Configuration

conda settings

conda-self registers one custom setting via conda’s conda_settings plugin hook.

self_permanent_packages

A list of package names that should never be removed by conda self remove or stripped during conda self reset.

Configure in .condarc:

self_permanent_packages:
  - pip
  - setuptools

These packages are added to the set of “permanent” dependencies (alongside conda itself and its plugins) when determining what can be safely removed.

Snapshot files

Snapshots are stored in conda-meta/ inside the base prefix and use conda’s @EXPLICIT format (a list of exact package URLs).

File	Created by	Purpose
base-protection-state.explicit.txt	conda doctor base-protection --fix	Pre-protection state of base
installer-state.explicit.txt	Installer (e.g. Miniforge)	Original installer state

These files are used by conda self reset --snapshot <type> to restore base to a known state without running the solver.

Constants

Constant	Value	Description
DEFAULT_ENV_NAME	"default"	Name of the environment created when cloning base
SNAPSHOT_FILE_BASE_PROTECTION	"base-protection-state.explicit.txt"	Snapshot filename for base protection
RESET_FILE_INSTALLER	"installer-state.explicit.txt"	Snapshot filename from installer
SELF_PERMANENT_PACKAGES_SETTING	"self_permanent_packages"	Name of the condarc setting

Environment variables

conda-self does not define its own environment variables. It respects all standard conda environment variables, including:

CONDA_CHANNELS

Override configured channels for plugin installation.

CONDA_DRY_RUN

Enable dry-run mode for all operations.

CONDA_JSON

Enable JSON output for all operations.