How to Solve Error Message RuntimeError: failed to find interpreter for Builtin discover of python_spec=”‘C:\\Users\\Personal” when running pip install in Microsoft Windows

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Introduction

This is an article describing a process where there is an error message appear. In this context, the error message appear when the execution of a certain command exist. The command execution itself is in a local device running using Microsoft Windows as its operating system. It is a command for creating a virtual python environment. There is a need to execute the command of ‘virtualenv’ with a certain parameter. That parameter is the parameter for specifying the python version for generating the python virtual environment. If there is no parameter addition, the new python virtual environment as a result does not have the correct python version as its base. So, below is the actual error message appear as in the following command execution :

C:\repository\docker\django\myproject>virtualenv --python 'C:\Users\Personal User\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python310\python.exe' venv
RuntimeError: failed to find interpreter for Builtin discover of python_spec="'C:\\Users\\Personal"

C:\repository\docker\django\myproject>

So, the error exist in the last line which is the response of the command execution. That error is :

RuntimeError: failed to find interpreter for Builtin discover of python_spec="'C:\\Users\\Personal"

How to Solve Error Message RuntimeError: failed to find interpreter for Builtin discover of python_spec

Actually, the error exist in the value of the additional parameter exist in the above command execution. The additional parameter of the command is ‘–python’. Whereas the value of that parameter is ‘C:\Users\Personal User\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python310\python.exe’. Although the path is correct, it stil trigger an error message. So, there is an actual way to solve the above problem. The value above seems triggering an error because of the nature of the value. In the value, there is a space character which is separating the ‘Personal’ and the ‘User’. Actually, that is the name of the user account which is ‘Personal User’.

So, in order to be able to recognize the space character separating two words, just use double quote to enclose the value. By doing that, the following is the execution of the above command once more. As a revision, it will use double quote to define the value as follows :

C:\repository\docker\django\myproject>virtualenv --python "C:\Users\Personal User\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python310\python.exe" venv
created virtual environment CPython3.10.5.final.0-64 in 6698ms
  creator CPython3Windows(dest=C:\repository\docker\django\myproject\venv, clear=False, no_vcs_ignore=False, global=False)
  seeder FromAppData(download=False, pip=bundle, setuptools=bundle, wheel=bundle, via=copy, app_data_dir=C:\Users\Personal User\AppData\Local\pypa\virtualenv)
    added seed packages: pip==22.0.4, setuptools==62.1.0, wheel==0.37.1
  activators BashActivator,BatchActivator,FishActivator,NushellActivator,PowerShellActivator,PythonActivator

C:\repository\docker\django\myproject>

Finally, check the virtual python environment as follows :

C:\repository\docker\django\myproject>cd venv
C:\repository\docker\django\myproject\venv>dir 
 Volume in drive C is Windows-SSD
 Volume Serial Number is CA30-19A4

 Directory of C:\Users\Personal User\venv

06/12/2022 01:21 PM . 
06/12/2022 01:21 PM .. 
06/12/2022 01:21 PM    42 .gitignore 
06/12/2022 01:21 PM       Lib 
06/12/2022 01:21 PM   434 pyvenv.cfg 
06/12/2022 01:21 PM       Scripts 
             2 File(s) 476 bytes 
             4 Dir(s) 139,818,344,448 bytes free 
C:\Users\Personal User>
C:\repository\docker\django\myproject>cd Scripts

C:\repository\docker\django\myproject>activate

(venv) C:\repository\docker\django\myproject>

Fortunately, the process for creating python virtual environment using ‘virtualenv’ command by specifying the python version is a success as in the above process.

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