No Python 3.6 available in conda search -f python

Question

If I run:

conda search -f python 

There is no Python <3.8 available... how can I get it?

The output that I get is the following:

python                         3.8.5 h05baefb_8_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.8.6 h12cc5a1_1_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.8.6 h12cc5a1_2_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.8.6 h12cc5a1_3_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.8.6 h12cc5a1_4_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.8.6 h12cc5a1_5_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.8.6 h3098bc4_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.8.8 h12cc5a1_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.8.10 h69cb8a9_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.8.10 hab31e5c_2_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.8.10 hf9733c0_1_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.8.12 hab31e5c_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.8.12 hab31e5c_1_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.8.12 hab31e5c_2_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.8.12 hab31e5c_3_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.8.12 hd949e87_1_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.8.12 hd949e87_2_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.8.12 hd949e87_3_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.8.13 h7e095e3_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.8.13 hd3575e6_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.0 h4b4120c_5_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.0 hd001b3a_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.0 hd001b3a_1_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.0 hd001b3a_2_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.0 hd001b3a_3_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.0 hf1b0709_4_cpython  conda-forge         
python                      3.9.1rc1 h4b4120c_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                      3.9.1rc1 h4b4120c_1_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.1 h4b4120c_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.1 hcbd9b3a_1_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.1 hcbd9b3a_2_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.1 hcbd9b3a_3_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.1 hcbd9b3a_4_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.1 hcbd9b3a_5_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.2 hcbd9b3a_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.4 h5b20da3_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.5 h54d631c_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.6 h54d631c_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.6 h54d631c_1_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.7 h54d631c_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.7 h54d631c_1_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.7 h54d631c_2_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.7 h54d631c_3_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.7 hc0da0df_3_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.9 h43b31ca_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.9.9 h70c1b39_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.9.10 h38ef502_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.9.10 h38ef502_1_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.9.10 h38ef502_2_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.9.10 hd16f9c5_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.9.10 hd16f9c5_1_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.9.10 hd16f9c5_2_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.9.12 h14b404e_1_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.9.12 hfc7342c_1_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.9.13 h96fcbfb_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.9.13 hc596b02_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.0 h43b31ca_1_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.0 h43b31ca_2_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.0 h43b31ca_3_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.0 h70c1b39_1_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.0 h70c1b39_2_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.0 h70c1b39_3_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.1 h43b31ca_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.1 h43b31ca_1_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.1 h43b31ca_2_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.1 h70c1b39_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.1 h70c1b39_1_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.1 h70c1b39_2_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.2 h38ef502_1_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.2 h38ef502_2_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.2 h38ef502_3_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.2 h38ef502_4_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.2 h43b31ca_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.2 h70c1b39_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.2 hd16f9c5_1_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.2 hd16f9c5_2_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.2 hd16f9c5_3_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.2 hd16f9c5_4_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.4 h14b404e_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.4 hfc7342c_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.5 h4eee789_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.5 h71ab1a4_0_cpython  conda-forge   

Answer 1

As explained in this answer, Conda only has support for Python 3.8+ on the osx-arm64 platform. However, you can still create osx-64 environments and these will (seamlessly) run in emulation.

To search alternative platforms, one can use the --subdir, --platform argument to specify that:

conda search --subdir osx-64 python=3.6

or set the subdir configuration temporarily through the CONDA_SUBDIR environment variable:

CONDA_SUBDIR=osx-64 conda search python=3.6

Consult the other question for how to create environments using these versions.

Answer 2

This is what I am seeing. You may want to add some channels and use conda search python:

$ conda search python
Loading channels: done
# Name                       Version           Build  Channel             
python                         1.0.1               0  conda-forge         
python                           1.2               0  conda-forge         
...
python                      3.6.0rc1               0  conda-forge         
python                         3.6.0               0  conda-forge         
python                         3.6.0               1  conda-forge   
...      
python                        3.6.13 haf480d7_1_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.6.13 haf480d7_2_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.6.15 haf480d7_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                         3.7.0   h145921a_1002  conda-forge         
python                         3.7.0   h145921a_1003  conda-forge         
python                         3.7.0   h145921a_1004  conda-forge  
...
   
python                        3.10.5 hdaaf3db_0_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.10.5 hdd68b96_0_cpython  conda-forge       

$ cat ~/.condarc
channels:
  - conda-forge
  - bioconda
  - defaults

NOTE:

You can also search for exact versions, for example:

$ conda search 'python=3.6'
Loading channels: done
# Name                       Version           Build  Channel             
python                       3.6.0a3               0  conda-forge         
python                       3.6.0a4               0  conda-forge         
...
python                        3.6.13 haf480d7_2_cpython  conda-forge         
python                        3.6.15 haf480d7_0_cpython  conda-forge