Environment operations

Regular environments

Environment type	Discover	Create	Select	Delete
Base environment	Yes	No	Yes	No
Named environment	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Project .conda prefix	Yes	Interactive only	Yes	Yes
Other conda prefix	Yes when reported or resolved	Outside Conda Code	Yes	No
Conda installation prefix	Yes when reported	Outside Conda Code	Yes	No
conda-global tool prefix	No	No	No	No
.pixi/envs prefix	No	No	No	No

Regular discovery starts with the root prefix and environment prefixes from conda info --json. Conda Code can also resolve an unregistered prefix from the prefix path or its Python executable.

Project environment files are creation inputs, not discovery inputs. See Project creation. After creation, the regular named environment is visible when conda reports its prefix.

Environments without Python remain visible with a warning. Conda Code reads Python version data from conda-meta rather than starting the interpreter.

Workspace environments

State	Discover	Install through Create	Select	Delete
Installed with Python	Yes	Already installed	Declaring project only	Clean prefix
Installed without Python	Yes, with warning	Already installed	Declaring project only	Clean prefix
Declared but not installed	No	Yes	No	Not applicable
Prefix claimed by multiple manifests	No	No	No	No

Deleting a workspace environment runs the workspace clean operation. It does not remove the declaration from the manifest.

Creation behavior

Context	Quick Create	Interactive Create
Existing conda workspace	Install a declared environment	Choose an uninstalled declaration when needed
One recognized project input	Create a named environment from it	Choose the input, workspace, .conda, or named environment
Several recognized project inputs	Fail	Choose an input, workspace, .conda, or named environment
Registered project without an input	Create conda.toml and install its default environment	Choose workspace, .conda, or named environment
Pixi project without an input when Pixi Code is installed	Refused	Project .conda or named environment
Global or multiple projects	Create an available named environment	Create a named environment

New regular environments created without a project input and new workspaces include Python unless the requested package list already contains a Python specification.

For an existing workspace environment backed by zero or one feature, Quick Create adds Python when its declaration does not contain it. Additional creation packages use the same feature rule. An environment composed from multiple features must be edited directly.

CEP 24 inputs supply their own package set and may receive additional creation packages afterward. Exact inputs refuse additional packages and disable configured default packages.

Execution

Regular environments advertise shell activation for Bash, Zsh, POSIX sh, Fish, PowerShell Core (pwsh), Git Bash, and Command Prompt. Other shells use the absolute Python interpreter.

Workspace environments use the absolute interpreter directly. Conda Code does not advertise conda workspace shell because it opens a nested blocking shell.