Project files, lockfiles, and workspaces#
Conda Code supports two roles for project files:
a one-time input that creates a regular named environment
a workspace manifest that continues to define an environment
The distinction determines which command changes the environment later.
One-time environment inputs#
An environment.yml or environment.yaml describes conda requirements using
CEP 24. Conda Code passes the file to
conda create and supplies a name. The command-line name overrides a name or
prefix in the YAML file.
After creation, Conda Code manages the resulting prefix as a regular named environment. It does not retain a relationship to the file. Package operations change the prefix without rewriting the YAML.
This is useful when a repository already carries an environment file but does not need manifest synchronization inside VS Code.
Exact inputs#
An explicit.txt file with the @EXPLICIT marker follows
CEP 23. It identifies exact package
artifacts and does not require a solve.
conda-lockfiles adds
support for conda-lock.yml and conda-lock.yaml through conda’s environment
specifier plugin API. Conda Code delegates parsing and installation to conda.
Conda-lockfiles can also register pixi.lock as an input format. Conda Code
does not discover that filename because Pixi projects already have a project
provider path through Pixi Code or conda-workspaces.
For both forms, configured default packages or additional creation packages would change the exact result. Conda Code disables the defaults and refuses the additional packages.
The created prefix is still a regular named conda environment. Exactness applies to creation, not to later package operations.
Workspace manifests#
A conda workspace manifest remains the project definition after installation.
Conda Code associates its installed prefixes with that manifest and routes
supported changes through conda workspace.
An existing discovered workspace therefore takes precedence over one-time project inputs. Creation installs an uninstalled workspace declaration instead of creating a second environment from another file.
Ambiguous project roots#
Quick Create is non-interactive. When several recognized one-time inputs exist, Conda Code cannot infer which one should win and stops.
Interactive creation lists the files separately and keeps other permitted creation modes available.