Use the conda search command to check if a package is available in a channel or to see if it’s already installed in one of your environments. Run conda search --help to see a list of available options.

Searching configured channels

To use conda to search for a package, run the following command:

# Replace <PACKAGE> with the name of the package you want to search for
conda search <PACKAGE>

Conda searches for requested packages starting with the first entry in the channels: list in your .condarc file. If the requested package is not located in that channel, conda continues searching using the next entry in the channels: list.

When conda reaches the defaults entry in the channels: list, it searches the channels listed under the default_channels: list, in the same descending order. This is called “channel priority”, and it determines which source conda uses first when resolving packages.

Searching a specific channel

To search a specific channel for a package:

# Replace <PACKAGE> with the name of the package you want to search for
# Replace <CHANNEL> with the URL or name of the channel you want to search; for example, conda-forge
conda search <CHANNEL>::<PACKAGE>

If you don’t specify a full channel URL, conda uses your configured channel alias to complete the channel name. By default, the alias is https://conda.anaconda.org/, meaning a command like conda search conda-forge::numpy resolves to searching https://conda.anaconda.org/conda-forge. For more information and instructions on how to set your channel alias, see the official conda docs.

Searching local environments

Use the --envs flag to search your local environments for a package:

# Replace <PACKAGE> with the name of the package you want to search for
conda search --envs <PACKAGE>

For more information about searching for packages and advanced options, see the official conda docs.