Make standalone script template creation reliable by StellaHuang95 · Pull Request #1736 · microsoft/vscode-python-environments

Stella Huang (StellaHuang95) · 2026-08-25T19:23:04Z

Context

The existing Script project template is presented as a PEP 723 standalone script, but its placeholder metadata is not valid TOML. The quick-create path also returns without creating a file, even though external callers provide a script project name and destination.

This change fixes the existing user-facing template and file-creation workflow. It does not create, select, or expose an inline-script environment.

Why this change is needed

The shipped metadata block cannot be parsed by the extension's own PEP 723 parser.
Quick create skips the copy/register/open path.
External quick callers provide a base project name such as hello_world, not necessarily a complete .py filename.
Filename/path handling needs to reject traversal, reserved Windows device names, remote-workspace identity loss, and physical symlink escapes.
Project-registration failure can otherwise leave a generated file or in-memory ghost project.
Copilot instruction paths can be redirected outside the workspace through existing symlinks or junctions.

What changed

The template now contains valid requires-python = ">=3.9" metadata and an empty dependency list.
Quick base names are normalized to .py; interactive creation continues requiring an explicit .py filename.
Interactive and quick flows share validation for extension, characters, separators, traversal, containment, and Windows reserved names.
Workspace matching preserves remote URI scheme and authority.
Destination and Copilot-instruction paths are physically checked against the containing workspace before any side effect.
Quick and interactive creation share the file copy, substitution, project registration, instruction, and open flow.
Project registration is awaited. Insert-then-fail behavior removes the in-memory project and copied script while preserving the original error.
Out-of-workspace destinations are rejected because they cannot be durably registered.
Related documentation and Copilot instructions now describe the actual script behavior and metadata fields.

Behavior and compatibility

Package project creation is unchanged.
Script creation still does not provision an environment.
The hidden inline manager remains undeclared, default-off, and unregistered.
Users already saw a PEP 723 block in generated scripts; this change makes that existing block valid.
Opening the now-valid generated file may emit the existing anonymized telemetry-only detection event. It does not create or select an environment.

Reviewer guide

Review shared filename normalization and validation.
Review workspace URI matching and physical containment preflight.
Review side-effect ordering and registration rollback.
Review the actual template parser test and quick-create tests.

Validation

npm run compile-tests --silent
Targeted metadata parser and script creator suites: 71 passing
ESLint on changed TypeScript files
git diff --check

Heejae Chang (heejaechang) · 2026-08-25T19:33:25Z

GitHub cannot anchor PR review comments to unchanged lines in the diff. Falling back to a general PR comment for src/features/creators/newScriptProject.ts:L336.

Warning · Non-blocking recommendation

After project registration succeeds, failures from Copilot-instruction management or showTextDocument reject create while retaining the generated file and project. Define the registration commit boundary explicitly: either roll back these resources on such failures or make post-registration editor opening best-effort, with focused failure coverage.

Heejae Chang (heejaechang) · 2026-08-25T19:33:34Z

Verification: The relevant tests could not be fully run in the isolated environment; this review is not fully verified.

Heejae Chang (heejaechang)

Approved via Review Center.

Heejae Chang (heejaechang) · 2026-08-25T21:39:58Z

Verification: The relevant tests could not be fully run in the isolated environment; this review is not fully verified.

Heejae Chang (heejaechang) · 2026-08-25T22:14:04Z

Verification: The relevant tests could not be fully run in the isolated environment; this review is not fully verified.

Heejae Chang (heejaechang) · 2026-08-25T22:35:12Z

Verification: The relevant tests could not be fully run in the isolated environment; this review is not fully verified.

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Extract isSameOrParentPath into common/utils/pathUtils and reuse it in newScriptProject and terminal/utils instead of duplicated local copies. Remove the niche fs.realpath/symlink containment preflight and isCopilotInstructionsDestinationContained while keeping input validation, remote-URI identity, logical workspace containment, and registration rollback. Update unit tests accordingly. Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 1487b95c-ac14-455f-9b7f-9770cf65e11e

Resolve the destination and workspace roots with fs.realpath and reject when the destination physically escapes the workspace (e.g. via a symlink or junction) before fs.copy. Addresses review feedback that the previous containment check was lexical only. Adds back a unit test for the symlink-escape rejection. Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 1487b95c-ac14-455f-9b7f-9770cf65e11e

Wrap the template copy, name substitution, and project registration in a single cleanup boundary so a failure after fs.copy removes the partially created script instead of leaving it behind and blocking a clean retry. Make the test fixture's pathExists fake resolve by the requested path rather than by call order, and add a regression test for the substitution-failure rollback. Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 1487b95c-ac14-455f-9b7f-9770cf65e11e

Move the Windows reserved-device-name test out of the script filename validator and into a shared isWindowsReservedDeviceName helper in common/utils/pathUtils, so the rule lives with the other path utilities and can be reused. newScriptProject now calls the helper and no longer imports isWindows directly. Add focused unit coverage for the helper. Rename the internal template folder new723ScriptTemplate to newInlineScriptTemplate and update all creator and test references. Only the folder name changes; the template content and the user-facing creator, class, and command are untouched. Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 1487b95c-ac14-455f-9b7f-9770cf65e11e

Stella Huang (StellaHuang95) added the feature-request Request for new features or functionality label Aug 25, 2026