Permanently add a directory to PYTHONPATH?

Question

Whenever I use sys.path.append, the new directory will be added. However, once I close python, the list will revert to the previous (default?) values. How do I permanently add a directory to PYTHONPATH?

Answer 1

The script below works on all platforms as it's pure Python. It makes use of the pathlib Path, documented here https://docs.python.org/3/library/pathlib.html, to make it work cross-platform. You run it once, restart the kernel and that's it. Inspired by https://medium.com/@arnaud.bertrand/modifying-python-s-search-path-with-pth-files-2a41a4143574.

from pathlib import Path
to_add=Path(path_of_directory_to_add)
from sys import path

if str(to_add) not in path:
    minLen=999999
    for index,directory in enumerate(path):
        if 'site-packages' in directory and len(directory)<=minLen:
            minLen=len(directory)
            stpi=index

    pathSitePckgs=Path(path[stpi])
    with open(str(pathSitePckgs/'current_machine_paths.pth'),'w') as pth_file:
        pth_file.write(str(to_add))

Answer 2

Just to add on awesomo's answer, you can also add that line into your ~/.bash_profile or ~/.profile

Answer 3

In case anyone is still confused - if you are on a Mac, do the following:

1. Open up Terminal
2. Type open .bash_profile
3. In the text file that pops up, add this line at the end: export PYTHONPATH=$PYTHONPATH:foo/bar
4. Save the file, restart the Terminal, and you're done