How to fix reticulate error in RStudio to use python?

Question

I am receiving an error when trying to use reticulate that says

library(reticulate)
library(tidyverse)
library(janitor)

Sys.setenv(RETICULATE_PYTHON = "C:/Users/Menu/Programs/Python 3.10.exe")

My Python 3.10 is located in C:/Users/Menu/Programs/Python 3.10.exe

Error in system2(command = python, args = shQuote(config_script), stdout = TRUE,  : 
  '""C:/Users/Menu/Programs/Python 3.10.exe""' not found

When I type in the command prompt:

>>>where python.
C:\Users\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\python.exe

Uitlander

So have you tried the obvious? Sys.setenv(RETICULATE_PYTHON = "C:\Users\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\python.exe") I admit that as a Linux user I can never keep straight how Windows handles its directory separators. So maybe use: C:/Users/AppData/Local/Microsoft/WindowsApps/python.exe which is what it might be on a Linux box. – Sextet

Yes I tried that and it gives the same error. It is weird because I have python installed on my computer. – Uitlander

Answer 1

I am answering my own question. I was able to figure out how to find the correct path that wasn't showing up in my cmd for some reason.

Type this in R:

reticulate::conda_list()

It will print out all the paths that conda is listed.

Output:

name                                                    python
1 r-miniconda C:\\Users\\AppData\\Local\\r-miniconda\\python.exe
2   anaconda3                   C:\\Users\\anaconda3\\python.exe

Then I added the following

Sys.setenv(RETICULATE_PYTHON = "C:\\Users\\anaconda3\\python.exe")

It worked!

Uitlander

Bravo. I like this sort of self answered question. Even better would be to cite the resources with links used to come up with this strategy: Specific help pages? Tutorials? Installation manuals? – Sextet

Answer 2

I have the same kind of problem, however the trick does not work for me:

> library(reticulate)
Error in Sys.setenv(PATH = new_path) : wrong length for argument
In addition: Warning message:
package ‘reticulate’ was built under R version 4.0.5
> conda_list()
name                                 python
1 base C:\\Program Files\\python39/python.exe

Then I restarted R and did the following

Sys.setenv(RETICULATE_PYTHON = "C:\\Program Files\\python39/python.exe")
library(reticulate)

which was followed by the same error message.

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers Renger

Gallego

Do you have Anaconda Navigator installed on your machine? Try installing anaconda then using python.exe inside of conda. – Uitlander

No, I have a Python 3.9 installed by the departement. I can't install programms on my own. – Gallego

I had that same issue. I had to submit a ticket with IT to upgrade. – Uitlander

Unfortunately, that is not an option here. We are stuck with this version another year. – Gallego

Try setting python instead of conda_list(): use_python("C:\\Program Files\\python39/python.exe") Documentation:rstudio.github.io/reticulate/articles/…. – Uitlander

I got the same error message: reticulate::use_python("C:\\Program Files\\python39\\python.exe") Error in Sys.setenv(PATH = new_path) : wrong length for argument – Gallego