Following best practice I have started an executable Python script with a shebang specific to Python 3:
#!/usr/bin/env python3
import spotipy
# ...some fancy code
One chmod +x later, I'm executing this script as ./quick_example.py but alas the executable found (running locally on my Mac) is not the Python executable in my active Conda environment, as running which python3 in my Bash shell throws up /usr/bin/python3 instead of the desired /Users/anilkeshwani/opt/miniconda3/envs/spot/bin/python given by which python.
Apparently using #!/usr/bin/env python is bad practice in general, so my question is: can I keep the Python 3-specific shebang and somehow have Conda alias python3 calls when an env is active?
So, I'm not sure what you've read. Unfortunately, the naming convention across *nix platforms is a total mess. IMO, python should just always be Python 3, since Python 2 is passed the EOL. But this is above my pay grade. In any case, looking at PEP 394:
For scripts that are only expected to be run in an activated virtual environment, shebang lines can be written as
#!/usr/bin/env python, as this instructs the script to respect the active virtual environment.
It gets messy for scripts not expected to be run in a virtual environment.
TL:DR
Just use #!/usr/bin/env python