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Conda CLI Roadmap Updates: Q4, 2025

· 5 min read
Dasha Gurova
Dasha Gurova
Product Manager, Conda CLI
Dan Yeaw
Dan Yeaw
Engineering Manager, Conda Maintainer
Banner image for Conda CLI Roadmap Updates: Q4, 2025 blog post

The Q4 2025 conda CLI roadmap highlights improvements coming soon, including sharded repodata support for faster installs, and work to improve integration with PyPI ecosystem.

With any large open source project, dozens of pull requests and issues are always in flight, which can make it hard to see the bigger picture. Starting this quarter, we will publish regular roadmap updates to give you a clear view of what the conda maintainers team from Anaconda and Quansight, together with the broader community, is building and what you can expect.

The Q4 2025 roadmap highlights the features we are focused on delivering this quarter and early next year. These priorities came directly from community feedback across GitHub, forums, and events, and the roadmap will continue to evolve as new needs emerge.

Don’t see something specific on the roadmap? Let us know by opening an issue, or help us out by submitting a contribution via a pull request!

Q4 2025 Roadmap Priorities​

Faster Performance with Sharded Repodata Support​

What we heard: Installing or updating packages can be slow because conda downloads a single large index of all available packages, even if you only need a small part. This affects users of conda-forge even more because that package index is especially large . This leads to delays in local workflows, CI pipelines, and on slower networks.

What we are working on: We are implementing support for sharded repodata, as proposed and accepted in Conda Enhancement Proposal (CEP) 16. Instead of fetching one massive file, conda will be able to download smaller, targeted shards of metadata. This type of repodata fetching has already been implemented in the pixi package manager, and you can view the compelling improvements they have delivered in this blog post.

How you will benefit: Package installs and updates will complete faster, conda will feel more responsive in daily use, and automated workflows like CI will run more efficiently with reduced bandwidth costs.

Better Integration with the PyPI Ecosystem​

What we heard: Sometimes the package you need exists only on PyPI. Many users fall back on pip install inside a conda environment, but this approach often leads to dependency conflicts or broken environments that can take hours to fix.

What we are working on: We are working on better integration with the PyPI ecosystem through the conda-pypi plugin. This work focuses on providing a safer way to use conda to access and install pure Python packages distributed as wheels within conda environments, while laying the foundation for broader and more native integration in the future.

How you will benefit: This plugin will offer a safer path than mixing pip and conda directly, reducing environment breakage and making it easier to try packages that are not yet available on conda channels.

More Consistent Handling of Dependency Definition Files [stretch goal]​

What we heard: Conda can create environments from files such as environment.yml and requirements.txt, but the current handling of these formats has grown inconsistent over time. For example, conda create --file requirements.txt and conda env create -f environment.yml behave differently. While both commands work, the overall experience isn’t optimized for the variety of input formats users rely on today.

What we are working on: As a stretch goal for Q4, we plan to continue the refactor of how conda reads and processes environment definition files under a plugin-based system. This work aims to make file-based environment creation more consistent and to establish a cleaner foundation for supporting multiple input formats.

How you will benefit: The refactor will make environment creation feel more predictable across commands and file types. For contributors, the plugin architecture will make it easier to extend conda with new environment specification formats, such as support for defining dependencies with pyproject.toml in the future.

Looking Ahead​

We will continue posting roadmap updates each quarter and will expand the horizon to cover 6–12 months as our planning process matures. Our goal is to make conda development more predictable and transparent. Each update will show progress on current priorities and preview what is next, shaped by your feedback and contributions.

You can track progress live on the GitHub roadmap board, where you will find current status, upcoming milestones, and discussions on specific features.

Shape Conda’s Future With Us​

Conda is a community project, and these roadmap priorities reflect your input. Here are ways to influence what comes next:

  • Share your feedback: File GitHub issues when conda does not work as expected or you have an idea for improvement
  • Join the conversation: Conda community calls are where we discuss priorities, propose solutions, and decide what matters most
  • Connect with maintainers: Find us on Zulip and the Discourse forum to troubleshoot, suggest features, or just learn more about our thinking
  • Take the Python packaging survey: Every response helps us better understand your needs
  • Contribute to conda or even become a maintainer yourself!

Thank you for choosing conda and being part of the community.❤️ Your feedback helps us build an ecosystem that fits your needs.