pypa
Support for PEP 514 (Python registration in the Windows registry) in `hatch python install`
When Hatch installs Python on Windows, hatch python install should register the interpreter in the Windows registry, as specified in PEP 514.
Currently, Hatch adds installed Pythons to PATH using userpath. For multi-Python installations on Windows, this exposes multiple python.exe on PATH--interpreters don't traditionally come with version suffixes on this platform. Most tools will therefore only see a single Python; which one depends on the order of installation.
The standard method for Python discovery on Windows isn't PATH. It uses the Windows registry as specified in PEP 514. Users invoke the Python Launcher (PEP 397) to select the correct interpreter. Tools like Nox and uv defer to the Python Launcher to discover interpreters on Windows, in addition to scanning PATH.
(A separate question that I'm not sure about is whether Hatch adding Python to PATH on Windows should be kept, made opt-in as in the python.org Windows installers, or omitted entirely. If you only expose the current stable version on PATH, you'll want to update that every year.)
I will do this; thank you for the detailed request! I will be keeping the PATH modification though.
