How to split a certain area using python?

Question

My screen has different areas: one 3D View and two Image Editors.

I would like to split one of the Image Editors but when I call the bpy.ops.screen.area_split() operator, it's always going to split the 3D View for whatever reason.

Does anyone know how I can split a certain area?

Answer 1

Iterate through all visible areas and override the context when calling area_split() operator.

Blender 3.2+

import bpy
from bpy import context

for area in context.screen.areas:
    if area.type == 'IMAGE_EDITOR': # 'VIEW_3D', 'CONSOLE', 'INFO' etc. 
        with context.temp_override(area=area):
            bpy.ops.screen.area_split(direction='VERTICAL', factor=0.3)
        break

Blender 2.8+

import bpy

for area in bpy.context.screen.areas:
    if area.type == 'IMAGE_EDITOR': # 'VIEW_3D', 'CONSOLE', 'INFO' etc. 
        override = bpy.context.copy()
        override['area'] = area
        bpy.ops.screen.area_split(override, direction='VERTICAL', factor=0.3)
        break