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Microsoft Python Language Server

Microsoft Python Language Server implements the Language Server Protocol.

Its primary clients are the Python extension for VS Code and Python Tools for Visual Studio.

Feel free to file issues or ask questions on our issue tracker, and we welcome code contributions.

Build/contributing instructions

See CONTRIBUTING.md

Troubleshooting and known issues

See TROUBLESHOOTING.md.

Linting options (diagnostics)

The language server implements diagnostics (or linting), which runs on user code. The following diagnostics are supported:

CodeDescription
inherit-non-classAttempted to inherit something that is not a class.
too-many-function-argumentsToo many arguments have been provided to a function call.
too-many-positional-arguments-before-starToo many arguments have been provided before a starred argument.
no-cls-argumentFirst parameter in a class method must be cls
no-method-argumentMethod has no arguments
no-self-argumentFirst parameter in a method must be self
parameter-already-specifiedA argument with this name has already been specified.
parameter-missingA required positional argument is missing.
positional-argument-after-keywordA positional argument has been provided after a keyword argument.
positional-only-namedA positional-only argument (3.8+) has been named in a function call.
return-in-initEncountered an explicit return in __init__ function.
typing-generic-argumentsAn error occurred while constructing Generic.
typing-newtype-argumentsAn error occurred while constructing NewType.
typing-typevar-argumentsAn error occurred while constructing TypeVar.
unknown-parameter-nameThe keyword argument name provided is unknown.
unresolved-importAn import cannot be resolved, and may be missing.
undefined-variableA variable has been used that has not yet been defined.
variable-not-defined-globallyA variable is not defined in the global scope.
variable-not-defined-nonlocalA variable is not defined in non-local scopes.

A full list can be seen in the source code.

Linting can be controlled via the user configuration. In VS Code, this is settings.json, but other clients would send this via workspace/didChangeConfiguration.

If python.linting.enabled is set to false in the user configuration, then no diagnostics will be collected other than syntax errors and unresolved imports.

To control the visibility and severity of the diagnotics, there are a number of lists that can be set in the user configuration which make use of each diagnostic's error code.

SettingDescription
python.analysis.errorsDiagnostics which should be shown as errors.
python.analysis.warningsDiagnostics which should be shown as warnings.
python.analysis.informationDiagnostics which should be shown as informational.
python.analysis.disabledDiagnotics which should not be shown at all.

An example of a user configuration which sets these options:

{
    "python.analysis.errors": ["undefined-variable"],
    "python.analysis.warnings": ["unknown-parameter-name"],
    "python.analysis.information": ["unresolved-import"],
    "python.analysis.disabled": ["too-many-function-arguments", "parameter-missing"],
}

Linting can also be controlled on an individual line basis with a generalized #noqa. Lines with #noqa will have their diagnostic output suppressed.

An example usage:

from python import language_server  # noqa will suppress the linting message for this line

Cache location

During analysis language server produces Python code from compiled modules and builtins which is similar to Python module stubs. It may also produce database files holding module analysis for faster retrieval later. Cache location is at

Windows

"%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Python Language Server" (which is Environment.SpecialFolder.LocalApplicationData). Typically "C:\Users\\%USER_NAME%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Python Language Server"

Linux

"$XDG_CACHE_HOME/Microsoft/Python Language Server", or if XDG_CACHE_HOME is not set, "$HOME/.cache/Microsoft/Python Language Server"

macOS

"$HOME/Library/Caches/Microsoft/Python Language Server"