Can conda install source distributions?

Question

Can conda install be used to install source-distributions (i.e. non-archived import packages that have a setup.py)?

Answer 1

As mentioned by vaiski, you can use pip and/or setup.py to build and install the package, but this method is not ideal because packages installed with pip and conda do not respect each other's dependencies.

Thus, if the source distribution includes a conda build recipe (meta.yaml), then you can created the anaconda archive on your own machine by using the conda-build tool:

$ conda build meta.yaml

Afterwards, you will have a local tar.gz of the build package with meta-data that conda can understand. This is what you download from the internet whenever you install a package using conda.

Finally, you can install the package you built locally using:

$ conda install --use-local

Answer 2

Yes and no. You can not conda install per se. However, as the Conda documentation says, Conda ships with pip, so you should be able to pip install -e . your package. You can also install with traditional python setup.py [install|develop].

Remember to activate your Conda environment before installation if you're using one instead of site packages.