Editor & language intelligence

The editor supports both Robot Framework suites and the Python modules beside them. Python intelligence (.py, .pyi, .pyw) is backed by Jedi and resolves against your active environment, so completions and hover reflect the packages you actually installed.

Language features

Feature	Notes
Completions	Each row is tagged with what the symbol is (param, class, def, module, …) so same-prefix entries are easy to tell apart. Press Tab or Enter to accept. Robot: DSL and BuiltIn keywords, including the keyword after Suite/Test/Task Setup, Teardown, Template, and [Setup] / [Teardown] / [Template]. After a keyword argument separator (two spaces), the popup offers the next name= (for example locator= or modules=), including keywords from .resource files — not ${locator}=. It stays quiet while you type the current argument’s value — including inside expression=random.randint(. Python: buffer symbols (locals and parameters in scope first), project-indexed symbols from other modules, and stdlib / installed-package symbols. Private _names appear once you type the leading underscore
Hover	Robot: pause on a keyword cell for docs/signature. Python: pause on a symbol — including builtins like len and str.split, stdlib modules, and packages in the active environment
Signature help	Robot: argument hints while the caret is in a keyword call (also on pointer hover). Chips use the same name / name=default form for library and resource keywords (locator, text, timeout=10), not ${locator}. Python: info card appears only when you hover a symbol — clicking to place the caret does not open it, and blank parts of a line do not either
Breadcrumbs	Path / structure trail above the editor, including the enclosing Robot keyword or Python class/function
Go to Definition	F12, Ctrl/Cmd+Click, or right-click → Go to Definition; multi-match picker when needed. Results stay in the open workspace — a project you opened earlier is not mixed in. Python: follows imports and aliases to where a name is defined; stdlib / site-package sources open in Peek Definition (outside the project tree)
Context menu	Right-click in the editor for Cut / Copy / Paste, Go to Definition, Peek Definition, Find References, Impact Analysis, Rename Symbol, Format Document, Find, and Replace. Clicking outside an existing selection places the caret first (same as VS Code)
References	Find usages across the project (Go → Find References). Python: resolved from the caret, so it distinguishes same-named symbols in different scopes
Rename Symbol	Edit → Rename Symbol… (also command palette). The dialog shows the symbol under the caret and explains that usages are updated across the project. Python: definition and every usage. Robot: user keywords (not BuiltIn), including qualified and BDD-prefixed calls
Document symbols	Navigate within the current file (Go → Go to Symbol in File…)
Diagnostics	Live while editing. Robot: library imports resolve via the active environment; keywords defined in a Resource you import (and libraries that resource imports) are treated as available (same as Robot Framework); unknown keywords and variables are flagged (@{list} / &{dict} match the same name imported as ${list} from a Variables Python/YAML file or a Resource); embedded-argument keywords such as Login with ${type} credential match calls like Login with valid credential, and ${type} is treated as declared in that keyword’s body; keyword calls are checked for unknown, missing, and extra arguments when the keyword’s signature is known — including keywords defined in .resource / suite files (so a renamed [Arguments] name such as locator → selector warns on leftover locator= calls); name= cells that do not belong to a wrapper such as Run Keyword And Return Status are treated as arguments of the inner keyword (*args), not as unknown arguments of the wrapper; unused Library / Resource imports in the current file are listed as information. Extended variable access like ${response.json()} is accepted when ${response} is known. Python: syntax errors (all of them, not just the first); lint via the environment’s ruff check when installed, otherwise pyflakes (undefined names, unused imports, unused locals); a warning when an import / from package is not in the active environment; a warning when from package import Name refers to a class or function that does not exist on that package; optional Python member checks (Settings → Editor) for unknown attributes (obj.wrong) and unexpected call keywords (func(nope=…)) when Jedi can infer the type
Formatting	Robot: built-in tidy. Python: uses your environment’s own ruff or black so the result matches your project config and CI. With neither installed, only trailing whitespace is trimmed
Outline	Outline pane under Explorer — Robot sections/keywords/tests, and Python classes, functions, methods, and variables (module-level names, class fields, and self. / cls. attributes). Click an item to jump the caret and scroll it into view; the selection follows your caret as you move through the file
Run this test	In a .robot suite, a play control sits left of each test case (and task) name. Click it to run only that test. Run → Run Test at Cursor (command palette: Run Test at Cursor) does the same for the test that contains the caret. Toolbar Run / F5 still runs the whole file

Typing in Python files

Key	Behavior
Tab	Accepts the highlighted completion when the popup is open, otherwise indents
Enter	Accepts the highlighted completion when the popup is open. After a line ending in : (def, class, if, for, try, match) it opens an indented block
Cmd/Ctrl+Click	Go to definition of the symbol under the pointer

Problems panel

Findings sync into the bottom Problems panel. Missing imports and other file-level analysis issues stay here — Robot Doctor is a separate structural scan (circular imports, duplicate keywords, unused assets) and does not list missing_import findings.

Some findings include a Fix action on the row:

Finding	Fix
Missing library (known Robot library such as RequestsLibrary)	Install the matching PyPI package into the active environment
Unknown keyword with a library prefix (RequestsLibrary.GET On Session)	Insert Library RequestsLibrary into Settings
Missing Python package (import pandas when pandas is not installed)	Install that package into the active environment

The panel auto-opens when diagnostics first appear while you edit. It auto-closes when those findings clear — only if Studio opened it and Problems is still the visible tab. If you opened Problems yourself (View menu, status bar ERRORS/WARNINGS, or the collapsed bar), or you switched to Terminal, the panel stays open.

Python diagnostics need an active environment. Imports are checked against that environment: a missing package such as pandas shows as a warning in Problems, and from pandas import NotARealClass warns when that name is not on the package. Turn on Settings → Editor → Python Member Checks for obj.wrong and func(nope=…) warnings when Jedi can infer the object or call type (off by default — untyped Path variables, Pydantic models, and AST walkers can be noisy). try / except ImportError optional imports are left quiet. Lint uses ruff check from the active environment when it is installed, otherwise pyflakes. While a file has a syntax error only the parse errors are shown — reporting undefined names in a half-typed file would flag symbols whose definitions simply have not parsed yet.