set the PYTHONPATH when debugging with F5 in Visual Studio Code (VS Code)

Option 1: Use env in launch.json

When you press F5, VS Code uses the configuration in .vscode/launch.json.

You can set PYTHONPATH (and other environment variables) directly there:

{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "name": "Python: Debug App",
      "type": "python",
      "request": "launch",
      "program": "${file}",
      "console": "integratedTerminal",
      "env": {
        "PYTHONPATH": "${workspaceFolder}/src"
      }
    }
  ]
}

👉 Replace ${workspaceFolder}/src with the path you want added to the Python module search path.

When you press F5, VS Code will:

• Set PYTHONPATH before launching the debugger.

• Your app will see the correct import paths.

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Option 2: Use .env file

You can also define environment variables (including PYTHONPATH) in a .env file, and tell VS Code to use it.

1. Create a file called .env in your project root:

   PYTHONPATH=src
   

2. In launch.json, reference it:

   {
     "name": "Python: Debug App",
     "type": "python",
     "request": "launch",
     "program": "${file}",
     "envFile": "${workspaceFolder}/.env"
   }
   

Then pressing F5 will load PYTHONPATH from .env before debugging starts.

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Option 3: Add path dynamically in code (less preferred)

If you can’t modify launch.json, you can add the path programmatically:

import sys
sys.path.append("/path/to/your/src")

…but this is usually not ideal — better to configure it in VS Code.