Environment variables#

Environment variables that conda-exec reads, sets, or respects during operation.

conda-exec variables#

CONDA_EXEC_HOME

Override the base data directory for cached environments. Default: ~/.conda/exec/. Must be an absolute path (or a path starting with ~, which is expanded). When set, all cached environments are stored under $CONDA_EXEC_HOME/envs/ instead of ~/.conda/exec/envs/. Useful for testing or placing the cache on a different filesystem.

export CONDA_EXEC_HOME=/scratch/conda-exec
conda exec ruff check .
# Environment stored at /scratch/conda-exec/envs/ruff--<hash>/

Variables set during tool execution#

PATH

Modified before the tool process starts. The behavior depends on the --activate flag:

  • Without --activate (default): the prefix’s bin/ directory (or Scripts/ on Windows) is prepended to PATH. No other environment variables are changed.

  • With --activate: full conda activation is applied, which modifies PATH and may set or unset additional variables (see CONDA_PREFIX below).

CONDA_PREFIX

Only set when --activate is used. Points to the ephemeral environment prefix (e.g. ~/.conda/exec/envs/samtools--7e2d9f04/). Without --activate, this variable is not set.

Standard conda variables#

conda-exec runs within conda’s plugin framework and inherits conda’s context system. The following standard conda environment variables are respected through conda.base.context:

CONDA_ALWAYS_YES

When set to true, skip confirmation prompts (equivalent to --yes on the command line). Applies to conda exec --clean.

CONDA_DRY_RUN

When set to true, report what would be done without making changes. Applies to conda exec --clean.

CONDA_JSON

When set to true, produce JSON output. Applies to conda exec --list.

CONDA_SUBDIR

Override the platform subdirectory used for package resolution (e.g. linux-64, osx-arm64). Passed through to the solver.

Path resolution order#

The base data directory is resolved in this order:

  1. CONDA_EXEC_HOME environment variable, if set

  2. ~/.conda/exec/ (primary location on all platforms)

  3. On Windows only, if ~/.conda/exec/ does not exist: platformdirs.user_data_dir("conda", "conda") / "exec" as a fallback matching conda’s own data directory conventions

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