BTW, if you have trouble with Pymacs but still want rope, check https://github.com/abingham/traad. It’s another rope client but does not depend on Pymacs.

The python.el imenu doesn’t refresh very well, but that could just be the version I have. I don’t use the AST module as it expects functioning python code and barks if it’s not syntactically correct. I use Pylints’ version as it works with “broken” Python, a state my python code may very well be in.

I don’t think there is major overlap between Jedi.el and python-mode. python.el implemented in pure Emacs Lisp so there is no way to access Python functionality except for very simple Python shell integration.

What still lacks with python-mode + Jedi is better REPL integration. If you want more advanced one than plain Python shell in python-mode, try my other project called EIN:
https://github.com/tkf/emacs-ipython-notebook#readme

Yes, Jedi lacks imenu support. But I think both python.el and python-mode.el have the one and it works OK. It is true that if you can use Python’s AST module you can get more accurate result. If you want it, I think the best move is to send the feature request to Jedi (the Python library, not Emacs binding, as it is not possible to support it unless the Python library has it).

Note that Jedi.el needs VIRTUAL_ENV to be set to use virtualenv. Also, Python version you are using for the virtualenv must be the same one as the one you are using for Jedi EPC server.