Visual Studio Code (Mac OS) rename symbol doesn't work
It turns out the solution was simple, but frustrating. To do refactoring in VS Code (at least for python) you need to be in a workspace.
I solved the problem by first closing the open folder I was in:
File > Close Folder.
then navigating to a sub folder of .py file I was editing, and opening it. In my case it was
- Click the little document icon in the upper left of screen
- In the welcome screen, choose "open folder"
- navigate to my desktop folder (where my .py file is)
Now refactoring works as expected
Click on file icon in upper left of screen > in the welcome screen
Choosing a folder did not solve the issue for me. I switched to a new language server called Pylance and everything works fine now.