Conda Files

Enhancements

• Improve handling of Windows CMD.EXE activation for environment paths that contain the ^ (caret) character. (#12558 via [#15628])
• Add support for PackageRecord.requested_specs. This will store all the MatchSpec objects that were involved in requesting a package (instead of a single, pre-merged object). To that end, two new attributes in conda.core.solve.Solver, unmerged_specs_to_add and unmerged_specs_to_remove, store the list of input specs as received, instead of always attempting to merge them. (#15111 via [#15110])
• Pass unmerged MatchSpec objects to pre-solve plugins (instead of pre-merged). (#15110)
• Add option to disable redefining Fish shell prompt functions in conda init. (#15545 via [#15549])
• conda create --file <filename> now supports environment.yaml files as well as requirements.txt and explicit environment exports, and detects name and prefix automatically when --name / --prefix are omitted. (#15573 via [#15770])
• Add description and environment_format metadata fields to environment plugin types (CondaEnvironmentSpecifier and CondaEnvironmentExporter). (#15577 via [#15763])
• Optimize S3 downloads to avoid an extra file copy through a temporary buffer. (#15636)
• Add path customization parameters to tmp_env fixture (name, path_prefix, path_infix, path_suffix) that pass through to path_factory. Add "parts mode" to path_factory where specifying prefix, infix, or suffix triggers UUID defaults for unspecified parts, enabling easier special character path testing. (#15650)
• Add PackagesNotFoundInChannelsError and PackagesNotFoundInPrefixError as specialized cases of PackagesNotFoundError, to distinguish between packages missing from configured channels and packages missing from a specific environment prefix. (#12197 via [#15653])
• Always include conda-meta manifest file size in PrefixRecord.package_size(), so packages with no files (such as metapackages, mutex packages) display a non-zero size instead of "0 B" in conda list --size. (#15681 via [#15656])
• Speed up conda run by dropping the shell hook subprocess and relying on inline activators. (#14993 via [#15672])
• conda remove <spec> with the classic solver now exits early if the spec to be removed does not exist in the environment. (#15697)
• conda search --envs <package> now raises an error when the package is not found in any environment. (#15698)
• Add support for defining aliases of environment spec plugins. (#15701)
• Add pattern matching support to environment specifier and exporter plugins via default_filenames field. Plugins can now use wildcards (e.g., *.conda-lock.yml) for filename-based detection. (#15717 via [#15719])
• conda create|install -f is now recognized as an alias to conda create|install --file. (#15790)
• Improve log messages when conda auto-detects the applicable environment file format. (#15736)

Bug fixes

• Fix conda config --show-sources displaying frozendict.frozendict(...) for channel_settings entries instead of readable dict format. (#15505 via [#15789])
• Do not include pip-installed packages in the list of explicit packages when building a conda.models.Environment with conda.models.Environment.from_prefix. (#15619)
• Use bundled Windows stub executables (conda/shell/cli-32.exe, conda/shell/cli-64.exe) for creating entry points instead of relying on Scripts/conda.exe so that entry point creation works when conda is not installed as a conda package (e.g. tests via python -m pytest). Select the correct exe for the target env via a platform-to-stub mapping; for win-arm64 use cli-64.exe (relying on Windows x64-on-ARM64 emulation). Use target platform for conda init as well, fixing cross-architecture installs (e.g. win-32 host creating a win-64 env). (#15678)
• Use case-insensitive matching when finding Python metadata files on Windows to make sure they are correctly identified as conda packages. (#15153 via [#15725])
• Always include the dependencies field when exporting an environment.yaml-style environment, including when it is empty, for CEP-24 compliance. (#15753)
• Fix a regression first introduced in [#14661] that adversely affected package resolution for custom multichannels. (#15750 via [#15776])
• Allow conda search --offline to use the local channel cache. (#15781 via [#15795])
• Fix flaky test_token_not_present_in_conda_create test by removing unreliable assertion that expected /t/<TOKEN>/ in output. The test now focuses on the critical security guarantee (raw tokens must not leak) while new unit tests verify the TokenURLFilter integration. (#13939)
• Fix win-arm64 subdir detection on native Windows ARM64. platform.machine() returns uppercase ARM64 on Windows, which did not match the lowercase entries in non_x86_machines, causing the platform to incorrectly resolve to win-64. (#15716)
• Ignore JSON metadata paths beginning with ._ (e.g. AppleDouble files) when loading prefix data, so spurious files from macOS or external drives do not break metadata loading. (#15652 via [#15664])

Deprecations

• Mark conda.common.io.env_var, conda.common.io.env_vars, and conda.common.io.env_unmodified as pending deprecation to be removed in 27.3. In tests, prefer monkeypatch.setenv / monkeypatch.delenv instead. (#14095 via [#15728])
• Mark conda run --dev as pending deprecation, to be removed in 27.3. Set PYTHONPATH to the conda source root instead. (#15641)
• -f is no longer an alias for --force. (#15790)
• Remove conda info --root. Use conda info --base instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda info -l/--license. (#15791)
• Remove conda_env module. (#15791, [#15816])
• Remove conda._vendor module. Conda no longer vendors dependencies. (#15791)
• Remove conda.base.context._first_writable_envs_dir. Use conda.gateways.disk.create.first_writable_envs_dir instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.base.context.add_plugin_setting. Use conda.plugins.config.PluginConfig.add_plugin_setting instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.base.context.Context.auto_activate_base. Use conda.base.context.Context.auto_activate instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.base.context.Context.conda_exe. Use conda.base.context.Context.conda_exe_vars_dict instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.base.context.Context.pip_interop_enabled. Use conda.base.context.Context.prefix_data_interoperability instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.base.context.get_plugin_config_data. Use conda.base.context.context.plugins.raw_data instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.base.context.remove_all_plugin_settings. Use conda.plugins.config.PluginConfig.remove_all_plugin_settings instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.base.context.validate_prefix_name. Use conda.core.prefix_data.PrefixData.{validate_name,from_name} instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.cli.common.validate_prefix_is_writable. Use conda.core.prefix_data.PrefixData.assert_writable instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.cli.common.validate_prefix. Use conda.core.prefix_data.PrefixData.assert_environment instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.cli.install.check_prefix. Use conda.core.prefix_data.PrefixData.{exists,validate_path,validate_name} instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.cli.install.print_activate. Use conda.cli.common.print_activate instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.cli.install.validate_new_prefix. Use conda.core.prefix_data.PrefixData.{exists,validate_path} instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.cli.install.validate_prefix_exists. Use conda.core.prefix_data.PrefixData.exists instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.cli.main_info.get_info_components. Use conda.cli.main_info.iter_info_components instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.cli.main_rename.check_protected_dirs. Use conda.core.prefix_data.PrefixData.validate_path instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.cli.main_rename.validate_src. Use conda.core.prefix_data.PrefixData.{validate_path,validate_name} instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.common.io._logger_lock. Use logging._lock instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.common.pkg_formats module. Use conda.plugins.prefix_data_loaders.pypi.pkg_format instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.common.url.hex_octal_to_int. Use int(..., 16) instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.core.index._supplement_index_with_system. Use conda.core.Index.reload instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.core.index.check_allowlist. Use conda.base.context.validate_channels instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.core.path_actions._Action. Use conda.core.path_actions.Action instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.core.prefix_data.get_python_version_for_prefix. Use conda.core.prefix_data.PrefixData.get("python").version instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.core.prefix_data.PrefixData._load_site_packages. Use conda.plugins.prefix_data_loaders.pypi.load_site_packages instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.core.prefix_data.PrefixData._pip_interop_enabled. Use conda.core.prefix_data.PrefixData.interoperability instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.core.prefix_data.PrefixData._python_pkg_record. Use conda.core.prefix_data.PrefixData.get("python") instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.core.prefix_data.python_record_for_prefix. Use conda.core.prefix_data.PrefixData.get("python") instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.env.env.get_filename. (#15791)
• Remove conda.env.specs.binstar module. (#15791)
• Remove conda.env.specs.detect(name,directory). Specify the full path in filename instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.env.specs.get_spec_class_from_file. Use conda.base.context.plugin_manager.detect_environment_specifier instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.env.specs.requirements.RequirementsSpec._valid_file. (#15791)
• Remove conda.env.specs.requirements.RequirementsSpec._valid_name. (#15791)
• Remove conda.env.specs.requirements.RequirementsSpec.environment. Use conda.env.specs.requirements.RequirementsSpec.env instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.env.specs.requirements.RequirementsSpec.name. (#15791)
• Remove conda.env.specs.requirements.RequirementsSpec(name). (#15791)
• Remove conda.gateways.disk.read.read_python_record. Use conda.plugins.prefix_data_loaders.pypi.pkg_format.read_python_record instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.gateways.disk.test.is_conda_environment. Use conda.core.prefix_data.PrefixData.is_environment instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.misc.touch_nonadmin. Use conda.core.prefix_data.PrefixData.set_nonadmin instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.models.records.PackageRecord.schannel. Use conda.models.records.PackageRecord.channel_name instead. (#15791)
• Remove conda.plan module. (#15791)
• Remove conda.testing.fixtures.session_capsys. (#15791)
• Remove conda.utils.unix_path_to_win. Use conda.common.path.unix_path_to_win instead. (#15791)
• Remove loading conda subcommands via executables. Use the plugin system instead. (#15791)
• Rename conda.activate._Activator.hook(auto_activate_base) to auto_activate. (#15791)
• Rename conda.core.prefix_data.PrefixData(pip_interop_enabled) to interoperability. (#15791)
• Remove conda.trust module. The implementation has been moved to conda-content-trust. (#15649)
• Remove built-in signature-verification post-solve plugin. Signature verification is now provided by the conda-content-trust plugin when installed. (#15649)
• Rename conda.core.PrefixActions to conda.core.PrefixActionGroup. (#15824)

Docs

• Update documentation for conda create --file env specifier support in several places. (#15573 via [#15770])
• Remove documentation for RPM and DEB packages, which are no longer supported. (#13896 and [#14826] via [#15694])
• Update advice on improving conda performance in the Concepts section of the conda User Guide. (#15780)
• Update pip interoperability documentation page with historical note and link to conda-pypi documentation. (#15815)
• Fix broken links on contributing documentation pages. (#15729)
• Remove Discourse logo from documentation build. (#15806)
• Expand conda search documentation to include more search examples. (#15774)

Other

• Add comprehensive test cases to characterize environment name validation behavior for Windows special characters (!, =, ^, %, (, )). Tests confirm that ! now works (previously fixed in [#14607]) and identify ^ as broken. (#12558 via [#15628])
• Remove JLAP (JSON Line-oriented Patch) experimental support. Zstd-compressed repodata (.json.zst) functionality is preserved and continues to work as before. (#15233 via [#15693])
• Remove file extension validation from environment spec plugins. Requirements plugin now validates that all lines are valid matchspecs to avoid collisions with other plugins (e.g., environment.yaml). (#15714)
• Remove internal use of boltons.setutils.IndexedSet(). It has been replaced with either sequences or sets. (#15742 via [#15744])
• Improve the error message when an environment spec plugin cannot handle a file. (#15718 via [#15792])
• Add pre-commit updates to Dependabot and keep automated dependency updates managed via .github/dependabot.yml. (#15814)

Contributors

• @agriyakhetarpal
• @conda-bot
• @danyeaw
• @ELundby45 made their first contribution in https://github.com/conda/conda/pull/15716
• @jaimergp
• @jezdez
• @kathatherine
• @kenodegard
• @ForgottenProgramme
• @ryanskeith
• @schuylermartin45
• @soapy1
• @crowecawcaw made their first contribution in https://github.com/conda/conda/pull/15636
• @travishathaway
• @dependabot[bot]
• @lsoksane made their first contribution in https://github.com/conda/conda/pull/15549
• @pre-commit-ci[bot]
• @shenhaofang made their first contribution in https://github.com/conda/conda/pull/15664

Full Changelog: https://github.com/conda/conda/compare/26.1.1...26.3.0