CLI Reference

cx is a conda runtime produced by conda-ship. It installs the conda-express base environment from the stamped runtime lock when needed, then delegates to the installed conda executable with the original arguments.

The bootstrapper does not reserve a separate command namespace. --help, --version, and every subcommand are conda arguments. For the generic runtime behavior shared by other generated runtimes, see conda-ship’s runtime CLI reference.

First Invocation

Run any conda command:

cx info

If ~/.conda/express does not exist, cx installs the stamped package set and then runs conda info. Later invocations delegate directly to the conda executable in that prefix.

A bare invocation, cx --help, and cx --version follow the same rule. They bootstrap when needed, then show conda’s normal output.

The embedded cxz artifact has the same interface. It reads its package archives from the binary during automatic bootstrap:

cxz info

Bootstrap Controls

Automatic bootstrap is controlled with environment variables. These values do not consume or rewrite conda arguments.

CX_PREFIX

Override the managed prefix path. The default is ~/.conda/express.

CX_BUNDLE

Read package archives from a local bundle directory while bootstrapping.

CX_OFFLINE

Disable network access while bootstrapping. Empty, 0, and false leave offline mode disabled. Other non-empty values enable it.

Example:

CX_PREFIX=/opt/cx \
CX_BUNDLE=/opt/cx-packages \
CX_OFFLINE=1 \
cx info

Keep CX_PREFIX set on later invocations that should use the same non-default prefix:

CX_PREFIX=/opt/cx cx create -n myenv python=3.12

cxz detects its embedded bundle automatically, so it does not need CX_BUNDLE:

CX_PREFIX=/opt/cx CX_OFFLINE=1 cxz info

Conda Commands

Use cx as the conda command name:

cx create -n myenv python=3.12
cx install -n myenv numpy
cx list -n myenv
cx env list
cx config --show
cx info
cx --help
cx --version

cx info is the status command. It reports the conda version, root prefix, environment directories, channels, and other conda configuration.

Included Plugin Commands

The installed conda environment supplies additional commands through the plugins included by conda-express.

cx spawn

Open a subshell with an environment activated through conda-spawn:

cx spawn myenv
exit

The currently released conda-spawn command is spawn. The shell alias in conda-spawn PR #59 is not part of a released conda-spawn version yet.

cx self

conda-self manages the installed base environment. conda-ship writes conda-meta/initial-state.explicit.txt during the first bootstrap, which lets conda-self restore that installer snapshot:

cx self reset --snapshot installer-exact

That snapshot records the package set used to create the existing prefix. If you later install a newer cx binary, reset still uses the snapshot already in the prefix. It does not read or apply the newer binary’s stamped runtime lock.

The current conda-self integration manages the installed prefix, not the cx binary. Update or remove that binary through the method that installed it.

To bootstrap the package set from a newly installed binary, first export any named environments you need, remove the managed prefix, and run any cx command. The next invocation creates a new prefix from that binary’s lock.

cx completion

conda-completion can generate and install completion hooks. Pass --command-name cx to commands that register a command name because the runtime does not inject one into the conda process:

cx completion status
cx completion init bash --command-name cx
cx completion install --dry-run --command-name cx

Removal

There is no runtime-owned cx uninstall command. Remove the binary through the method that installed it, such as Homebrew or PyPI. Standalone script installations are removed by deleting the installed binary and the PATH entry added by the script.

Removing the binary does not remove ~/.conda/express or its named environments. Export anything you need before deleting that prefix manually. This remains installation-method-specific until conda-self provides a conda-express adapter.