diff --git a/pythonExtensionApi/src/main.ts b/pythonExtensionApi/src/main.ts
index b980a06b72f8..cf1461f04d81 100644
--- a/pythonExtensionApi/src/main.ts
+++ b/pythonExtensionApi/src/main.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import { CancellationToken, Event, Uri, WorkspaceFolder, QuickPickItem, extensio
 export interface PythonExtension {
     /**
      * Promise indicating whether all parts of the extension have completed loading or not.
-     * @type {Promise<void>}
      */
     ready: Promise<void>;
     jupyter: {
@@ -21,10 +20,9 @@ export interface PythonExtension {
          * Generate an array of strings for commands to pass to the Python executable to launch the debugger for remote debugging.
          * Users can append another array of strings of what they want to execute along with relevant arguments to Python.
          * E.g `['/Users/..../pythonVSCode/pythonFiles/lib/python/debugpy', '--listen', 'localhost:57039', '--wait-for-client']`
-         * @param {string} host
-         * @param {number} port
-         * @param {boolean} [waitUntilDebuggerAttaches=true]
-         * @returns {Promise<string[]>}
+         * @param host
+         * @param port
+         * @param waitUntilDebuggerAttaches Defaults to `true`.
          */
         getRemoteLauncherCommand(host: string, port: number, waitUntilDebuggerAttaches: boolean): Promise<string[]>;
 
@@ -38,8 +36,8 @@ export interface PythonExtension {
     datascience: {
         /**
          * Launches Data Viewer component.
-         * @param {IDataViewerDataProvider} dataProvider Instance that will be used by the Data Viewer component to fetch data.
-         * @param {string} title Data Viewer title
+         * @param dataProvider Instance that will be used by the Data Viewer component to fetch data.
+         * @param title Data Viewer title
          */
         showDataViewer(dataProvider: IDataViewerDataProvider, title: string): Promise<void>;
         /**
@@ -316,7 +314,6 @@ export type EnvironmentPath = {
  * was contributed.
  */
 export type EnvironmentTools = KnownEnvironmentTools | string;
-
 /**
  * Tools or plugins the Python extension currently has built-in support for. Note this list is expected to shrink
  * once tools have their own separate extensions.
@@ -335,7 +332,6 @@ export type KnownEnvironmentTools =
  * Type of the environment. It can be {@link KnownEnvironmentTypes} or custom string which was contributed.
  */
 export type EnvironmentType = KnownEnvironmentTypes | string;
-
 /**
  * Environment types the Python extension is aware of. Note this list is expected to shrink once tools have their
  * own separate extensions, in which case they're expected to provide the type themselves.
diff --git a/src/client/api/types.ts b/src/client/api/types.ts
index 4e13ec4853ec..cf1461f04d81 100644
--- a/src/client/api/types.ts
+++ b/src/client/api/types.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
 // Licensed under the MIT License.
 
-import { CancellationToken, Event, Uri, WorkspaceFolder, QuickPickItem } from 'vscode';
+import { CancellationToken, Event, Uri, WorkspaceFolder, QuickPickItem, extensions } from 'vscode';
 
 /*
  * Do not introduce any breaking changes to this API.
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import { CancellationToken, Event, Uri, WorkspaceFolder, QuickPickItem } from 'v
 export interface PythonExtension {
     /**
      * Promise indicating whether all parts of the extension have completed loading or not.
-     * @type {Promise<void>}
      */
     ready: Promise<void>;
     jupyter: {
@@ -21,10 +20,9 @@ export interface PythonExtension {
          * Generate an array of strings for commands to pass to the Python executable to launch the debugger for remote debugging.
          * Users can append another array of strings of what they want to execute along with relevant arguments to Python.
          * E.g `['/Users/..../pythonVSCode/pythonFiles/lib/python/debugpy', '--listen', 'localhost:57039', '--wait-for-client']`
-         * @param {string} host
-         * @param {number} port
-         * @param {boolean} [waitUntilDebuggerAttaches=true]
-         * @returns {Promise<string[]>}
+         * @param host
+         * @param port
+         * @param waitUntilDebuggerAttaches Defaults to `true`.
          */
         getRemoteLauncherCommand(host: string, port: number, waitUntilDebuggerAttaches: boolean): Promise<string[]>;
 
@@ -38,8 +36,8 @@ export interface PythonExtension {
     datascience: {
         /**
          * Launches Data Viewer component.
-         * @param {IDataViewerDataProvider} dataProvider Instance that will be used by the Data Viewer component to fetch data.
-         * @param {string} title Data Viewer title
+         * @param dataProvider Instance that will be used by the Data Viewer component to fetch data.
+         * @param title Data Viewer title
          */
         showDataViewer(dataProvider: IDataViewerDataProvider, title: string): Promise<void>;
         /**
@@ -387,3 +385,23 @@ export type EnvironmentVariablesChangeEvent = {
      */
     readonly env: EnvironmentVariables;
 };
+
+export const PVSC_EXTENSION_ID = 'ms-python.python';
+
+// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-namespace
+export namespace PythonExtension {
+    /**
+     * Returns the API exposed by the Python extension in VS Code.
+     */
+    export async function api(): Promise<PythonExtension> {
+        const extension = extensions.getExtension(PVSC_EXTENSION_ID);
+        if (extension === undefined) {
+            throw new Error(`Python extension is not installed or is disabled`);
+        }
+        if (!extension.isActive) {
+            await extension.activate();
+        }
+        const pythonApi: PythonExtension = extension.exports;
+        return pythonApi;
+    }
+}