# Most Requested Features and Bugs in Pylance

This document provides a comprehensive overview of the most requested features and bugs in the Pylance extension, based on community feedback from GitHub Discussions and Issues. Items were selected from highly reacted issues; reaction counts below refer to total GitHub reactions.

**Last Updated:** July 27, 2026  
**Maintenance:** This document is maintained by the community and should be updated quarterly or when significant changes occur in top-requested items.

## Top Features and Enhancements

### 1. Improved Docstring Display Support (363 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#1848](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/1848)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Enhanced support for Python docstrings, including recognition of existing docstrings with defined parameters/types and auto-generation of docstrings with type inference from function signatures.

### 2. Show Class Hierarchy / Method Override Indicators (368 reactions) - ⏳ OPEN
**Issue:** [#4972](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/4972)  
**Status:** Open (assigned)  
**Description:** Display visual indicators (similar to PyCharm) showing which methods in a class override parent class methods, with ability to jump to the overriding parent method through icons.

### 3. Import Resolution Issues (130 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#236](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/236)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** "Import could not be resolved" errors for valid imports, particularly for local modules in subdirectories.

### 4. Auto-Import Settings Control (120 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#64](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/64)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Ability to disable or configure auto-imports behavior to avoid unwanted automatic import suggestions.

### 5. Support for PyScript & Brython (48 reactions) - ⏳ OPEN
**Issue:** [#6760](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/6760)  
**Status:** Open (assigned)  
**Description:** Enable Python language support in HTML files for PyScript and Brython projects, including code highlighting and autocompletion for Python code directly in HTML files.

### 6. Add Support for Context-Based Code Actions (40 reactions) - ⏳ OPEN
**Issue:** [#5368](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/5368)  
**Status:** Open (assigned)  
**Description:** Provide refactoring code actions depending on context:
- Create parameter from undefined variable
- Create class from undefined class reference
- Create method from undefined function call

### 7. Improved Django Support (34 reactions) - ⏳ OPEN
**Issue:** [#3701](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/3701)  
**Status:** Open (assigned)  
**Description:** Enhanced Django support including:
- Completion for all related keys generated by Django ORM
- Extended completions for filter operations based on key names
- Go to definition on models referenced in settings.py
- Completions on models in settings.py
- manage.py shortcuts

### 8. Hide Private Variables/Attributes in Autocomplete (30 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#5281](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/5281)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Option to hide variables/attributes starting with underscore(s) from autocomplete suggestions outside their scope.

### 9. Moving Folders/Files Does Not Update Imports (39 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#7051](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/7051)  
**Status:** Closed (fixed in next version)  
**Description:** When moving folders or multiple files, Python imports are not automatically refactored. Works only when moving a single file.

### 10. Different Docstring Format Support (29 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#48](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/48)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Support for Google-style docstrings and other popular docstring formats (not just reStructuredText).

## Top Open Discussion Requests

These items come from [GitHub Discussions](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/discussions) sorted by top upvotes.

### 1. Support for PEP 723 (86 upvotes) - ⏳ OPEN
**Discussion:** [#6522](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/discussions/6522)  
**Status:** Open  
**Description:** Add better support for inline script metadata, including TOML syntax highlighting/formatting and dependency or environment handling for PEP 723 scripts.

### 2. Rename Symbols in Docstrings (40 upvotes) - ⏳ OPEN
**Discussion:** [#2938](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/discussions/2938)  
**Status:** Open  
**Description:** Extend "Rename Symbol" so Python docstring references are updated during refactoring.

### 3. Apply Class Docstrings to Fields (39 upvotes) - ⏳ OPEN
**Discussion:** [#4759](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/discussions/4759)  
**Status:** Open  
**Description:** Surface field documentation from class docstring attribute sections, similar to PyCharm's hover behavior.

### 4. Reference-Style Markdown Links in Docstrings (30 upvotes) - ⏳ OPEN
**Discussion:** [#4402](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/discussions/4402)  
**Status:** Open  
**Description:** Improve hover rendering for mkdocstrings/Sphinx-style reference links, ideally by resolving links or at least displaying link text cleanly.

### 5. Multi-root Rename and References (27 upvotes) - ⏳ OPEN
**Discussion:** [#2585](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/discussions/2585)  
**Status:** Open  
**Description:** Make "Rename Symbol" and "Go to References" work across related roots in multi-root workspaces.

### 6. Method Reference CodeLens (26 upvotes) - ⏳ OPEN
**Discussion:** [#4740](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/discussions/4740)  
**Status:** Open  
**Description:** Show method reference CodeLens entries for Python, similar to TypeScript, JavaScript, and C#.

### 7. Sort Imports Across Entire Notebooks (25 upvotes) - ⏳ OPEN
**Discussion:** [#2633](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/discussions/2633)  
**Status:** Open  
**Description:** Add a command to sort imports independently in every cell of a notebook.

### 8. Pytest Fixture Parameter Completions (24 upvotes) - ⏳ OPEN
**Discussion:** [#4388](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/discussions/4388)  
**Status:** Open  
**Description:** Infer fixture-provided parameter types so completions work inside pytest test functions.

## Top Bugs and Issues

### 1. Compatibility Issues Between Versions (48 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#5019](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/5019)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Pylance v2023.10.50 incompatibility with older Python Extension versions, causing licensing error messages.

### 2. PEP-660 Editable Installs Not Recognized (27 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#3473](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/3473)  
**Status:** Closed (by design)  
**Description:** Pylance not recognizing imports from PEP-660 editable installs with non-standard directory structures.

### 3. Jupyter Notebook Pylance Instability (27 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#4742](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/4742)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Pylance becomes unstable in Jupyter notebooks after 1-2 hours, losing syntax highlighting and error detection.

### 4. Virtual Environment Configuration (25 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#330](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/330)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Difficulty setting Pylance to use virtual Python environments (venv, conda, etc.).

### 5. Color Picker Support (26 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#6761](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/6761)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Invoke color picker for color values in Python code (RGB tuples, hex strings) similar to other languages.

### 6. Go to Definition Goes to Stub Files (70 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#65](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/65)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** "Go to Definition" navigating to stub files (.pyi) instead of actual implementation code.

### 7. Refactoring: Move Module Members (73 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#76](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/76)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Refactoring feature to move variables or functions to different modules and automatically update all imports.

### 8. Line-Level Error Suppression (61 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#196](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/196)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Allow suppression of specific errors on individual lines (similar to `# pylint: disable=...`).

### 9. reportGeneralTypeIssues Too Generic (28 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#497](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/497)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** The `reportGeneralTypeIssues` category covers both certain errors and assumed errors, making it difficult to handle differently.

### 10. Refactoring Features for File/Module/Variable Names (45 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#1510](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/1510)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Add comprehensive refactoring support for renaming files, modules, and variables with automatic update of all references.

## Additional Notable Issues

### Library-Specific Issues

#### TensorFlow Support (34 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#1066](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/1066)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Pylance not properly resolving TensorFlow modules like `tensorflow.data`.

#### NumPy Type Information (25 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#150](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/150)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Missing type information for numpy, showing "Unknown" for numpy types like `np.ndarray`.

#### OpenCV (cv2) Intellisense (22 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#138](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/138)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** No intellisense for OpenCV (cv2) methods.

#### Attrs Library Support (35 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#226](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/226)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Pylance not recognizing constructor parameters from attrs library decorators.

### Configuration and Settings

#### VS Code Settings Schema Recognition (28 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#16](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/16)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** JSON config file not recognizing Pylance as a valid language server option.

#### Support for `pylance.analysis.exclude` Setting (33 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#1150](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/1150)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Add VS Code setting to exclude directories from analysis (similar to pyrightconfig.json).

### Debugging and Error Handling

#### EMFILE: Too Many Open Files (24 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#936](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/936)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Error when opening Python files due to too many file handles being opened.

#### Local Import Resolution (25 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#519](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/519)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Pylance cannot resolve imports of local .py files in the same directory.

#### Local Imports in Subdirectories (36 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#68](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/68)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Local imports not resolving correctly when files are in subdirectories.

### Code Quality and Enhancement Features

#### Fold All Docstrings Command (25 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#4677](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/4677)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Add command to fold all docstrings in a file to improve code readability.

#### Folding Range Support (23 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#372](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/372)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Support for LSP folding-range requests to enable better code folding.

#### functools.wraps Decorator Support (26 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#442](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/442)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Special-case support for `@functools.wraps` to preserve function signatures in decorators.

#### functools.partial Parameter Hints (21 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#1434](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/1434)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Parameter hints not updating when using `functools.partial`.

#### Auto-Update Import Paths on File Move/Rename (20 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#127](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/127)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Automatically update import paths throughout the project when moving or renaming Python files.

### Jupyter Notebook Issues

#### Jupyter Notebook Cell Deletion Crash (21 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#4685](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/4685)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Pylance crashes when deleting cells in Jupyter notebooks in specific orders.

#### Jupyter Notebook Syntax Highlighting Failure (23 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#5543](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/5543)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Syntax highlighting fails in Jupyter notebooks after switching focus between documents.

### Documentation

#### Missing Docstrings for Builtins (25 reactions) - ✅ COMPLETED
**Issue:** [#49](https://github.com/microsoft/pylance-release/issues/49)  
**Status:** Closed  
**Description:** Missing docstrings for Python builtin functions and classes in hover tooltips.

## Summary Statistics

This report covers **37 GitHub Issues** and **8 GitHub Discussions** (45 items total). Discussions are not closed when implemented, so open/closed percentages are calculated from issues only.

- **GitHub Issues Analyzed:** 37
- **GitHub Discussions Analyzed:** 8 (all open; discussions are not closed when implemented)
- **Issues Closed/Completed:** 33 (89% of issues)
- **Issues Still Open:** 4 (11% of issues)
- **Discussions Open:** 8 (100% of discussions)
- **Average Reactions (Top 20 Issues):** 86 reactions
- **Peak Reactions:** 368 reactions (#4972 - Class Hierarchy)

## Key Themes

### Most Requested Features (By Category):
1. **Refactoring & Code Actions** - Move files/folders, rename with auto-update, context-based code generation, docstring-aware rename
2. **Enhanced Language Support** - PyScript/Brython, Django, PEP 723, better library stubs
3. **Developer Experience** - Class hierarchy visualization, docstring management, auto-imports control, CodeLens references
4. **Type Checking Improvements** - Better handling of dynamic types, partial function support, pytest fixture inference

### Most Common Bugs (By Category):
1. **Import Resolution** - Local imports, virtual environments, editable installs
2. **Jupyter Notebook Issues** - Stability, syntax highlighting, cell operations
3. **Library Compatibility** - NumPy, TensorFlow, OpenCV, attrs
4. **Performance** - File handle limits, large projects

## Recommendations

### High Priority Open Items:
1. **Class Hierarchy/Method Override Indicators** (#4972) - Highly requested IDE feature parity with PyCharm
2. **PEP 723 Support** (Discussion #6522) - Highest-upvoted open discussion request
3. **PyScript & Brython Support** (#6760) - Emerging Python-in-browser ecosystem
4. **Rename Symbols in Docstrings** (Discussion #2938) - Refactoring quality-of-life improvement
5. **Context-Based Code Actions** (#5368) - Productivity enhancement
6. **Django Support** (#3701) - Important for Django developer ecosystem

### Community Engagement:
- The community is very active with detailed bug reports and feature requests
- Most issues are well-documented with reproduction steps
- High completion rate indicates responsive development team
- Many features implemented after community feedback

## Notes

- This report is based on GitHub Issues sorted by reaction count (👍) and GitHub Discussions sorted by upvotes
- Many highly-requested features have already been implemented
- The development team has been very responsive to community feedback
- Several library-specific issues require upstream stub packages
- Import resolution and advanced language framework support remain active areas of development
