Permanently add a directory to PYTHONPATH?

python, pythonpath, windows

Solution

You need to add your new directory to the environment variable `PYTHONPATH`, separated by a colon from previous contents thereof. In any form of Unix, you can do that in a startup script appropriate to whatever shell you're using (`.profile` or whatever, depending on your favorite shell) with a command which, again, depends on the shell in question; in Windows, you can do it through the system GUI for the purpose.

`superuser.com` may be a better place to ask further, i.e. for more details if you need specifics about how to enrich an environment variable in your chosen platform and shell, since it's not really a programming question per se.

Problem

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`?

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