Improve assistant package workflow

[melissa-barca]

Addresses #6967

Make assistant more aware of the current package and module environment.

• rename the existing R LLM tools to use language-specific names so they can be easily differentiated from other language's tools
• add corresponding Python tools to gather information about the available and installed modules
  • implemented a new RPC method _get_loaded_modules to provide a list of loaded modules for the active console session
  • implemented a small python script to check what modules are installed
• tell Positron Assistant how to use the tools and how handle scenarios when the user doesn't have the required package/module loaded and/or installed

Release Notes

New Features

• N/A

Bug Fixes

• N/A

QA Notes

[github-actions]

E2E Tests 🚀
This PR will run tests tagged with: @:critical

^{readme  valid tags}

[jmcphers]

I couldn't get this to work for Python. In particular:

• the language model thinks all installed packages are loaded/imported
• the language model still writes import statements for packages it thinks are loaded

I don't think it will be possible to get this to work with the approach of invoking a Python script b/c we need to introspect the in-memory state of the specific python session the user has active at the Console.

It might be possible to co-opt the variables comm for this b/c loaded modules are currently explicitly excluded but we could include them. Alternately we could use something callMethod on the R side to invoke sys.modules.keys() on the Python side.

[jmcphers]

This is in the loaded/attached tool, but is querying for all installed packages. In my testing it made Assistant think that every installed package was also loaded.

[melissa-barca]

Thank you! I rewrote the tool to use callMethod and added a new rpc to get the loaded modules.

[Copilot]

Pull Request Overview

This PR improves the assistant package workflow by renaming existing R LLM tools to use language-specific names and adding corresponding Python tools for checking loaded and installed modules.

• Renames R tools in both TypeScript and package.json for clarity.
• Introduces Python tools to gather module information via a new RPC method and a helper Python script.
• Updates package assistant prompts to include a package management workflow.

Reviewed Changes

Copilot reviewed 8 out of 8 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
extensions/positron-r/src/llm-tools.ts	Renames R tool identifiers to include the R language prefix.
extensions/positron-r/package.json	Updates tool names and descriptions to reflect the R-specific context.
extensions/positron-python/src/client/llm-tools/llm-tools.ts	Implements Python tools to get loaded modules and package version.
extensions/positron-python/src/client/extensionActivation.ts	Registers the new Python language model tools.
extensions/positron-python/python_files/posit/positron/ui.py	Adds the new _get_loaded_modules RPC method.
extensions/positron-python/package.json	Adds definitions for the new Python language model tools.
extensions/positron-assistant/src/md/prompts/chat/default.md	Updates assistant prompts with package management guidelines.

Comments suppressed due to low confidence (1)

extensions/positron-python/python_files/posit/positron/ui.py:72

• It appears that the sys module is referenced without an explicit import within this file. Confirm that sys is imported or add 'import sys' as needed to avoid runtime errors.

if not name.startswith("_") and isinstance(kernel.shell.user_ns[name], type(sys))

[jmcphers]

The tool works well!

Would recommend adding a session ID to the tool as noted so we can work with notebook sessions, etc.

[isabelizimm]

nice!