Installing and Configuring Python with Posit – Posit Support

The following steps represent a minimal workflow for using Python with Posit Connect via the reticulate package, whether you are using the RStudio IDE on your local machine or Posit Workbench (previously RStudio Workbench).

Step 1) Install a base version of Python

If you are working on your local machine, you can install Python from Python.org or Anaconda.

If you are working on a server with Posit Workbench, your administrator can install a system-wide version of Python, or you can install Python in your home directory from Python.org or Anaconda.

Be sure to start a new terminal session to ensure your newly installed Python is active.

Also, ensure that your installation of Python has the virtualenv package installed by running:

pip install virtualenv

Step 2) Create a Python environment in your project

It is recommended that you use one virtual environment per project, similar to how packrat is used to manage R packages within a project.

Navigate into your Posit project directory by using the following command:

cd <project-dir>

Create a new virtual environment in a folder called my_env within your project directory using the following command:

virtualenv my_env

Step 3) Activate your Python environment

You can activate the virtualenv in your project using the following command in a terminal:

source my_env/bin/activate

You can verify that you have activated the correct version of Python using the following command in a terminal:

which python

Step 4) Install Python packages in your environment

You can install Python packages such as numpy, pandas, matplotlib, and other packages in your Python virtualenv by using pip install using the following command in a terminal:

pip install numpy pandas matplotlib

Step 5) Install and configure `reticulate` to use your Python version

Install the reticulate package using the following command in your R console:

install.packages("reticulate")

To configure reticulate to point to the Python executable in your virtualenv, create a file in your project directory called .Renviron with the following contents:

RETICULATE_PYTHON=my_env/bin/python

You'll need to restart your R session for the setting to take effect. You can verify that reticulate is configured for the correct version of Python using the following command in your R console:

reticulate::py_config()

Step 6) Publish a project to Posit Connect

You can then develop Shiny apps, R Markdown, and Plumber APIs with Python/R in the RStudio IDE and Workbench using the reticulate package per https://posit.co/blog/rstudio-1-2-preview-reticulated-python/ and https://rstudio.github.io/reticulate/ and deploy the applications to Posit Connect.

For more details on each step, refer to the concepts and best practices in the support article for Best Practices for Using Python with RStudio Connect.