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Set up an IDE for a Pixi project

Source: R/use_pixi_ide.R
use_pixi_ide.Rd

Set an IDE or editor up to use the R in the project's Pixi environment. use_pixi() calls these with its ide argument.

  • use_pixi_rstudio() adds, or replaces, an rstudio task in pixi.toml that starts a new RStudio with the environment's R and the project's .Rproj file, on Linux, macOS and Windows (linux-64, osx-64, osx-arm64 and win-64). Pixi adds any of those platforms the project doesn't have. It creates the .Rproj file if there isn't one. Start RStudio with pixi run rstudio.

  • use_pixi_positron() turns on Positron's discovery of R in Pixi environments, and makes the default environment's R Positron's default for the project, in .vscode/settings.json. Positron (2026.10 or later) then starts that R when the project opens, until you pick another R there. The path is for the operating system you run it on; on another one, Positron ignores it.

  • use_pixi_vscode() adds languageserver, the R extension's sess (how it talks to R) and jgd (its plots), and the console if it isn't R, to the environment. sess and jgd come from the rpix-forge channel until they're on conda-forge; it's added to the project's channels after conda-forge. It points the R extension for VS Code, and the editors based on it such as VSCodium, Cursor and Windsurf, at the environment's R and the console, in .vscode/settings.json. On Windows, the environment's R only starts when the environment is activated, so it leaves R and the console to be found on the PATH instead: start VS Code with pixi run code . (or codium, cursor or windsurf instead of code).

  • use_pixi_emacs(), use_pixi_neovim() and use_pixi_zed() add languageserver to the environment, and a .envrc that activates the environment with direnv (see use_pixi_direnv()). The editor, or the shell it starts from, then finds the environment's R and languageserver on the PATH: Emacs with its envrc package, Neovim from a shell with direnv's hook or with a direnv plugin, and Zed by itself. On Windows, start the editor from the environment instead, e.g. with pixi run nvim.

In an interactive session, use_pixi_vscode() asks which console to use, unless console is given. Otherwise it keeps the console already set up, or R.

Existing settings in .vscode/settings.json are kept. In a package, .vscode is added to .Rbuildignore.

Usage

use_pixi_rstudio(path = NULL)

use_pixi_positron(path = NULL, default_r = TRUE)

use_pixi_vscode(path = NULL, console = NULL)

use_pixi_emacs(path = NULL)

use_pixi_neovim(path = NULL)

use_pixi_zed(path = NULL)

Arguments

path

The project. Defaults to the working directory.

default_r

For use_pixi_positron(): if TRUE, make the default environment's R Positron's default for the project.

console

For use_pixi_vscode(): the R console, "R", "arf" or "radian". NULL asks.

Value

The file they changed, invisibly.

Examples

# A throwaway Pixi project in R's temporary folder, so the examples leave
# yours alone. With `dry_run = TRUE`, rpix shows the Pixi command it would run.
project <- file.path(tempdir(), "rpix-example")
dir.create(project, showWarnings = FALSE)
writeLines(
  c(
    "[workspace]",
    'name = "rpix-example"',
    'channels = ["conda-forge"]',
    'platforms = ["linux-64", "osx-arm64", "win-64"]',
    "",
    "[dependencies]",
    'r-base = "4.5.*"',
    'conda-ecosystem-user-package-isolation = "*"'
  ),
  file.path(project, "pixi.toml")
)

use_pixi_positron(path = project)
#> ✔ Updated .vscode/settings.json.
#> ℹ Positron (2026.10 or later) now starts the project's R when you open the project; restart it if it's open. If you've picked another R in this project before, pick "R (Pixi: default)" once.

if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
# These need Pixi, and add packages to the project
use_pixi_rstudio()
use_pixi_vscode(console = "arf")
use_pixi_neovim()
} # }