Provide Create Environment within the Select Interpreter quick pick

[brettcannon]

Would it be worth having a Create Environment with ... option in the environment quick pick that would use the newest version of Python found to be installed globally?

[luabud]

Yeah I think it would be great :) but I'd vote to also let the user pick the global env if there's more than one available

[karrtikr]

We could do it as an icon as well which maybe more intuitive:

[brettcannon]

But how discoverable is that icon? I personally would never think to look up there. I would also consider the "+" to do what "Enter interpreter path" does (it even matches its current icon 😉) before I would think of "+" meaning "Create Environment".

[luabud]

I like Kartik's idea, but also agree with Brett regarding discoverability.

I'm thinking of two options:

1 - We leave the enter interpreter path entry and add one above with "+ Create a new environment..." option. We would need to replace the icon from the enter interpreter path (it could be either the search icon given most folks use the "browse" option, or maybe the symlink one from https://microsoft.github.io/vscode-codicons/dist/codicon.html?); or
2 - We replace "enter interpreter path" with "+ Create a new environment...", and add a search icon next to refresh button to invoke the "enter interpreter path" option

But ofc happy to hear other ideas or suggestions 😊

[karrtikr]

I agree, I was thinking of + more as add something to the list, aka create environment/interpreter. I like both the options, we could quickly experiment it up to decide 😉

[pfmoore]

The key here is discoverability IMO, as it's already available via the normal command menu, what matters is not having people hunt for it. I found this request because I hit "select interpreter" as the obvious thing to do when I wanted to change from the default, but I'm not sure I would have spotted an unobtrusive "+" at the top.

My preference would be the first option @luabud proposes. I don't think it should force use of the default intepreter, which was what @brettcannon suggested originally, as that's not always the right choice (particularly in light of #22364). Having it work exactly like "Python: New Environment" (including prompting the user for environment type and base interpreter) seems perfectly fine to me.

[luabud]

To be consistent with Jupyter I think it makes sense to use the + button for the create environment, and then add either the search icon or the folder icon from https://microsoft.github.io/vscode-codicons/dist/codicon.html for the "enter interpreter path" option

[karthiknadig]

Done via #22746