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FossAndFurioustoday at 4:34 PM2 repliesview on HN

Pyrefly is Meta's new Python type checker and VS Code extension, released earlier this year. While auditing the VSIX before installing it, I found that on activation it silently writes `disableLanguageServices = true` to the user's global settings for three named extensions: basedpyright, windsurfpyright, and cursorpyright.

The write uses `ConfigurationTarget.Global`, so it affects all workspaces. There is no `deactivate()` cleanup, so the setting persists after Pyrefly is uninstalled.

This was verified by live reproduction: installed Pyrefly alongside basedpyright, opened a Python file, and observed the key appear in `settings.json`. Uninstalled Pyrefly — key remained, basedpyright still broken.

The code is in plain TypeScript in the public repo (`lsp/src/extension-interop.ts`), added December 2025. This isn't obfuscated or hidden — it just hasn't been noticed.

Bug report with full details, source references, and reproduction steps: https://github.com/facebook/pyrefly/issues/3292

The fix is straightforward: ask the user before touching settings they didn't set, and restore them in `deactivate()`.


Replies

IceDanetoday at 5:47 PM

Have you just completely retired your brain in favor of a bidirectional pipe to an LLM?

show 1 reply
PufPufPuftoday at 5:28 PM

"it's not X, m-dash, it's Y"

show 1 reply