Setting the Working Directory for Debugging in VS Code

When debugging a Python program in Visual Studio Code (VS Code), it's often useful to specify the working directory in which the script should run. This allows you to work with files and resources relative to the specific directory where your code is located.

To dynamically set the working directory to the directory of the currently-open Python file, modify your launch.json file by adding the following configuration:

"cwd": "${fileDirname}"

This takes advantage of VS Code's variables/variable substitution feature, using the predefined variable fileDirname to represent the directory of the open Python file. Note that these variables are case-sensitive.

In addition, you may need to add the purpose option:

"purpose": ["debug-in-terminal"]

This may be necessary if using the "Run and Debug" button in the sidebar instead of the play button on the top-right of the window.

If you're running Python using the "Current File (Integrated Terminal)" option, your launch.json file might look like this:

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
    {
            "name": "Python: Current File (Integrated Terminal)",
            "type": "python",
            "request": "launch",
            "program": "${file}",
            "console": "integratedTerminal",
            "cwd": "${fileDirname}",
            "purpose": ["debug-in-terminal"]
    }
}

The launch.json file controls the run/debug settings for your VS Code project. To create a new file, open your project folder in VS Code and select the "Configure" gear icon in the "Debug" view top bar. If you don't have a launch.json file, you can prompt VS Code to create one by clicking the "Debug" button in the navigation panel.