Migrating to Positron from VS Code

This document outlines how to migrate from VS Code to Positron, a data science-focused editor built on Code OSS. It covers importing VS Code settings and extensions, and explains Positron’s enhanced data science features like the Console, Variables pane, Data Explorer, and Plots pane. The guide also details Positron’s native support for Python and R workflows, including prerequisites and key differences from VS Code extensions.

Overview

Positron will feel natural to you if you use VS Code. Positron is built on Code OSS, the open source core of VS Code. You will find many familiar features like the text editor interface, Command Palette, Terminal, and extensions.

Where Positron differs is in its language integration and data science capabilities:

  • the Console for interactive Python and R sessions
  • the Variables pane and Data Explorer, for inspecting live data
  • the Plots pane for visualizing plots and other generated graphics
  • the Connections pane for managing database connections and exploring data
  • the Help pane for quick access to language and library documentation

This blend of familiarity and data science focus will supercharge your work with a low barrier to transition.

First steps

When you launch Positron for the first time, you likely want to import your existing VS Code settings and install the extensions you are used to.

Importing settings

Positron supports importing settings from VS Code. It will prompt you to do so with a notification on the first launch, allowing you to import user settings from your existing VS Code installation. It will open a preview before saving these imported settings, so you can review and modify them as needed.

If you skip this step, you can import settings at any time by running the Preferences: Import Settings… command from the Command Palette.

Installing extensions

Positron supports many extensions that you use in VS Code. These extensions can be installed using the Extensions pane, found in the Positron sidebar.

If an extension does not appear in your search, it may be unavailable on the extension marketplace that Positron uses, OpenVSX. You can contact the developer of that extension to request its publication to OpenVSX for installation in Positron.

Note

Positron comes bundled with several useful extensions, including those for Quarto, Jupyter notebooks, and Pyright. It also includes built-in extensions to enable language features. More information about these default extensions can be found in the Extensions documentation.

Language support

Positron provides native language integration for Python and R. Unlike VS Code, which relies on extensions for language support, Positron has built-in interpreters and language servers for both languages. This native integration enables deeper features like the Console, Variables pane, and Data Explorer to work seamlessly with your code and data.

The language support includes intelligent code completion, syntax highlighting, error detection, and debugging capabilities. You can switch between Python and R environments within the same workspace, making it easy to work on multilingual data science projects.

Positron has first-class support for Python, including a built-in Python Console for interactive sessions, a Data Explorer to inspect data frames, a Plots pane to visualize plots and other generated graphics, and a fully interactive Viewer pane to see locally running content. Positron also supports Python packages and libraries, allowing you to work with popular data science tools like NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib, and more. The Help pane provides quick access to Python and package documentation while you code.

Prerequisites

To use Python in Positron, you need to have Python installed on your system. Positron supports several Python installation and environment managers, including:

  • venv: Standard library virtual environments created with python -m venv
  • uv: Virtual environments and Python installations managed by uv
  • pyenv: Python installations managed by pyenv, including virtual environments
  • conda: Conda environments created with conda create or mamba create

Positron automatically detects Python installations and environments created with these tools. This enables deep integration with Python features in the IDE.

Coming from the Python extension

VS Code users who rely on the ms-python.python extension will find that Positron provides all of its functionality and more by default. These include:

  • Code completion and IntelliSense, based on Jedi
  • Type checking, using Pyright
  • Formatting, using Ruff
  • Debugging
  • Jupyter notebook support
  • Variables pane, for inspecting variables and data frames
  • Help pane, for quick access to documentation

Python in the Console

The Positron Console pane provides an interactive IPython session. You can type Python code directly into the Console or run files open in the editor. You can also choose to run a portion of a file open in the editor, similar to a Jupyter Notebook but with any standard Python file.

While you can launch IPython from the Terminal as you would in VS Code, the Console provides code completion, syntax highlighting, integration with the Variables and Plots panes, and other features that enhance the interactive experience.

Positron bundles IPython, allowing you to use the console without installing it separately. If you wish to use an external version of IPython, you can toggle the use of the bundled one with the python.useBundledIpykernel setting.

By default, the Console enables the IPython autoreload extension for imports. You can change this with the python.enableAutoReload setting.

Positron has a deeper and more cohesive integration for R workflows than VS Code. Its approach works seamlessly with R and does not require any extensions for this integration. You can use the Console for interactive R sessions, the Variables pane and Data Explorer for inspecting data frames, the Plots pane for visualizing plots and other graphics, and the Help pane for quick access to documentation.

Prerequisites

To use R in Positron, you need to have R installed on your system. Positron automatically detects your R installation and provides full language support.

Note

If you have been accustomed to using the vscode-r extension in VS Code, be aware that this extension is not compatible with Positron. Positron’s native integration means you do not need the vscode-r extension; instead, Positron’s built-in features allow you to work with your R code and data.

Command palette

If you are familiar with the Command Palette in Visual Studio Code, you will find the experience in Positron very similar. All Positron-specific commands are included, alongside the familiar VS Code commands.

For a detailed overview of the Command Palette, see the Command palette guide.

Help & feedback

You can learn more about Positron features in other guides within this section. If you encounter issues during migration or while using Positron, see the troubleshooting guide for common solutions. The FAQ provides answers to frequent questions from users who are transitioning from other editors.

Your experience and feedback help to improve Positron. Share your thoughts, report bugs, or suggest features through Positron’s feedback channels. Your input is valuable in making sure Positron development better serves the data science community.