python - Anaconda: Permanently include external packages (like in PYTHONPATH)

Question

I know how to install packages in Anaconda using conda install and also how to install packages that are on PyPi which is described in the manual.

But how can I permanently include packages/folders into the PYTHONPATH of an Anaconda environment so that code that I am currently working on can be imported and is still available after a reboot?

My current approach is to use sys:

import sys
sys.path.append(r'/path/to/my/package')

which is not really convenient.

Any hints?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

I found two answers to my question in the Anaconda forum:

1.) Put the modules into into site-packages, i.e. the directory $HOME/path/to/anaconda/lib/pythonX.X/site-packages which is always on sys.path. This should also work by creating a symbolic link.

2.) Add a .pth file to the directory $HOME/path/to/anaconda/lib/pythonX.X/site-packages. This can be named anything (it just must end with .pth). A .pth file is just a newline-separated listing of the full path-names of directories that will be added to your path on Python startup.

Alternatively, if you only want to link to a particular conda environment then add the .pth file to ~/anaconda3/envs/{NAME_OF_ENVIRONMENT}/lib/pythonX.X/site-packages/

Both work straightforward and I went for the second option as it is more flexible.

*** UPDATE:

3.) Use conda develop i. e. conda-develop /path/to/module/ to add the module which creates a .pth file as described under option 2.).

4.) Create a setup.py in the folder of your package and install it using pip install -e /path/to/package which is the cleanest option from my point of view because you can also see all installations using pip list. Note that the option -e allows to edit the package code. See here for more information.

Thanks anyway!