Environment Variables

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 Aborts if lockfile is outdated.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pixi install  # Fails if lock file is out of date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`

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