`python.testing.pytestPath` does not work with test discovery.

[ProfessorCode212]

Discussed in #19316

^{Originally posted by ProfessorCode212 June 16, 2022}
I get the following uncaught error for the Python Extension in VS Code. This only happens inside venv. It doesn't seem to be able to detect my system-wide pytest installation. I have even set python.testing.pytestPath to ~/.local/bin/pytest.

Traceback (most recent call last): 
File "/home/pc/.vscode/extensions/ms-python.python-2022.8.0/pythonFiles/testing_tools/run_adapter.py",
 line 17, in <module> from testing_tools.adapter.__main__ import parse_args,
 main File "/home/pc/.vscode/extensions/ms-python.python-2022.8.0/pythonFiles/testing_tools/adapter/__main__.py",
 line 9, in <module> from . import pytest,
 report File "/home/pc/.vscode/extensions/ms-python.python-2022.8.0/pythonFiles/testing_tools/adapter/pytest/__init__.py",
 line 7, in <module> from ._discovery import discover 
File "/home/pc/.vscode/extensions/ms-python.python-2022.8.0/pythonFiles/testing_tools/adapter/pytest/_discovery.py",
 line 8, in <module> import pytest
 ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pytest'

This problem does get fixed if I install pytest into the relevant venv but I am wondering if there is a way around it.

[karthiknadig]

python.testing.pytestPath is not supported very well in the extension. Actually, there are plans to remove it entirely. Installing it in the venv is the right thing to do here.

[ProfessorCode212]

Karthik Nadig (@karthiknadig) That's a pity. It's a bit of a nuisance to have to install pytest for every single project. Is there any other way?

[karthiknadig]

Unfortunately, there is no other way. The reason is that often tools like linter, formatter etc are not really tied too tightly to the projects. So there was some demand to use those tools from a global location. But pytest is often used with additional plugins which require and sometimes work with specific version of pytest. So, there has been little to no demand to use a global pytest.

I can turn this into a feature request and see how the demand is.

[karthiknadig]

We are going to give the community 60 days from when this issue was created to provide 7 👍 upvotes on the opening comment to gauge general interest in this idea. If there's enough upvotes then we will consider this feature request in our future planning. If there's unfortunately not enough upvotes then we will close this issue.

[ProfessorCode212]

But pytest is often used with additional plugins which require and sometimes work with specific version of pytest. So, there has been little to no demand to use a global pytest.

🤔 Isn't that the point of giving this option, though? Anyone who wants to use a project-specific version of pytest can just leave python.testing.pytestPath as is and use a venv. Others can opt to use a globally-installed pytest package.