isort installs statistics
By Microsoft (224 listings) · VS Code Marketplace · Programming Languages
Import organization support for Python files using isort.
isort has 25,935,624 recorded installs on VS Code Marketplace.
It ranks #46 of 2,501 tracked VS Code Marketplace listings by installs.
It is rated 2.5 out of 5 from 40 ratings.
PluginStats has 4 daily observations since Oct 16, 2026; the latest is from Oct 19, 2026.
Rating: 2.53 / 5 from 40 ratings
About isort
Import sorting extension for Visual Studio Code using isort
A Visual Studio Code extension that provides import sorting for Python projects using isort. The extension uses the Language Server Protocol (LSP) to run isort in a server-like mode.
This extension ships with isort=9.0.1.
Note: The minimum version of isort this extension supports is 8.0.1. If you have any issues sorting imports with isort, please report it to this issue tracker as this extension is just a wrapper around isort.
This extension supports all actively supported versions of the Python language.
For more information on isort, see https://pycqa.github.io/isort/
Usage and Features
The isort extension provides a series of import sorting features to help with readability of your Python code in Visual Studio Code. Check out the Settings section below for more details on how to customize the extension.
• Integrated Import Sorting: Once this extension is installed in Visual Studio Code, isort is automatically registered as an import organizer. You can use Shift + Alt + O to trigger the organize imports editor action. You can also trigger this from the quick fix available when imports are not organized. • Customizable isort Arguments: You can customize the arguments passed to isort by modifying the isort.args setting. • Import Sorting on Save: You can enable import sorting on save for Python files by changing the editor.codeActionsOnSave setting. It also works alongside the VS Code Black formatter extension if you set the following settings:
Disabling isort
If you want to disable isort for your entire workspace or globally, you can disable this extension in Visual Studio Code.
Settings
| Settings | Default | Description |
| isort.args | [] | Arguments passed to isort for sorting imports in Python files. Each argument should be provided as a separate string in the array. Examples: - "isort.args" = ["--settings-file", ""] - "isort.args" = ["--settings-path", "${fileDirname}"] | | isort.check | false | Whether to run isort --check on open Python files and report sorting issues as a "Hint" in the Problems window. You can update isort.severity to show sorting issues with higher severity. | | isort.severity | { "W": "Warning", "E": "Hint" } | Mapping of isort's message types to VS Code's diagnostic severity levels as displayed in the Problems window. | | isort.path | [] | Path of the isort binary to be used by this extension. Note: This may slow down formatting. Examples: - isort.path : ["~/global_env/isort"] - isort.path : ["conda", "run", "-n", "lint_env", "python", "-m", "isort"] | | isort.interpreter | [] | Path to a Python executable or a command that will be used to launch the isort server and any subprocess. Accepts an array of a single or multiple strings. When set to [], the extension will use the path to the selected Python interpreter. | | isort.importStrategy | useBundled | Defines which isort binary to be used to lint Python files. When set to useBundled, the extension will use the isort binary that is shipped with the extension. When set to fromEnvironment, the extension will attempt to use the isort binary and all dependencies that are available in the currently selected environment. Note: If the extension can't find a valid isort binary in the selected environment, it will fallback to using the isort binary that is shipped with the extension. The isort.path setting may also be ignored when this setting is set to fromEnvironment. | | isort.showNotification | off | Controls when notifications are shown by this extension. Accepted values are onError, onWarning, always and off. | | isort.serverEnabled | true | Experimental setting to control whether to run isort in a server-like mode. By default isort is run behind LSP server, but you can disable this setting to run isort directly. Disabling this setting will also disable import sorting via Code Actions or Organize Imports, but you can still sort imports through the isort: Sort Imports command. |
Commands
| Command | Description |
| isort: Restart | Force re-start the isort server. |
Logging
From the Command Palette (View > Command Palette ...), run the Developer: Set Log Level... command. Select isort from the Extension logs group. Then select the log level you want to set.
Alternatively, you can set the isort.trace.server setting to verbose to get more detailed logs from the isort server. This can be helpful when filing bug reports.
To open the logs, click on the language status icon ({}) on the bottom right of the Status bar, next to the Python language mode. Locate the isort entry and select Open logs.
Development
This extension uses the shared vscode-common-python-lsp TypeScript and Python libraries from the git submodule at external/vscode-common-python-lsp. The setup commands below initialize that submodule before npm resolves the local dependency, install and build the shared Node package, install extension dependencies, and bundle the Python libraries.
Prerequisites: Git, Node.js (see .nvmrc), and Python 3.10 or later (python on Windows or python3 on macOS/Linux). Setup creates or reuses a project-local .venv for Python tools rather than installing into your global Python environment. The nox bundling session uses Python 3.10 and may download that interpreter if it is not already installed.
Clone the repository and enter its directory:
Setup initializes submodules automatically. If installing manually instead, initialize (or update) the submodule before installing dependencies:
Local package feeds
Choose the appropriate setup below before installing dependencies. Committed lockfiles use public npm URLs; Microsoft setup rewrites working copies for proxy installs.
Public contributors (non-Microsoft employees)…
Description from the VS Code Marketplace listing.
- formatting
- isort
- python
- toml
Charts
Images: 30d · 1y · all time · 1600×900 dark
Adoption over time
7/30/90-day growth
Ratings over time
Listing placement
Listing placement
Filled points are observed values; hollow points come from Internet Archive snapshots of the listing page. Dashed segments span periods with no observations — values between points are not interpolated.
Each band is one page of 20. Installs on a log scale. Placement is projected from installs, so it can differ from the marketplace's own sort order. Hover a dot to see the listing.
Recent observations
Full history (4)Similar VS Code Marketplace Programming Languages plugins
All 20 isort alternativesData source
Install counts, average rating, and rating counts come from the public Visual Studio Marketplace gallery API. Installs are cumulative and exclude updates.
Listing: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-python.isort. First seen Oct 16, 2026; last successful collection Oct 19, 2026. See the methodology.