From d5012c66bd3a1eb9c2206dcd5e0326e0bca15190 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Zanie Blue <contact@zanie.dev>
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2025 11:34:23 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] Add handling for unnamed conda environments in base
 environment detection (#15681)

While investigating https://github.com/astral-sh/uv/pull/15679, I
created an unnamed conda environment and noticed this quality which
allows us to detect that it's not the base environment.
---
 crates/uv-python/src/lib.rs        | 30 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 crates/uv-python/src/virtualenv.rs |  6 ++++++
 2 files changed, 36 insertions(+)

diff --git a/crates/uv-python/src/lib.rs b/crates/uv-python/src/lib.rs
index 173b10135..f45b901ab 100644
--- a/crates/uv-python/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/uv-python/src/lib.rs
@@ -1337,6 +1337,36 @@ mod tests {
             "Non-base conda environment should be available for virtual environment preference"
         );
 
+        // When CONDA_PREFIX equals CONDA_DEFAULT_ENV, it should be treated as a virtual environment
+        let unnamed_env = context.tempdir.child("my-conda-env");
+        TestContext::mock_conda_prefix(&unnamed_env, "3.12.4")?;
+        let unnamed_env_path = unnamed_env.to_string_lossy().to_string();
+
+        let python = context.run_with_vars(
+            &[
+                (EnvVars::CONDA_PREFIX, Some(unnamed_env.as_os_str())),
+                (
+                    EnvVars::CONDA_DEFAULT_ENV,
+                    Some(&OsString::from(&unnamed_env_path)),
+                ),
+            ],
+            || {
+                find_python_installation(
+                    &PythonRequest::Default,
+                    EnvironmentPreference::OnlyVirtual,
+                    PythonPreference::OnlySystem,
+                    &context.cache,
+                    Preview::default(),
+                )
+            },
+        )??;
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            python.interpreter().python_full_version().to_string(),
+            "3.12.4",
+            "We should find the unnamed conda environment"
+        );
+
         Ok(())
     }
 
diff --git a/crates/uv-python/src/virtualenv.rs b/crates/uv-python/src/virtualenv.rs
index 7cdde7ba9..db3c90b48 100644
--- a/crates/uv-python/src/virtualenv.rs
+++ b/crates/uv-python/src/virtualenv.rs
@@ -98,6 +98,12 @@ impl CondaEnvironmentKind {
             return Self::Child;
         };
 
+        // If the `CONDA_PREFIX` equals the `CONDA_DEFAULT_ENV`, we're in an unnamed environment
+        // which is typical for environments created with `conda create -p /path/to/env`.
+        if path == Path::new(&current_env) {
+            return Self::Child;
+        }
+
         // These are the expected names for the base environment; we may want to remove this
         // restriction in the future as it's not strictly necessary.
         if current_env != "base" && current_env != "root" {