gh-92913: Clarify change to init config module_search_paths[_set] fields

Doc/c-api/init_config.rst

@@ -1289,7 +1289,11 @@ Example setting the program name::
     }
 
 More complete example modifying the default configuration, read the
-configuration, and then override some parameters::
+configuration, and then override some parameters. Note that since
+3.11, many parameters are not calculated until initialization, and
+so values cannot be read from the configuration structure. Any values
+set before initialize is called will be left unchanged by
+initialization::
 
     PyStatus init_python(const char *program_name)
     {
@@ -1314,7 +1318,15 @@ configuration, and then override some parameters::
             goto done;
         }
 
-        /* Append our custom search path to sys.path */
+        /* Specify sys.path explicitly */
+        /* To calculate the default and then modify, finish initialization and
+           then use PySys_GetObject("path") to get the list. */
+        condig.module_search_paths_set = 1
+        status = PyWideStringList_Append(&config.module_search_paths,
+                                         L"/path/to/stdlib");
+        if (PyStatus_Exception(status)) {
+            goto done;
+        }
         status = PyWideStringList_Append(&config.module_search_paths,
                                          L"/path/to/more/modules");
         if (PyStatus_Exception(status)) {
@@ -1417,8 +1429,8 @@ It is possible to completely ignore the function calculating the default
 path configuration by setting explicitly all path configuration output
 fields listed above. A string is considered as set even if it is non-empty.
 ``module_search_paths`` is considered as set if
-``module_search_paths_set`` is set to ``1``. In this case, path
-configuration input fields are ignored as well.
+``module_search_paths_set`` is set to ``1``. In this case,
+``module_search_paths`` will be used without modification.
 
 Set :c:member:`~PyConfig.pathconfig_warnings` to ``0`` to suppress warnings when
 calculating the path configuration (Unix only, Windows does not log any warning).

Doc/whatsnew/3.11.rst

@@ -403,6 +403,11 @@ Other CPython Implementation Changes
   instead of prepending them.
   (Contributed by Bastian Neuburger in :issue:`44934`.)
 
+* The :c:member:`PyConfig.module_search_paths_set` field must now be set to 1 for
+  initialization to use :c:member:`PyConfig.module_search_paths` to initialize
+  :data:`sys.path`. Otherwise, initialization will recalculate the path and replace
+  any values added to ``module_search_paths``.
+
 
 New Modules
 ===========
@@ -1861,6 +1866,16 @@ Porting to Python 3.11
 * Distributors are encouraged to build Python with the optimized Blake2
   library `libb2`_.
 
+* The :c:member:`PyConfig.module_search_paths_set` field must now be set to 1 for
+  initialization to use :c:member:`PyConfig.module_search_paths` to initialize
+  :data:`sys.path`. Otherwise, initialization will recalculate the path and replace
+  any values added to ``module_search_paths``.
+
+* :c:func:`PyConfig_Read` no longer calculates the initial search path, and will not
+  fill any values into :c:member:`PyConfig.module_search_paths`. To calculate default
+  paths and then modify them, finish initialization and use :c:func:`PySys_GetObject`
+  to retrieve :data:`sys.path` as a Python list object and modify it directly.
+
 
 Deprecated
 ----------

Lib/test/_test_embed_set_config.py

@@ -236,10 +236,11 @@ def test_path(self):
                         module_search_paths=['a', 'b', 'c'])
         self.assertEqual(sys.path, ['a', 'b', 'c'])
 
-        # Leave sys.path unchanged if module_search_paths_set=0
+        # sys.path is reset if module_search_paths_set=0
         self.set_config(module_search_paths_set=0,
                         module_search_paths=['new_path'])
-        self.assertEqual(sys.path, ['a', 'b', 'c'])
+        self.assertNotEqual(sys.path, ['a', 'b', 'c'])
+        self.assertNotEqual(sys.path, ['new_path'])
 
     def test_argv(self):
         self.set_config(parse_argv=0,

Misc/NEWS.d/next/C API/2022-05-19-18-05-51.gh-issue-92913.Ass1Hv.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Ensures changes to :c:member:`PyConfig.module_search_paths` are ignored
+unless :c:member:`PyConfig.module_search_paths_set` is set

Modules/getpath.py

@@ -228,6 +228,7 @@ def search_up(prefix, *landmarks, test=isfile):
 use_environment = config.get('use_environment', 1)
 
 pythonpath = config.get('module_search_paths')
+pythonpath_was_set = config.get('module_search_paths_set')
 
 real_executable_dir = None
 stdlib_dir = None
@@ -626,8 +627,8 @@ def search_up(prefix, *landmarks, test=isfile):
     config['module_search_paths'] = py_setpath.split(DELIM)
     config['module_search_paths_set'] = 1
 
-elif not pythonpath:
-    # If pythonpath was already set, we leave it alone.
+elif not pythonpath_was_set:
+    # If pythonpath was already explicitly set or calculated, we leave it alone.
     # This won't matter in normal use, but if an embedded host is trying to
     # recalculate paths while running then we do not want to change it.
     pythonpath = []