"terminal.integrated.inheritEnv": false having no effect on $SHLVL

[tlambert03]

Issue Type: Bug

I'm struggling with the $PATH of my integrated terminal. Regardless of the terminal.integrated.inheritEnv setting, the $SHLVL of the integrated terminal is always 3.
I have tried disabling all extensions, and reducing my user settings JSON down to that single value.

The main immediate issue for me is that my conda environment's python is at the end of my $PATH, and the system python is being used instead.

VS Code version: Code 1.59.0 (Universal) (379476f, 2021-08-04T23:14:40.191Z)
OS version: Darwin x64 19.6.0
Restricted Mode: No

System Info

Item	Value
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Load (avg)	3, 4, 3
Memory (System)	64.00GB (20.63GB free)
Process Argv	--crash-reporter-id 54548331-bd33-484b-8356-4241bb27bb3f
Screen Reader	no
VM	0%

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[IllusionMH]

Not sure about first part.

But Conda at the end of the PATH

The main immediate issue for me is that my conda environment's python is at the end of my $PATH, and the system python is being used instead.

looks like duplicate of #129979

[tlambert03]

Thanks a lot for your prompt reponse! I'll keep an eye on that other issue.

given what is stated in the docs:

The main visible result of setting inheritEnv to false is that $SHLVL (shell level) should now be 1 and $PATH should not include duplicate paths, provided your launch scripts don't intentionally include them.

it feels like the $SHLVL not being 1 might indicate some lower level problem that could cause both issues? (but I wouldn't know where to start digging).

[corneliusroemer]

Very interesting that you also have this conda path added in the end issue @tlambert03. My setup is slightly unusual in that I use fish and micromamba so wasn't sure whether it was down to that.

Have you tried the workaround I gave in the referenced issue?

You are also on MacOS but what's your shell?

[tlambert03]

Have you tried the workaround I gave in the referenced issue?

sorry @corneliusroemer ... it wasn't quite clear to me what the workaround was... do you mean the terminal.integrated.profiles.osx ... "args": ["-l"], bit? I did try adding the following to my settings.json but it didn't seem to change anything.

  "terminal.integrated.profiles.osx": {
    "zsh": {
      "path": "zsh",
      "args": ["-l"]
    }
  }

You are also on MacOS but what's your shell?

I'm using zsh 5.8

conda 4.10.3 (for what it's worth)

[corneliusroemer]

Sorry if it wasn't clear. If I read it correctly, removing the -l flag fixed it. The flag being present seemed to cause it in my case.

Have you tried keeping the snippet but deleting the lost item with -l?

[tlambert03]

aha! sorry I misread that, you're right, it works!

with

  "terminal.integrated.profiles.osx": {
    "zsh": { "path": "zsh", "args": [] }
  },

I get

$ which python
python is ~/miniconda3/bin/python  # hooray
python is /usr/bin/python

# note shell level hasn't changed
$ echo $SHLVL 
3

with the -l:

  "terminal.integrated.profiles.osx": {
    "zsh": { "path": "zsh", "args": ["-l"] }
  },

I get

$ which python
python is /usr/bin/python
python is ~/miniconda3/bin/python

(and I have a duplication of some things in my $PATH)

thanks!

[Tyriar]

Using -l means you .zprofile is run so you might want to review that script if it's causing problems? Making it idempotent is a good idea if you haven't already

[tlambert03]

Using -l means you .zprofile is run so you might want to review that script if it's causing problems?

I don't have a user ~/.zprofile ... my system /etc/zprofile is just this:

if [ -x /usr/libexec/path_helper ]; then
    eval `/usr/libexec/path_helper -s`
fi

I am using oh-my-zsh ... but if I completely remove oh-my-zsh, and return to the default empty .zshrc (which I believe is the standard mac setup?) I still get this error if I don't use the empty args suggested by @corneliusroemer .

So, I'm still unable to find anything suggesting this is due to an idiosyncrasy in my setup. I know you have to keep issues to a minimum, so I get closing it, but I don't really see this as "fixed".

[tlambert03]

another observation: with the default vcsode config, I get an incorrect path with both bash and zsh shells. I need to use "args": [] in all shells for them to work. @Tyriar ... do you still think that means my zprofile is at fault? or could there be something about vscode here?

[corneliusroemer]

Thanks @tlambert03 for confirming that you have another manifestation of the issue I opened here #129979 with the same workaround working as a fix.
I don't understand why the default setup for Linux is without -l and Mac with -l, causing problems with Mac that disappear if you use the Linux config.

Should we open a new issue that is more general referencing our two issues as special cases? We've narrowed it down to being reproducible and general across MacOS with a variety of downstream effects.

Otherwise, you could comment on the older issue explaining how your case is similar. There hasn't been any response in 2 weeks so it could help if you comment there (then it's not just me).

[corneliusroemer]

@Tyriar Do you know why -l is set by default for MacOS but not for Linux? It causes issues with default (!) setups for now two users at least and probably many more since I use vanilla setup. I looked through Git blame and couldn't find a good reason for the choice of -l in one and not the other OS.