conda-lock install ignores envs_dirs

[ctcjab]

Checklist

• I added a descriptive title
• I searched open reports and couldn't find a duplicate

What happened?

conda-lock install -n ... invocations sometimes fail to honor the envs_dirs configuration:

---

However, this does not reproduce reliably.

In fact, it often does the right thing after immediately retrying the exact same invocation:

Any ideas of how to work around this and/or debug it would be greatly appreciated.

Additional Context

❯ cat /etc/issue.net
Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS

❯ python3 --version
Python 3.12.8

❯ conda --version
conda 25.1.1

❯ mamba --version
2.0.5

❯ conda-lock --version
/uv/conda-lock/lib/python3.12/site-packages/clikit/utils/string.py:81: SyntaxWarning: invalid escape sequence '\s'
  words = re.split("\s+", string)
/uv/conda-lock/lib/python3.12/site-packages/clikit/api/args/format/command_option.py:47: SyntaxWarning: invalid escape sequence '\-'
  if not re.match("^[a-zA-Z0-9\-]+$", alias):
conda-lock, version 2.5.7

[maresb]

Reproducer:

FROM quay.io/jupyter/base-notebook:2025-02-20

RUN mamba install -y git pipx
RUN echo "export PATH=\"/home/jovyan/.local/bin:\$PATH\"" >> ~/.bashrc

RUN pipx install --force 'git+https://github.com/conda/conda-lock@v2.5.7'

RUN conda config --append envs_dirs '~/.conda'

RUN cat <<EOF > environment.yml
name: ficc
channels:
- conda-forge
- nodefaults
dependencies:
- tzcode
platforms:
- linux-64
EOF

RUN ~/.local/bin/conda-lock lock

docker build . -t cl777
docker run --rm -it cl777 /bin/bash
conda-lock install -n ficc
conda-lock install -n ficc

It appears that the prefix /opt/conda/envs/ficc is used on the first run and /home/jovyan/.conda/ficc is used in all subsequent runs.

[maresb]

Another reproducer not involving conda-lock:

FROM quay.io/jupyter/base-notebook:2025-02-20

RUN cat <<EOF > explicit.txt
# Generated by conda-lock.
# platform: linux-64
# input_hash: ab45cd56a12b42dab7d2e540f01585dd1d1f8a7b51e43009d3475f75794137ad
@EXPLICIT
https://conda.anaconda.org/conda-forge/linux-64/_libgcc_mutex-0.1-conda_forge.tar.bz2#d7c89558ba9fa0495403155b64376d81
https://conda.anaconda.org/conda-forge/linux-64/libgomp-14.2.0-h77fa898_1.conda#cc3573974587f12dda90d96e3e55a702
https://conda.anaconda.org/conda-forge/linux-64/_openmp_mutex-4.5-2_gnu.tar.bz2#73aaf86a425cc6e73fcf236a5a46396d
https://conda.anaconda.org/conda-forge/linux-64/libgcc-14.2.0-h77fa898_1.conda#3cb76c3f10d3bc7f1105b2fc9db984df
https://conda.anaconda.org/conda-forge/linux-64/tzcode-2025a-hb9d3cd8_0.conda#e18bdeebf29176790089b654cfedaaec
EOF

RUN conda config --append envs_dirs '~/.conda'

docker build . -t cl777-nocl
docker run --rm -it cl777-nocl /bin/bash
mamba create --file explicit.txt --yes --name ficc
mamba create --file explicit.txt --yes --name ficc

Looking into workarounds...

[maresb]

Here's a simple workaround with --no-mamba:

docker run --rm -it cl777 /bin/bash
conda-lock install -n ficc --no-mamba

[maresb]

Another simple workaround:

MAMBA_ROOT_PREFIX=~/.conda conda-lock install -n ficc

[maresb]

An even simpler workaround 😂

mkdir ~/.conda
conda-lock install -n ficc

[maresb]

Reported upstream in mamba-org/mamba#3836

[ctcjab]

Thank you for tracking this down, reporting upstream, and providing the workaround, super helpful! I've applied the workaround in our environment and can report back if I see anything unexpected, but will close this for now. Thanks so much again!