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I'm using zsh and have 2 ipython executables in my $PATH:

❯ which ipython
/usr/local/Caskroom/miniconda/base/bin/ipython
❯ where ipython
/usr/local/Caskroom/miniconda/base/envs/tg/bin/ipython
/usr/local/Caskroom/miniconda/base/bin/ipython

As you can see, where and which give different results on the first line, why is that?

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    Hmm, usually with zsh where is just whence -ca and which is whence -c. Have you aliased either? What's the result of where where and where which?
    – frabjous
    Commented Mar 31, 2022 at 16:33
  • @frabjous No, they're both zsh builtins.
    – Teddy C
    Commented Apr 1, 2022 at 9:59

1 Answer 1

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When it comes to looking for external executables where, aka whence -ca does a full $PATH look-up for the command, while which aka whence -c relies on cached data (as exposed by the $commands special associative array).

If the /usr/local/Caskroom/miniconda/base/envs/tg/bin/ipython file was added after the cache was built, it will be missed by whence.

Doing a hash -r / rehash will invalidate that cache and you'll likely find that after that where and which agree. See the code for details.

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