Environments & Package Tooling

Practical reference for deterministic Python environment isolation, dependency managers (pyenv, poetry, pip, conda), and runtime configuration.

Python Version Management (pyenv)

Install and manage multiple isolated CPython versions without polluting system interpreters:

# Install a specific CPython version
pyenv install 3.12.8

# Pin the local project directory to this Python version (.python-version file)
pyenv local 3.12.8

# Verify the active interpreter
pyenv which python

Once pinned, bootstrap an isolated virtual environment:

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

Dependency Management with Poetry

Enforce In-Project Virtual Environments

By default, Poetry creates virtual environments in a global cache directory. Enforce local .venv creation inside the repository root for predictable IDE discovery:

poetry config virtualenvs.in-project true

Environment Inspection

Query active environment metadata:

# Print the absolute path to the active virtualenv
poetry env info -p

# Display full environment diagnostic info (Python version, platform, path)
poetry env info

Package Resolvers (pip & conda)

Pip Configuration Inspection

Inspect the active hierarchical configuration of pip across global, user, and site levels:

pip config -v list

Windows Configuration Override

On Windows hosts (PowerShell), point pip to a custom configuration file via environment variable:

$Env:PIP_CONFIG_FILE = "C:\path\to\your\pip.ini"

Conda Channel Priorities

Query the exact resolution order of active Conda package channels:

conda config --get channels

Reference Guides & Cheat Sheets