Skip directory .env / python.envFile paths when resolving environment variables

[Copilot]

If <project>/.env was a directory, for example a virtual environment named .env, getEnvironmentVariables() tried to read it as a file and threw EntryIsADirectory. That broke terminal env injection and Pylance. The same happened when python.envFile pointed at a directory. The cause was the fs-extra pathExists check, which also returns true for directories.

Changes

• envVariableManager.ts: both pathExists checks are replaced with a private isEnvFile helper, which accepts only regular files:

  async function isEnvFile(filePath: string): Promise<boolean> {
      try {
          return (await fsapi.stat(filePath)).isFile();
      } catch (error) {
          const code = (error as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code;
          if (code === 'ENOENT' || code === 'ENOTDIR') {
              return false;
          }
          throw error;
      }
  }

  • It uses stat, not lstat, so symlinks to regular files still load. Symlinks to directories are skipped.
  • Errors other than ENOENT/ENOTDIR (for example, EACCES) are still raised, not hidden.
  • parseEnvFile is never called on a skipped path.
• Tests (envVariableManager.unit.test.ts): these call getEnvironmentVariables directly and cover:
  • a directory at either path
  • a valid file next to a directory
  • two regular files loading in the existing order
  • symlinks to a file or a directory, using real temp-dir symlinks that are skipped if the platform can't create them
  • missing paths and ENOTDIR being skipped, and EACCES being raised

Not changed

• Precedence: the order documented in docs/README.md stays the same: base → python.envFile → project .env → overrides. This PR does not implement the issue's separate request to have python.envFile suppress project .env discovery.
• Other behavior: path selection, deduplication, merging, and URI overrides are untouched.
• Race: this is a check before the read, so a path that changes type between the stat and the read can still fail.

[Copilot]

🟢 Approval recommended

The focused implementation correctly addresses directory paths while preserving existing precedence and error behavior.

0 open findings

What changed in this PR

Prevents environment-variable loading from attempting to parse directories as .env files.

Changes:

• Validates configured and project env paths as regular files.
• Preserves symlink handling and propagates unexpected filesystem errors.
• Adds coverage for directories, symlinks, precedence, and error cases.

File	Description
src/​features/​execution/​envVariableManager.ts	Adds regular-file validation before parsing env files.
src/​test/​features/​execution/​envVariableManager.unit.test.ts	Tests file types, symlinks, precedence, and filesystem errors.

🧠 Review effort: Balanced

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[Heejae Chang (heejaechang)]

🔒 Automated review in progress — Heejae Chang (@heejaechang) is auto-reviewing this PR.

[Heejae Chang (heejaechang)]

Result: 🔴 could-not-verify

Verification details

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

Summary: [unavailable] Container verification could not start and local execution was not authorized for this PR HEAD: Could not prepare offline npm dependencies: Could not download semver@7.8.4 from the Microsoft package feed (ReadTimeout).

Test runs: none recorded.

[Heejae Chang (heejaechang)]

Approved via Review Center.

[Bill Schnurr (bschnurr)]

Approved via Review Center.