Prioritize RUNNER_TOOL_CACHE over AGENT_TOOLSDIRECTORY about setup-python

[HarithaVattikuti]

Hello @brendanhaines
Thank you for creating this issue. We will investigate it and get back to you as soon as we have some feedback.

[priya-kinthali]

Hello @brendanhaines 👋,
The RUNNER_TOOL_CACHE is a predefined environment variable in GitHub Actions runners that directs to a directory for caching tools and dependencies, facilitating reuse across workflow runs. This is elaborated in the default environment variables documentation.

For self-hosted runners on Linux and Windows, the AGENT_TOOLSDIRECTORY environment variable allows the specification of a custom directory for tool installations and caching, as detailed in the advanced usage documentation.
When you designate a custom directory with AGENT_TOOLSDIRECTORY, the RUNNER_TOOL_CACHE no longer defaults to the runner's preset directory.
If a specific tool version doesn't exist in the AGENT_TOOLSDIRECTORY directory, it is downloaded and cached for subsequent runs. In case the same tool version already exists in the cache, the workflow optimizes by using the cached version, thereby eliminating the need for a new download.
Hope this clarifies!

[priya-kinthali]

Hello @brendanhaines 👋,
Just a gentle ping, I hope the previous explanation was helpful. Please feel free to reply if you have any further concerns. Thank you!

[priya-kinthali]

Hello @brendanhaines👋,
Just a gentle reminder!

[priya-kinthali]

Hello,
Due to inactivity, I'm going to close this issue for now. Please feel free to reopen this issue or create a new one if necessary. Thank you😊