[Python] Python packages installed from .whl files not importable in other scripts or notebooks

I'm working in a restricted environment where pip install from the internet is not allowed. To work around this, I created a script that installs all required Python packages from .whl files stored in a synced SharePoint folder.

Here’s the script I’m using:

import os
import subprocess
import sys

def install_whl_packages(directory):
whl_files = [f for f in os.listdir(directory) if f.endswith('.whl')]

if not whl_files:
print("No .whl files found in the directory.")
return

for whl in whl_files:
whl_path = os.path.join(directory, whl)
print(f"Installing {whl}...")
try:
subprocess.check_call([sys.executable, "-m", "pip", "install", "--user", "--no-index", "--no-deps", whl_path])
print(f"Successfully installed {whl}")
except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
print(f"Failed to install {whl}: {e}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
sharepoint_folder = r"C:..."
install_whl_packages(sharepoint_folder)


The script runs successfully and installs the packages. However, when I try to use these packages in other scripts or Jupyter notebooks (e.g., import pandas as pd), I get ModuleNotFoundError and it prompted me to install that packages.

I suspect this is a sys.path issue where Python isn't looking in the user site-packages directory by default.

My Questions:

1. How can I ensure that packages installed with --user are always available in any Python script or notebook?
2. Is there a way to make this path persistent across all environments (e.g., Jupyter, VS Code, CLI)?
3. Would creating a .pth file help, and if so, where should it be placed and what should it contain?

Any help or best practices would be appreciated!

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