$PATH in Vim doesn't match Terminal

MacVim appears to be getting the $PATH in a way that ignores a regular user's custom dotfiles.

I can't say why they prefer to do it this way, but it appears to be true. In the preferences (under the Advanced tab), you can choose to "Launch Vim processes in a login shell", but it only improves the $PATH slightly for me.

The best I can tell, MacVim uses /usr/libexec/path_helper - which in turn uses the items found (1) in the /etc/paths file and (2) anything additional found in the /etc/paths.d/ directory. Any changes made in a user's home directory (via .profile or the like) is ignored.

In a nutshell, you get the OSX defaults, plus any applications that add themselves to /etc/paths.d. (For example, MacTex does so on my system.) So if you want to adjust your MacVim path, one way would be to add a file with items to /etc/paths.d. (I wouldn't directly edit /etc/paths since then you run the risk of the changes being undone by system updates.)

Thanks for letting me know this. I'm off to file a wishlist bug at MacVim.

BTW, the "Launch Vim processes in a login shell" preference is no longer available in MacVim (at least not v7.3). I see that launching MacVim from the Finder gets the wrong path, but launching it from a shell (as "mvim") gets the correct path.

It's not sourced from .bash_profile, but you can use this in your .vimrc:

let $PATH=$PATH . ':/blah/foo'

You have to have the : or it won't be a correct PATH variable.

I can't believe I didn't see this before. Okay, I can believe it. Anyways, MacVim comes with an option that solves this. Under Preferences just check "Launch Vim processes in a login shell". That's it, it works. Snazzy. Stupid me.

Oops

I accidentally wrote this answer not realizing that Telemachus had already given me the correct answer. Marked his as the answer.

This Mac Dev Center article may be of some use.