Included Plugins

cx bootstraps conda with a selected set of default plugins. These are part of the conda-express distribution policy, not conda-ship’s generic builder behavior.

Default plugin set

Package	What it adds	Typical commands or behavior
conda-rattler-solver	Rattler/resolvo-based solver backend	solver: rattler is written to .condarc
conda-spawn	Subprocess-based activation	cx spawn ENV, conda spawn ENV
conda-completion	Shell completion support	cx completion status, cx completion install --dry-run --command-name cx
conda-exec	Ephemeral package execution and PEP 723 scripts	cx exec ruff --version, cx exec --list
conda-pypi	PyPI interoperability inside conda workflows	PyPI dependency handling through the conda plugin stack
conda-self	Base environment self-management workflow	cx self reset --snapshot installer-exact
conda-global	Isolated global tool environments	cx global install ruff, cx global list
conda-workspaces	Project workspaces, tasks, and lockfiles	cx workspace ..., cx task ...

cx also installs Python and conda itself. The full package set is listed in Configuration.

Why these plugins are included

The default set is meant to make a fresh conda installation useful without turning the base prefix into a project environment:

• conda-rattler-solver avoids libmamba’s native dependency chain in the managed base.

• conda-spawn gives users an activation workflow without conda init.

• conda-self can reset the managed base prefix from the initial-state snapshot written at bootstrap.

• conda-global covers isolated command-line tools.

• conda-exec covers one-off package execution without adding tools to the managed base prefix.

• conda-workspaces covers project-level environments and tasks for users who want a conda-native workspace workflow.

• conda-pypi and conda-completion fill common day-to-day gaps.

Shell completion

The completion command is available after bootstrap:

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

init prints the shell integration script. install writes the shell hook that enables command completion for conda commands and installed conda plugin subcommands. Use --dry-run first to inspect the profile changes before writing them.

Pass --command-name cx to init, install, and uninstall so the hook registers cx rather than the underlying conda executable. The runtime does not inject a command name into the conda process.

Activation Workflow

Because cx includes conda-spawn, the conda-express activation model is:

cx spawn myenv
exit

cx spawn is the currently released conda-spawn command. The shell alias in conda-spawn PR #59 is not part of a released conda-spawn version yet. All commands are passed through to the installed conda executable after automatic bootstrap.

Workspace and tool commands

After bootstrap, these plugin commands are available through cx:

cx workspace init --name my-project
cx workspace add python numpy
cx workspace install
cx task run test
cx exec ruff --version
cx global install ruff

The commands are regular conda plugin subcommands. cx passes them through to the installed conda executable after the prefix exists.