conda-lockfiles#

conda-lockfiles provides support in conda for many types of lockfiles in the conda ecosystem.

Warning

This project is still in early stages of development. Don’t use it in production (yet). We do welcome feedback on what the expected behaviour should have been if something doesn’t work!

Please submit bug reports or feature requests here.

What is this?#

conda-lockfiles adds support for additional lockfile formats to conda. It supports different types of lockfiles from the ecosystem like conda-lock or pixi.

A lockfile is a machine-generated file that records the exact versions and sources of every package in a given environment, including all dependencies, in its fully-resolved state. Unlike with environment.yml, requirements.txt, or similar files, lockfiles do not require the environment to be solved again, which might introduce differences from the original environment. Lockfiles can reproduce exact environments across different machines and points in time again and again.

The basic usage is:

# Create environment from lockfile
conda create --name ENV-NAME --format FORMAT --file /path/to/lockfile

# Export current environment to lockfile
conda export --name ENV-NAME --format FORMAT --file /path/to/lockfile

If conda recognizes your lockfile’s format, the --format flag is optional with conda create.

Currently supported lockfile formats are:

  • conda-lock.yml / conda-lock.yamlconda-lock-v1 (alias: conda-lock)

  • pixi.lockrattler-lock-v6 (aliases: pixi, pixi-lock-v6)

The version-pinned names (such as -v1, -v6) never change meaning. The short aliases track the current-stable version. For information on when to use which name, see format aliases.

Installation#

conda-lockfiles is a conda plugin and must be installed in the base environment:

conda install --name base conda-forge::conda-lockfiles

Usage#

Creating a lockfile for the current environment#

conda export --format FORMAT --file FILE

To specify additional platforms:

conda export --format FORMAT --file FILE [--override-platforms] --platform PLATFORM ...

See conda export docs for more details.

Creating a new environment from a lockfile#

conda create --file FILE

If conda is unable to determine the file format:

conda env create --file FILE --format FORMAT

See conda create docs for more details.

Examples#

Export one conda-lock file with several platforms (adjust platforms to what you need; exporting a platform different than the host may fail):

conda export \
  --name myenv \
  --format conda-lock-v1 \
  --file conda-lock.yml \
  --platform linux-64 \
  --platform osx-64

Create an environment from that lockfile:

conda create --name myenv --file conda-lock.yml
# if the format is not auto-detected:
conda create --name myenv --file dev-lock.yml --format conda-lock-v1

Pixi / rattler lock v6:

conda export --name myenv --format pixi --file pixi.lock
conda create --name myenv --file pixi.lock --format pixi

pixi resolves to rattler-lock-v6 today. Use --format rattler-lock-v6 in committed lockfiles and CI so a future alias flip doesn’t change the written format.

Learning more#

🏡 Getting started

New to conda-lockfiles? Start here to learn the essentials

Getting Started
🏷️ Format aliases

Canonical names vs. short aliases, re-export tutorial

Format names and aliases
💡 Motivation and vision

Read about why conda-lockfiles exists and when you should use it

Motivation