Output format reference

Without --format or ?format=, conda-presto writes its native JSON result. Every named format is discovered through conda’s environment-exporter plugin registry. The base dependencies supply conda’s built-in exporters and conda-lockfiles exporters. Other installed plugins can add names and aliases.

Native JSON

The native response is a JSON array with one SolveResult per requested platform. This is the default for the CLI and both /resolve methods.

[
  {
    "platform": "linux-64",
    "packages": [
      {
        "name": "zlib",
        "version": "1.3.2",
        "build": "h25fd6f3_2",
        "build_number": 2,
        "channel": "conda-forge",
        "subdir": "linux-64",
        "url": "https://conda.anaconda.org/conda-forge/linux-64/zlib-1.3.2-h25fd6f3_2.conda",
        "sha256": "245c9ee8d688e23661b95e3c6dd7272ca936fabc03d423cdb3cdee1bbcf9f2f2",
        "md5": "c2a01a08fc991620a74b32420e97868a",
        "size": 95931,
        "depends": ["__glibc >=2.17,<3.0.a0", "libzlib 1.3.2 h25fd6f3_2"],
        "constrains": [],
        "manager": "conda"
      }
    ],
    "error": null
  }
]

The selected versions and hashes depend on current repodata. The fields do not.

platform

Target conda subdirectory.

packages

Selected package records. Each record contains name, version, build, build_number, channel, subdir, url, sha256, md5, size, depends, constrains, and manager.

error

null after a successful platform solve. A captured solver failure produces an empty package list and a safe error string for that platform. Other platforms in the same request can still succeed.

Registered exporter names

With the dependency versions required by this release, these exporters are registered:

Primary name	Aliases	Category	Media type	Multiple platforms in one document
explicit	None	Lockfile	text/plain; charset=utf-8	No
environment-yaml	yaml, yml, env.yml	Environment	application/yaml	No
environment-json	json	Environment	application/json	No
requirements	reqs, txt	Environment	text/plain; charset=utf-8	No
conda-lock-v1	conda-lock	Lockfile	application/yaml	Yes
rattler-lock-v6	pixi, pixi-lock-v6	Lockfile	application/yaml	Yes

For an exporter without a multiplatform entry point, conda-presto renders each platform separately and joins the texts with a newline. Use a single platform for environment-json when the output must be one valid JSON document. The lockfile exporters with a multiplatform entry point produce one document for all requested platforms.

An installed plugin can change the available set. Use GET /formats to read the names in the running server.

explicit

Conda’s CEP 23 explicit format contains one exact package URL per line after an @EXPLICIT marker. The current conda exporter does not append package hashes to those URLs.

conda presto --format explicit -c conda-forge -p linux-64 zlib

# This file may be used to create an environment using:
# $ conda create --name <env> --file <this file>
# platform: linux-64
# created-by: conda 26.5.3
@EXPLICIT
https://conda.anaconda.org/conda-forge/linux-64/libzlib-1.3.2-h25fd6f3_2.conda
https://conda.anaconda.org/conda-forge/linux-64/zlib-1.3.2-h25fd6f3_2.conda

The created-by version follows the installed conda version.

environment-yaml

This exporter writes a conda environment document with pinned package dependencies selected by the solve.

conda presto --format environment-yaml -c conda-forge -p linux-64 zlib

name:
dependencies:
  - libzlib=1.3.2=h25fd6f3_2
  - zlib=1.3.2=h25fd6f3_2

The solved Environment has no target prefix name or configured channel list, so those values are absent or null. Exact package URLs retain channel identity.

environment-json

This exporter writes the same conda environment model as JSON.

conda presto --format environment-json -c conda-forge -p linux-64 zlib

{
  "name": null,
  "dependencies": [
    "libzlib=1.3.2=h25fd6f3_2",
    "zlib=1.3.2=h25fd6f3_2"
  ]
}

requirements

Warning

Conda registers this CEP 23 MatchSpec exporter, but it requires an Environment with requested packages. conda-presto’s solved environments hold explicit selected package records instead. The current exporter therefore rejects this format on a normal solve. Use explicit, environment-yaml, or environment-json for a text representation of a solved environment.

The name remains visible through GET /formats because that endpoint reports the conda registry, not a conda-presto allowlist.

conda-lock-v1

The conda-lockfiles plugin writes one multi-platform conda-lock.yml document.

conda presto --format conda-lock-v1 \
  -c conda-forge \
  -p linux-64 \
  -p osx-arm64 \
  zlib > conda-lock.yml

The document records exact package URLs and hashes for each platform. Its metadata identifies the conda-lockfiles version that created it.

rattler-lock-v6

The conda-lockfiles plugin writes one multi-platform rattler-lock v6 document, normally named pixi.lock.

conda presto --format pixi-lock-v6 \
  -c conda-forge \
  -p linux-64 \
  -p osx-arm64 \
  zlib > pixi.lock

rattler-lock-v6, pixi, and pixi-lock-v6 select the same exporter.

Failure behavior

The exporter path requires every platform solve to succeed. The CLI exits with status 1 when a solve or exporter fails. HTTP /resolve?format=<name> returns HTTP 500 for those failures because an exporter cannot represent the native per-platform error shape.

An unknown name returns the sorted registry names in the error. Additional exporter plugins are accepted without conda-presto-specific dispatch code.

See also

• CLI reference

• HTTP API reference

• GitHub Action reference

• Transcode lockfiles without solving