CLI reference

conda completion has six subcommands.

Global options

conda completion accepts conda’s global --json and --quiet flags silently for compatibility with global conda invocation patterns. They are hidden from the help output because the subcommand output is intended for humans and shell integration.

--cache-dir PATH

Store completion cache files in PATH for this invocation. This follows conda-style precedence: command-line option first, then CONDA_COMPLETION_CACHE_DIR, then the platform user cache directory.

conda completion generate

Introspect conda’s argparse tree and write the completion manifest.

conda completion [--cache-dir PATH] generate [--no-repodata]

Writes to the platform’s cache directory (e.g., ~/.cache/conda/completion/completion.msgpack on Linux). See Manifest format for paths on all platforms.

--no-repodata

Generate command, flag, and plugin completion data without package names or package versions. Runtime contextual completions from project files still work.

Runs via conda_post_commands after conda install, conda remove, or conda update when registered conda entry point names changed. Run it manually after installing a plugin outside conda’s package manager, or after updating a plugin whose command metadata changed without an entry point name change.

conda completion refresh

Force conda-completion to rebuild package names and versions from conda repodata.

conda completion [--cache-dir PATH] refresh

Use this when a newly published package or version is missing from completion results. It bypasses conda-completion’s 24-hour package metadata reuse and rewrites completion.msgpack, versions.index, and versions.store.

conda completion install

Generate the manifest and add the completion hook to your shell’s RC file. For fish, this writes the generated completion script directly to fish’s autoload completions directory so new shells do not start conda just to register completions.

conda completion [--cache-dir PATH] install [shell] [--yes] [--dry-run] [--no-repodata] [--command-name NAME]

shell

Shell to install for. Auto-detected if omitted. Detection checks CONDA_COMPLETION_SHELL, the parent process tree, SHELL, and then the platform default.

--yes

Skip the confirmation prompt.

--dry-run

Show what would be written without modifying files. Does not generate completion data and does not fetch repodata.

--no-repodata

Generate command completions without package metadata during the delegated generation step. Runtime contextual completions from project files still work.

--command-name NAME

Register completions for NAME instead of conda. Wrapper runtimes that set CONDA_COMPLETION_COMMAND_NAME, such as conda-ship generated runtimes, do not need this option. Use it for manual wrappers or to override the environment. This follows conda-style precedence: command-line option first, then CONDA_COMPLETION_COMMAND_NAME, then conda.

Idempotent: running it twice does not duplicate the hook. For fish, running it again refreshes the generated completion script in place.

When --cache-dir is passed to install, bash, zsh, and PowerShell startup hooks keep using that cache directory by passing the same option to conda completion init <shell>. Fish writes the resolved manifest path into its generated completion script.

When --command-name is passed to install, bash, zsh, and PowerShell startup hooks keep using that command name by passing the same option to conda completion init <shell>. Fish writes the command name into its generated completion script.

conda completion uninstall

Remove the completion hook from your shell’s RC file.

conda completion uninstall [shell] [--yes] [--dry-run] [--command-name NAME]

shell

Shell to uninstall for. Auto-detected if omitted.

--yes

Skip the confirmation prompt.

--dry-run

Show what would be removed without modifying files.

--command-name NAME

Remove the hook for a non-default command name. This matters for fish, where install --command-name cx writes ~/.config/fish/completions/cx.fish.

For fish, uninstall removes the generated autoload completion file when the conda-completion block was the only content.

conda completion init

Print the shell completion script to stdout, for use in eval statements.

conda completion [--cache-dir PATH] init <shell> [--command-name NAME]

shell (required)

One of bash, zsh, powershell, fish.

--command-name NAME

Print a shell script that registers completions for NAME instead of conda.

Examples

# bash / zsh
eval "$(conda completion init bash)"

# PowerShell
conda completion init powershell | Invoke-Expression

# fish
conda completion init fish | source

conda completion status

Show diagnostics: manifest location, age, size, command/package counts, plugin hash, package-version cache files, and completer binary path.

conda completion [--cache-dir PATH] status

Example output:

Cache directory: /home/user/.cache/conda/completion
Manifest: /home/user/.cache/conda/completion/completion.msgpack
  Last generated: 3 minutes ago (245760 bytes)
  Commands: 42
  Packages: 28540
  Plugin hash: a1b2c3d4e5f67890
Package versions index: /home/user/.cache/conda/completion/versions.index
  Size: 1048576 bytes
Package versions store: /home/user/.cache/conda/completion/versions.store
  Size: 2621440 bytes
Current plugin hash: a1b2c3d4e5f67890
Completer binary: /home/user/.conda/envs/base/bin/_conda_completer

If Current plugin hash differs from the manifest’s Plugin hash, the manifest is stale. Run conda completion generate, or let the post-command hook regenerate it after the next conda install, conda remove, or conda update.