Environment Variables

Environment variables that configure pixi behavior

Pixi respects various environment variables that control its behavior. This page documents all environment variables recognized by pixi.

Global Behavior

PIXI_COLOR

PIXI_COLOR · enum · default: "auto"

Controls colored output in the terminal.

Values:

• auto - Automatically detect if colors are supported
• always - Always use colors
• never - Never use colors

export PIXI_COLOR=never
pixi install

Can also be set via --color flag.

PIXI_NO_PROGRESS

PIXI_NO_PROGRESS · boolean · default: "false"

Hide all progress bars. Always enabled if stderr is not a terminal.

export PIXI_NO_PROGRESS=true
pixi install

Can also be set via --no-progress flag.

PIXI_NO_WRAP

PIXI_NO_WRAP · boolean · default: "false"

Disable line wrapping in error messages. Useful in CI environments.

export PIXI_NO_WRAP=true

Lock File Behavior

PIXI_FROZEN

PIXI_FROZEN · boolean · default: "false"

Install the environment as defined in the lockfile without updating it.

export PIXI_FROZEN=true
pixi install  # Uses existing lock file

Can also be set via --frozen flag.

PIXI_LOCKED

PIXI_LOCKED · boolean · default: "false"

Check if lockfile is up-to-date before installing. Aborts if lockfile is outdated.

export PIXI_LOCKED=true
pixi install  # Fails if lock file is out of date

Can also be set via --locked flag.

Pixi Home Directory

PIXI_HOME

PIXI_HOME · path

Override the default pixi home directory where global installations and manifests are stored.

Default locations:

• Linux: ~/.pixi
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/pixi
• Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.pixi

export PIXI_HOME=/custom/pixi/home
pixi global install python

Cache and Storage

PIXI_CACHE_DIR

PIXI_CACHE_DIR · path

Override the default cache directory.

Default locations:

• Linux: ~/.cache/rattler
• macOS: ~/Library/Caches/rattler
• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\rattler\Cache

export PIXI_CACHE_DIR=/mnt/cache/pixi

Authentication

RATTLER_AUTH_FILE

RATTLER_AUTH_FILE · path

Override the default location for authentication credentials.

Default: ~/.rattler/credentials.json

export RATTLER_AUTH_FILE=/secure/location/credentials.json
pixi auth login https://prefix.dev

Network and Proxy

HTTP_PROXY / HTTPS_PROXY

HTTP_PROXY · url

HTTP/HTTPS proxy server to use for network requests.

export HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:8080
export HTTPS_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:8080
pixi install

NO_PROXY

NO_PROXY · string

Comma-separated list of hosts to exclude from proxying.

export NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1,.example.com

Conda and Rattler

CONDA_PREFIX

CONDA_PREFIX · path

Set by pixi when activating an environment. Points to the active environment directory.

Read by pixi: This is set automatically by pixi and used by tools to detect the active environment.

# Inside a pixi environment
echo $CONDA_PREFIX
# /path/to/workspace/.pixi/envs/default

CONDA_DEFAULT_ENV

CONDA_DEFAULT_ENV · string

Name of the active conda environment. Set automatically by pixi.

# Inside a pixi environment
echo $CONDA_DEFAULT_ENV
# default

Pixi-Specific Runtime Variables

These variables are set by pixi when running tasks or activating environments.

PIXI_ENVIRONMENT_NAME

PIXI_ENVIRONMENT_NAME · string

Name of the currently active pixi environment. Set by pixi during pixi run and pixi shell.

pixi run bash
echo $PIXI_ENVIRONMENT_NAME
# default

PIXI_WORKSPACE_ROOT

PIXI_WORKSPACE_ROOT · path

Root directory of the pixi workspace. Set during task execution.

pixi run bash
echo $PIXI_WORKSPACE_ROOT
# /path/to/workspace

PIXI_WORKSPACE_MANIFEST

PIXI_WORKSPACE_MANIFEST · path

Path to the workspace manifest file (pixi.toml or pyproject.toml).

PIXI_WORKSPACE_VERSION

PIXI_WORKSPACE_VERSION · string

Version of the workspace from the manifest.

PIXI_WORKSPACE_NAME

PIXI_WORKSPACE_NAME · string

Name of the workspace from the manifest.

CI/CD Environment

CI

CI · boolean

Detected by pixi to adjust behavior in CI environments.

Values: 1, true (case-insensitive)

Effects:

• Disables line wrapping in error messages
• Adjusts progress bar behavior

export CI=true
pixi install

Editor Configuration

EDITOR

EDITOR · string · default: "nano (Unix) / notepad (Windows)"

Default editor for pixi config edit.

export EDITOR=vim
pixi config edit

Logging and Debugging

RUST_LOG

RUST_LOG · string

Control pixi’s internal logging level. Useful for debugging.

Levels: error, warn, info, debug, trace

# Enable debug logging
export RUST_LOG=pixi=debug,rattler=debug
pixi install

# Trace everything
export RUST_LOG=trace
pixi install

RUST_BACKTRACE

RUST_BACKTRACE · enum

Show backtraces for errors.

Values:

• 0 - No backtrace
• 1 - Short backtrace
• full - Full backtrace

export RUST_BACKTRACE=1
pixi install

Build System

CARGO_TARGET_DIR

CARGO_TARGET_DIR · path

Override Rust build output directory. Can be set in pixi.toml activation.

[activation]
env.CARGO_TARGET_DIR = "target/pixi"

Shell Integration

_PIXI_PROMPT

_PIXI_PROMPT · string

Set by pixi shell on Windows to customize the command prompt.

Format: (pixi:{environment_name}) $P$G

Example: CI Configuration

Typical CI environment variable setup:

#!/bin/bash
# CI setup for pixi

export CI=true
export PIXI_COLOR=never
export PIXI_NO_PROGRESS=true
export PIXI_FROZEN=true  # Don't update lock file in CI

# Install dependencies
pixi install

# Run tests
pixi run test

Example: Custom Cache Location

Use a shared cache location:

# Shared team cache
export PIXI_CACHE_DIR=/mnt/shared/pixi-cache
export RATTLER_AUTH_FILE=/mnt/shared/credentials.json

pixi install

Environment Variables in Tasks

You can use environment variables in your pixi tasks:

[tasks]
build = { cmd = "cargo build", env = { CARGO_TARGET_DIR = "target/custom" } }
test = "pytest -v $PYTEST_ARGS"

Related Configuration

• Configuration File - File-based configuration
• CLI Options - Command-line options
• pixi config - Manage configuration