User/settings.json
  2. Add this line: "python.terminal.executeInFileDir": true

Option 2:

  1. Open the Settings editor:
    • On Windows/Linux - File > Preferences > Settings
    • On macOS - Code > Preferences > Settings
    • or use the keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+,).
  2. Check the following box:
    • Extensions > Python > Terminal: Execute In File Dir.
    • or use the Search bar and type this setting id python.terminal.executeInFileDir.
10
votes

I think the setting you need is here:

File > Preferences > Settings > Python > Data Science > Execute in File Dir

6
votes

You can find more details on the launch.json setting file in the Visual Studio Code User Guide, included how to create one and what it means.

In short, you should be able to just create a launch.json file a .vscode subfolder of the directory you usually open with Open Worspace and paste the snippet provided by the other answer. If you find that it doesn't work, you can try changing the cwd option going from this:

            "cwd": "${fileDirname}"

to this

            "cwd": ""
0
votes

Add the following settings to your settings.json

    "python.terminal.executeInFileDir": true,
    "code-runner.fileDirectoryAsCwd": true

To Dr. S's solution I added the "code-runner.fileDirectoryAsCwd": true setting from the Code Runner extension. The first setting sets the working directory to the python file path only if it is run in the terminal. However, the working directory will revert to the root directory if the code is run in the Output tab with CTRL+ALT+N. This may also be the reason why any settings in the launch.json file such as "cwd": "${fileDirname}" do not work, as I have tried as well. The second setting solves this, which allows you to set the working directory to the python file's path even when you choose to run code outside of the terminal.