# Quickstart to arcpy

Getting started with `{arcpy}` in R is easy. If you're using ArcGIS Pro, you'll first need to create a Conda environment that will link to your ArcGIS Pro install. If you're not familiar with Conda or the `reticulate` package, check the vignettes Calling Python from R and Python Version Configuration.

For example, here's how you would create a Conda environment to link to an ArcGIS Pro 3.1 install.

    library(arcpy)

    install_arcpy(version = "3.1")

If you don't specify the python version, the package will use the latest compatible Python version based on what is reported in the arcpy module build. By default, the package creates a new environment named "r-arcpy", but this can be overridden.

`{arcpy}` automatically provides a `reticulate` module object called `arcpy`. This object provides the interface to ArcGIS.

    arcpy

    ## Module(arcpy)

    arcpy$GetInstallInfo()$ProductName

    ## [1] "ArcGISPro"

Once you are connected to your ArcGIS installation, using `arcpy` functions and classes is as seamless as using any other Python module via `reticulate`.

    # get and set the arcpy environment
    arcpy$env$workspace = tempdir()
    arcpy$env$workspace

    ## [1] "C:\\Temp\\1\\RtmpGWDuu8"

`{arcpy}` also re-exports reticulate's `py_help` function so that you can access the `arcpy` documentation.

    # get help on arcpy functions
    py_help(arcpy$Exists)

Happy scripting!