VS Code Python extension injects incorrect start up script oh-my-posh variables with shell integration

[iibadshah]

Type: Bug

Behaviour

I'm using oh-my-posh to display extra info in the VS Code integrated terminal for PowerShell (v7) and Git Bash.

When using Windows Terminal I can see that the theme changes are present, but in the VS Code integrated terminal the changes are not reflected for Git Bash (there are no issues with PowerShell): the previous theme (which was a downloaded local JSON) is still present. Moreover, the previous theme had a segment on the right saying CONFIG ERROR. Additionally, this is only the case when opening a project folder, as VS Code instances outside of a project don't have the issue. I am using poetry and working on a python project, if this is of any importance.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Open VS Code Folder.
2. The Folder should be to a python project (I have tested that the issue is present in projects managed by pipenv or poetry, but NOT when VS Code is opened outside of a python folder).
3. Start an integrated Terminal.
4. Click 'Launch Profile' to start a Git Bash terminal (since PowerShell is my default).

Diagnostic data

Output for Python in the Output panel (View→Output, change the drop-down the upper-right of the Output panel to Python)

2025-07-12 13:44:55.345 [info] Experiment 'pythonTerminalEnvVarActivation' is active
2025-07-12 13:44:55.345 [info] Native locator: Refresh started
2025-07-12 13:44:57.014 [info] > pyenv which python
2025-07-12 13:44:57.014 [info] cwd: .
2025-07-12 13:45:01.444 [info] Poetry environment manager found at: c:\users\buzzb\.local\bin\poetry.exe
2025-07-12 13:45:01.456 [info] Native locator: Refresh finished in 6473 ms
2025-07-12 13:45:01.466 [info] Python interpreter path: ~\AppData\Local\pypoetry\Cache\virtualenvs\onmass-1xIxFAGP-py3.13\Scripts\python.exe
2025-07-12 13:45:02.212 [info] > & ~/AppData/Local/pypoetry/Cache/virtualenvs/onmass-1xIxFAGP-py3.13/Scripts/Activate.ps1 ; echo 'e8b39361-0157-4923-80e1-22d70d46dee6' ; python ~/.vscode/extensions/ms-python.python-2025.10.0-win32-x64/python_files/printEnvVariables.py
2025-07-12 13:45:02.214 [info] shell: powershellCore
2025-07-12 13:45:03.900 [info] > C:\Program Files\Python312\python.exe ~/.vscode/extensions/ms-python.python-2025.10.0-win32-x64/python_files/printEnvVariables.py
2025-07-12 13:45:03.900 [info] shell: powershellCore
2025-07-12 13:45:04.090 [info] Starting Pylance language server.
2025-07-12 13:45:05.894 [info] Setting environment variable CONDA_PROMPT_MODIFIER in collection to False {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:05.894 [info] Prepending environment variable PATH in collection with c:\Users\BuzzB\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.python-2025.10.0-win32-x64\python_files\deactivate\powershell;C:\Users\BuzzB\AppData\Local\pypoetry\Cache\virtualenvs\onmass-1xIxFAGP-py3.13/Scripts;C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7; {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:05.894 [info] Setting environment variable PATHEXT in collection to .COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH;.MSC;.PY;.PYW;.CPL {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:05.894 [info] Setting environment variable POSH_SESSION_ID in collection to 84aabf66-d131-4773-b808-9e45d10b3b64 {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:05.894 [info] Setting environment variable POSH_SHELL in collection to pwsh {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:05.894 [info] Setting environment variable POSH_SHELL_VERSION in collection to 7.5.2 {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:05.894 [info] Setting environment variable POSH_THEME in collection to C:\Users\BuzzB\AppData\Local\Programs\oh-my-posh\themes\atomic.omp.json {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:05.894 [info] Setting environment variable POWERLINE_COMMAND in collection to oh-my-posh {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:05.894 [info] Setting environment variable PSMODULEPATH in collection to C:\Users\BuzzB\OneDrive\Documents\PowerShell\Modules;C:\Program Files\PowerShell\Modules;c:\program files\powershell\7\Modules;C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules;C:\WINDOWS\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Modules {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:05.894 [info] Setting environment variable PYENV_VIRTUALENV_DISABLE_PROMPT in collection to 1 {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:05.894 [info] Setting environment variable PYTHONIOENCODING in collection to utf-8 {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:05.894 [info] Setting environment variable PYTHONUNBUFFERED in collection to 1 {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:05.894 [info] Setting environment variable VIRTUAL_ENV in collection to C:\Users\BuzzB\AppData\Local\pypoetry\Cache\virtualenvs\onmass-1xIxFAGP-py3.13 {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:05.894 [info] Setting environment variable VIRTUAL_ENV_DISABLE_PROMPT in collection to 1 {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:05.894 [info] Setting environment variable VIRTUAL_ENV_PROMPT in collection to onmass-py3.13 {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:05.896 [info] Send text to terminal: & "C:/Program Files/Python312/python.exe" c:\Users\BuzzB\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.python-2025.10.0-win32-x64\python_files\printEnvVariablesToFile.py c:\Users\BuzzB\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.python-2025.10.0-win32-x64\python_files\deactivate\powershell\envVars.txt
2025-07-12 13:45:10.351 [info] Shell integration status changed, can confirm it's working.
2025-07-12 13:45:10.353 [info] Setting environment variable CONDA_PROMPT_MODIFIER in collection to False {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:10.353 [info] Prepending environment variable PATH in collection with c:\Users\BuzzB\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.python-2025.10.0-win32-x64\python_files\deactivate\powershell;C:\Users\BuzzB\AppData\Local\pypoetry\Cache\virtualenvs\onmass-1xIxFAGP-py3.13/Scripts;C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7; {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:10.353 [info] Setting environment variable PATHEXT in collection to .COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH;.MSC;.PY;.PYW;.CPL {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:10.353 [info] Setting environment variable POSH_SESSION_ID in collection to 84aabf66-d131-4773-b808-9e45d10b3b64 {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:10.353 [info] Setting environment variable POSH_SHELL in collection to pwsh {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:10.353 [info] Setting environment variable POSH_SHELL_VERSION in collection to 7.5.2 {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:10.353 [info] Setting environment variable POSH_THEME in collection to C:\Users\BuzzB\AppData\Local\Programs\oh-my-posh\themes\atomic.omp.json {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:10.353 [info] Setting environment variable POWERLINE_COMMAND in collection to oh-my-posh {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:10.353 [info] Setting environment variable PSMODULEPATH in collection to C:\Users\BuzzB\OneDrive\Documents\PowerShell\Modules;C:\Program Files\PowerShell\Modules;c:\program files\powershell\7\Modules;C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules;C:\WINDOWS\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Modules {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:10.353 [info] Setting environment variable PYENV_VIRTUALENV_DISABLE_PROMPT in collection to 1 {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:10.353 [info] Setting environment variable PYTHONIOENCODING in collection to utf-8 {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:10.353 [info] Setting environment variable PYTHONUNBUFFERED in collection to 1 {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:10.353 [info] Setting environment variable VIRTUAL_ENV in collection to C:\Users\BuzzB\AppData\Local\pypoetry\Cache\virtualenvs\onmass-1xIxFAGP-py3.13 {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:10.353 [info] Setting environment variable VIRTUAL_ENV_DISABLE_PROMPT in collection to 1 {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}
2025-07-12 13:45:10.353 [info] Setting environment variable VIRTUAL_ENV_PROMPT in collection to onmass-py3.13 {"applyAtShellIntegration":true,"applyAtProcessCreation":true}

Additional degugging

Please see the Stack Overflow question for this issue:
https://stackoverflow.com/q/79699240/10771401

This is the issue opened at oh-my-posh:
JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh#6594

The task

I'm using oh-my-posh to display extra info in the terminal for PowerShell (v7) and Git Bash.

The problem

When using Windows Terminal I can see that the theme changes are present, but in the VS Code integrated terminal the changes are not reflected for Git Bash (there are no issues with PowerShell): the previous theme (which was a downloaded local JSON) is still present. Moreover, the previous theme had a segment on the right saying CONFIG ERROR. Additionally, this is only the case when opening a project folder, as VS Code instances outside of a project don't have the issue. I am using poetry and working on a python project, if this is of any importance.

Debug

Here is my current .bashrc:

eval "$(oh-my-posh init bash --config 'https://github.com/JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh/blob/main/themes/atomic.omp.json')"

Here is the .bash_profile:

test -f ~/.profile && . ~/.profile
test -f ~/.bashrc && . ~/.bashrc

Here is the head (up to the ERROR statement) of the oh-my-posh debug output (note that although a (Git) Bash terminal is selected in VS Code it thinks it is PowerShell, which helps to explain the mangled paths):

Version: 26.14.3

Shell: pwsh (7.5.2)

Prompt:

 BB   test   main ≡    CONFIG ERROR                                                                                              in pwsh at 11:32:18

Segments:

ConsoleTitle(true) -   0 ms
Session(true)      -   0 ms
Path(true)         -   1 ms
Git(true)          -  27 ms
Root(true)         -   0 ms
Status(true)       -   1 ms
Node(false)        -   0 ms
Go(false)          -   0 ms
Python(true)       -   0 ms
Shell(true)        -   0 ms
Time(true)         -   0 ms

Run duration: 31.6562ms

Cache path: C:\Users\BB\AppData\Local\oh-my-posh

Config path: C:\Users\BB\AppData\Local\Programs\oh-my-posh   hemestomic.omp.json

Logs:

[DEBUG] 11:32:18.499 debug.go:35 → logging enabled, raw mode: false
[DEBUG] 11:32:18.499 load.go:filePath:102 → config set using POSH_THEME: C:\Users\BB\AppData\Local\Programs\oh-my-posh       hemestomic.omp.json
[TRACE] 11:32:18.499 load.go:filePath() - 0s
[ERROR] 11:32:18.500 load.go:readConfig:156 → open C:\Users\BB\AppData\Local\Programs\oh-my-posh     hemestomic.omp.json: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.

In VS Code clicking the 'Show Environment Contributions' opens a markdown that points where the issue likely is (note only the python extension variables are shown):

# Terminal Environment Changes

## Extension: ms-python.python

Activated environment for `~\AppData\Local\pypoetry\Cache\virtualenvs\test-1xIxFAGP-py3.13\Scripts\python.exe`

- `PYTHON_BASIC_REPL=1`
- `CONDA_PROMPT_MODIFIER=False`
- `PATH=c:\Users\BB\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.python-2025.10.0-win32-x64\python_files\deactivate\powershell;C:\Users\BB\AppData\Local\pypoetry\Cache\virtualenvs\test-1xIxFAGP-py3.13/Scripts;C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7;${env:PATH}`
- `PATHEXT=.COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH;.MSC;.PY;.PYW;.CPL`
- `POSH_SESSION_ID=96cd2964-5ed9-4dac-8f2e-9b90fdc4bfd8`
- `POSH_SHELL=pwsh`
- `POSH_SHELL_VERSION=7.5.2`
- `POSH_THEME=C:\Users\BB\AppData\Local\Programs\oh-my-posh\themes\atomic.omp.json`
- `POWERLINE_COMMAND=oh-my-posh`
- `PSMODULEPATH=C:\Users\BB\OneDrive\Documents\PowerShell\Modules;C:\Program Files\PowerShell\Modules;c:\program files\powershell\7\Modules;C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules;C:\WINDOWS\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Modules`
- `PYENV_VIRTUALENV_DISABLE_PROMPT=1`
- `PYTHONIOENCODING=utf-8`
- `PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1`
- `VIRTUAL_ENV=C:\Users\BB\AppData\Local\pypoetry\Cache\virtualenvs\test-1xIxFAGP-py3.13`
- `VIRTUAL_ENV_DISABLE_PROMPT=1`
- `VIRTUAL_ENV_PROMPT=test-py3.13`

In the location C:\Users\BB\AppData\Local\oh-my-posh, there is a Shell Script which contains oh-my-posh variables (note only the top of the file is listed below):

export POSH_THEME=$'C:\\Users\\BB\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\oh-my-posh\\themes\\atomic.omp.json'
export POSH_SHELL='bash'
export POSH_SHELL_VERSION=$BASH_VERSION
export POWERLINE_COMMAND='oh-my-posh'
export CONDA_PROMPT_MODIFIER=false
export OSTYPE=$OSTYPE

# disable all known python virtual environment prompts
export VIRTUAL_ENV_DISABLE_PROMPT=1
export PYENV_VIRTUALENV_DISABLE_PROMPT=1

# global variables
_omp_start_time=''
_omp_stack_count=0
_omp_execution_time=-1
_omp_no_status=true
_omp_status=0
_omp_pipestatus=0
_omp_executable=$'C:/Users/BB/AppData/Local/Programs/oh-my-posh/bin/oh-my-posh.exe'

export POSH_SESSION_ID=$("$_omp_executable" get uuid)

# switches to enable/disable features
_omp_cursor_positioning=0
_omp_ftcs_marks=0

Lastly, changing the VS Code settings.json option:
"terminal.integrated.shellIntegration.enabled" from the default true to false resolves the problem, but at the expense of loosing the additional features that it provides. Note that I have installed and set in VS Code settings.json a Monospaced Nerd Font.

Conclusions

It seems that the VS Code python extension is injecting oh-my-posh variables in the shell; why on earth, I don't know. But critically they are wrong, since it is a bash shell not pwsh.

1. What is at fault, is it oh-my-posh, VS Code, poetry, or something else?
2. How do I fix the issue? (I'm not interested in simply disabling shell integrations alltogether).

Extension version: 2025.10.0
VS Code version: Code 1.102.0 (cb0c47c0cfaad0757385834bd89d410c78a856c0, 2025-07-09T22:10:34.600Z)
OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26100
Modes:

• Python version (& distribution if applicable, e.g. Anaconda): 3.13.5
• Type of virtual environment used (e.g. conda, venv, virtualenv, etc.): Poetry
• Value of the python.languageServer setting: Default

User Settings

languageServer: "Pylance"

Installed Extensions

Extension Name	Extension Id	Version
code-spell-checker	str	4.0.47
copilot	Git	1.342.0
copilot-chat	Git	0.29.0
datawrangler	ms-	1.22.0
debugpy	ms-	2025.10.0
docker	doc	0.12.0
even-better-toml	tam	0.21.2
intellicode-api-usage-examples	Vis	0.2.9
js-debug	ms-	1.102.0
js-debug-companion	ms-	1.1.3
jupyter	ms-	2025.6.0
jupyter-keymap	ms-	1.1.2
jupyter-renderers	ms-	1.3.0
material-icon-theme	PKi	5.24.0
powershell	ms-	2025.2.0
python	ms-	2025.10.0
r	REd	2.8.6
r-syntax	REd	0.1.3
rainbow-csv	mec	3.20.0
remote-containers	ms-	0.422.0
remote-wsl	ms-	0.99.0
ruff	cha	2025.24.0
theme-dracula	dra	2.25.1
vscode-containers	ms-	2.0.3
vscode-cython	ktn	1.0.3
vscode-docker	ms-	2.0.0
vscode-js-profile-table	ms-	1.0.10
vscode-jupyter-cell-tags	ms-	0.1.9
vscode-jupyter-slideshow	ms-	0.1.6
vscode-markdownlint	Dav	0.60.0
vscode-pylance	ms-	2025.6.2
vscode-sanddance	msr	4.2.0
vscode-xml	red	0.29.0
vscodeintellicode	Vis	1.3.2

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10610U CPU @ 1.80GHz (8 x 2304)
GPU Status	2d_canvas: enabled canvas_oop_rasterization: enabled_on direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok gpu_compositing: enabled multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on opengl: enabled_on rasterization: enabled raw_draw: disabled_off_ok skia_graphite: disabled_off video_decode: enabled video_encode: enabled vulkan: disabled_off webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled webgpu: enabled webnn: disabled_off
Load (avg)	undefined
Memory (System)	63.78GB (48.20GB free)
Process Argv	--crash-reporter-id 6c9c76d3-84d3-440d-85bb-0171f3f92c8a
Screen Reader	no
VM	0%

A/B Experiments

vsliv368:30146709
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azure-dev_surveyone:30548225
962ge761:30959799
2e7ec940:31000449
cppperfnew:31000557
dwnewjupyter:31046869
nativeloc1:31344060
5fd0e150:31155592
dwcopilot:31170013
6074i472:31201624
dwoutputs:31242946
hdaa2157:31222309
copilot_t_ci:31333650
e5gg6876:31282496
pythoneinst12:31285622
c7cif404:31314491
pythonpulldiag:31343502
996jf627:31283433
pythonrdcb7:31342333
usemplatestapi:31297334
0aa6g176:31307128
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aj953862:31281341
generatesymbolt:31295002
convertfstringf:31295003
9d2cg352:31346308
convertlamdat:31329272
usemarketplace:31343026
nesew2to5:31336538
agentclaude:31335815
nes-diff-11:31337487
63221493:31336333
yijiwantestdri0626-t:31336930
ji9b5146:31342393

[iibadshah]

I'd like to add further peculiarities that I've witnessed to the injecting behaviour:

When the virtual environment is deleted (simply by deleting the .venv), the terminal still thinks the virtual environment is active.
Killing the terminal and starting another instance does not resolve this, the virtual envrionment is still appearing as activated even though it doesn't exist.
Inspecting the environment variables I can see that VIRTUAL_ENV is still present and pointing to the deleted virtual environment.

The python extension allows for stale environment variables, even in a new terminal.

A workaround I have in place is (settings.json):

"terminal.integrated.enablePersistentSessions": false,
"terminal.integrated.shellIntegration.enabled": false,  // This critically stops shell injection
"python.terminal.activateEnvironment": false,
"python.useEnvironmentsExtension": true,  // Extension must be installed (at time of posting; due to be incorporated by default)
"python-envs.terminal.autoActivationType": "command",  // This does not use injections, but a command to auto activate venv