.condarc Configuration File

Learn about conda’s .condarc configuration file, its location, precedence, and common options

What is .condarc

The .condarc file is conda’s configuration file where you can specify settings that modify conda’s behavior. It’s written in YAML format and allows you to customize channels, environment directories, package caching, network settings, and much more.

The name “condarc” stands for “conda run command” configuration file. Think of it as conda’s personal preferences file that persists across all conda operations.

File Locations and Precedence

Conda searches for .condarc files in multiple locations and merges them with a specific precedence order:

1. Command-line arguments

   Highest priority - flags passed directly to conda commands

2. Environment variables

   Settings prefixed with CONDA_ (e.g., CONDA_CHANNELS)

3. Environment .condarc

   Located at $CONDA_PREFIX/.condarc in the active environment

4. User .condarc

   Located at ~/.condarc (Linux/macOS) or %USERPROFILE%\.condarc (Windows)

5. System .condarc

   Located at $CONDA_ROOT/.condarc in the conda installation directory

Settings in higher-priority locations override those in lower-priority locations. You can view all configuration sources and their values with:

conda config --show-sources

Common Configuration Options

Here are the most frequently used .condarc settings:

Channels

Control where conda searches for packages:

channels:
  - conda-forge
  - defaults

channel_priority: flexible  # or 'strict' or 'disabled'

channels · list

List of channels to search for packages. Channels earlier in the list have higher priority.

channel_priority · string · default: "flexible"

How strictly conda respects channel priority:

• strict: Only use packages from highest-priority channel
• flexible: Allow mixing packages from different channels
• disabled: Ignore channel priority, use latest version

channel_alias · string · default: "https://conda.anaconda.org"

Base URL for channel names that don’t include a full URL.

Environment and Package Directories

envs_dirs:
  - ~/my-envs
  - ~/miniconda3/envs

pkgs_dirs:
  - ~/my-packages
  - ~/miniconda3/pkgs

envs_dirs · list

Directories to search for named environments. New environments are created in the first writable directory.

pkgs_dirs · list

Directories for package caches. Downloaded packages are stored in the first writable directory.

Solver Settings

solver: libmamba  # or 'classic'

aggressive_update_packages:
  - ca-certificates
  - certifi
  - openssl

solver · string · default: "classic"

Which solver backend to use. libmamba is faster, classic is the traditional conda solver.

Network and Security

ssl_verify: true  # or false, or path to CA bundle

proxy_servers:
  http: http://proxy.example.com:8080
  https: https://proxy.example.com:8080

remote_connect_timeout_secs: 9.15
remote_read_timeout_secs: 60.0

ssl_verify · boolean | string · default: "true"

Verify SSL certificates. Can be true, false, a path to a CA bundle, or 'truststore' to use OS certificates.

User Experience

auto_activate: true
changeps1: true
env_prompt: '({name}) '
always_yes: false
quiet: false

auto_activate · boolean · default: "true"

Automatically activate the base environment when starting a new shell.

changeps1 · boolean · default: "true"

Modify the command prompt to show the active environment name.

Configuration Examples

Basic User Configuration

A typical ~/.condarc for a data scientist:

channels:
  - conda-forge
  - defaults

channel_priority: flexible

auto_activate: true
changeps1: true

create_default_packages:
  - pip
  - ipython

Corporate Environment

Configuration for working behind a corporate firewall:

channels:
  - https://repo.company.com/conda/main
  - defaults

ssl_verify: /path/to/company-ca-bundle.crt

proxy_servers:
  http: http://proxy.company.com:8080
  https: http://proxy.company.com:8080

remote_connect_timeout_secs: 30
remote_read_timeout_secs: 120

CI/CD Pipeline

Settings optimized for automated builds:

always_yes: true
quiet: true

safety_checks: disabled
rollback_enabled: false

default_threads: 4

Managing Your .condarc

Viewing Configuration

See all active settings:

conda config --show

See settings from all configuration files:

conda config --show-sources

Get help for a specific parameter:

conda config --describe channel_priority

Modifying Configuration

Add a channel:

conda config --add channels conda-forge

Set a boolean or string value:

conda config --set channel_priority strict

Remove a channel:

conda config --remove channels defaults

Remove a key entirely:

conda config --remove-key channels

Configuration Scopes

Modify different configuration files:

# User configuration (default)
conda config --set always_yes true

# System-wide configuration
conda config --system --set always_yes true

# Current environment only
conda config --env --set always_yes true

# Specific file
conda config --file /path/to/.condarc --set always_yes true

Validation

Validate all .condarc files for syntax errors:

conda config --validate

This checks all configuration sources for parsing errors and reports any issues found.

See Also

• Environment Variables - Alternative way to configure conda
• Settings Reference - Complete list of all configuration options
• Channels Guide - Understanding conda channels