pipx - Man Page

• Run an app in a temporary virtual environment: pipx run pycowsay moo
• Install a package in a virtual environment and add entry points to path: pipx install package
• List installed packages: pipx list
• Run an app in a temporary virtual environment with a package name different from the executable: pipx run --spec httpx-cli httpx http://www.github.com
• Inject dependencies into an existing virtual environment: pipx inject package dependency1 dependency2 ...
• Install a package in a virtual environment with pip arguments: pipx install --pip-args='pip-args' package

tldr.sh

pipx [-h] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--global] [--version] {install,install-all,uninject,inject,pin,unpin,upgrade,upgrade-all,upgrade-shared,uninstall,uninstall-all,reinstall,reinstall-all,list,interpreter,run,runpip,ensurepath,environment,completions} ...

Install and execute apps from Python packages.

Binaries can either be installed globally into isolated Virtual Environments or run directly in a temporary Virtual Environment.

Virtual Environment location is ~/.local/share/pipx/venvs. Symlinks to apps are placed in ~/.local/bin. Symlinks to manual pages are placed in ~/.local/share/man.

optional environment variables:
 PIPX_HOME             Overrides default pipx location. Virtual Environments
                       will be installed to $PIPX_HOME/venvs.
 PIPX_BIN_DIR          Overrides location of app installations. Apps are
                       symlinked or copied here.
 PIPX_MAN_DIR          Overrides location of manual pages installations.
                       Manual pages are symlinked or copied here.
 PIPX_DEFAULT_PYTHON   Overrides default python used for commands.
 USE_EMOJI             Overrides emoji behavior. Default value varies based
                       on platform.

--quiet,  -q

Give less output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the ERROR and CRITICAL logging levels. The count maxes out at 2.

--verbose,  -v

Give more output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the INFO, DEBUG and NOTSET logging levels. The count maxes out at 3.

--global

Perform action globally for all users.

--version

Print version and exit

pipx install

Install a package

pipx install-all

Install all packages

pipx uninject

Uninstall injected packages from an existing Virtual Environment

pipx inject

Install packages into an existing Virtual Environment

pipx upgrade

Upgrade a package

pipx upgrade-all

Upgrade all packages. Runs `pip install -U <pkgname>` for each package.

pipx upgrade-shared

Upgrade shared libraries.

pipx uninstall

Uninstall a package

pipx uninstall-all

Uninstall all packages

pipx reinstall

Reinstall a package

pipx reinstall-all

Reinstall all packages

pipx list

List installed packages

pipx interpreter

Interact with interpreters managed by pipx

pipx run

Download the latest version of a package to a temporary virtual environment, then run an app from it. Also compatible with local `__pypackages__` directory (experimental).

pipx runpip

Run pip in an existing pipx-managed Virtual Environment

pipx ensurepath

Ensure directories necessary for pipx operation are in your PATH environment variable.

pipx environment

Print a list of environment variables and paths used by pipx.

pipx completions

Print instructions on enabling shell completions for pipx

usage: pipx install [-h] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--global] [--include-deps]
                   [--force] [--suffix SUFFIX] [--python PYTHON]
                   [--fetch-missing-python] [--preinstall PREINSTALL]
                   [--system-site-packages] [--index-url INDEX_URL]
                   [--editable] [--pip-args PIP_ARGS]
                   package_spec [package_spec ...]

The install command is the preferred way to globally install apps from python packages on your system. It creates an isolated virtual environment for the package, then ensures the package's apps are accessible on your $PATH. The package's manual pages installed in share/man/man[1-9] can be viewed with man on an operating system where it is available and the path in the environment variable `PIPX_MAN_DIR` (default: ~/.local/share/man) is in the man search path ($MANPATH).

The result: apps you can run from anywhere, located in packages you can cleanly upgrade or uninstall. Guaranteed to not have dependency version conflicts or interfere with your OS's python packages. 'sudo' is not required to do this.

pipx install PACKAGE_SPEC ... pipx install --python PYTHON PACKAGE_SPEC pipx install VCS_URL pipx install ./LOCAL_PATH pipx install ZIP_FILE pipx install TAR_GZ_FILE

The PACKAGE_SPEC argument is passed directly to `pip install`.

The default virtual environment location is ~/.local/share/pipx and can be overridden by setting the environment variable `PIPX_HOME` (Virtual Environments will be installed to `$PIPX_HOME/venvs`).

The default app location is ~/.local/bin and can be overridden by setting the environment variable `PIPX_BIN_DIR`.

The default manual pages location is ~/.local/share/man and can be overridden by setting the environment variable `PIPX_MAN_DIR`.

The default python executable used to install a package is /usr/bin/python3.13 and can be overridden by setting the environment variable `PIPX_DEFAULT_PYTHON`.

package_spec

package name(s) or pip installation spec(s)

--quiet, -q

Give less output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the ERROR and CRITICAL logging levels. The count maxes out at 2.

--verbose, -v

Give more output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the INFO, DEBUG and NOTSET logging levels. The count maxes out at 3.

--global

Perform action globally for all users.

--include-deps

Include apps of dependent packages

--force, -f

Modify existing virtual environment and files in PIPX_BIN_DIR and PIPX_MAN_DIR

--suffix SUFFIX

Optional suffix for virtual environment and executable names. NOTE: The suffix feature is experimental and subject to change.

--python PYTHON

Python to install with. Possible values can be the executable name (python3.11), the version of an available system Python or to pass to py launcher (3.11), or the full path to the executable. Requires Python 3.8 or above.

--fetch-missing-python

Whether to fetch a standalone python build from GitHub if the specified python version is not found locally on the system.

--preinstall PREINSTALL

Optional package to be installed into the Virtual Environment before installing the main package. Use this flag multiple times if you want to preinstall multiple packages.

--system-site-packages

Give the virtual environment access to the system site-packages dir.

--index-url INDEX_URL, -i INDEX_URL

Base URL of Python Package Index

--editable, -e

Install a project in editable mode

--pip-args PIP_ARGS

Arbitrary pip arguments to pass directly to pip install/upgrade commands

usage: pipx install-all [-h] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--global] [--force]
                       [--python PYTHON] [--fetch-missing-python]
                       [--system-site-packages] [--index-url INDEX_URL]
                       [--editable] [--pip-args PIP_ARGS]
                       spec_metadata_file

Installs all the packages according to spec metadata file.

spec_metadata_file

Spec metadata file generated from pipx list --json

--quiet, -q

Give less output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the ERROR and CRITICAL logging levels. The count maxes out at 2.

--verbose, -v

Give more output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the INFO, DEBUG and NOTSET logging levels. The count maxes out at 3.

--global

Perform action globally for all users.

--force, -f

Modify existing virtual environment and files in PIPX_BIN_DIR and PIPX_MAN_DIR

--python PYTHON

Python to install with. Possible values can be the executable name (python3.11), the version of an available system Python or to pass to py launcher (3.11), or the full path to the executable. Requires Python 3.8 or above.

--fetch-missing-python

Whether to fetch a standalone python build from GitHub if the specified python version is not found locally on the system.

--system-site-packages

Give the virtual environment access to the system site-packages dir.

--index-url INDEX_URL, -i INDEX_URL

Base URL of Python Package Index

--editable, -e

Install a project in editable mode

--pip-args PIP_ARGS

Arbitrary pip arguments to pass directly to pip install/upgrade commands

usage: pipx uninject [-h] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--global] [--leave-deps]
                    package dependencies [dependencies ...]

Uninstalls injected packages from an existing pipx-managed virtual environment.

package

Name of the existing pipx-managed Virtual Environment to inject into

dependencies

the package names to uninject from the Virtual Environment

--quiet, -q

Give less output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the ERROR and CRITICAL logging levels. The count maxes out at 2.

--verbose, -v

Give more output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the INFO, DEBUG and NOTSET logging levels. The count maxes out at 3.

--global

Perform action globally for all users.

--leave-deps

Only uninstall the main injected package but leave its dependencies installed.

usage: pipx inject [-h] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--global] [-r file]
                  [--include-apps] [--include-deps] [--system-site-packages]
                  [--index-url INDEX_URL] [--editable] [--pip-args PIP_ARGS]
                  [--force] [--with-suffix]
                  package [dependencies ...]

Installs packages to an existing pipx-managed virtual environment.

package

Name of the existing pipx-managed Virtual Environment to inject into

dependencies

the packages to inject into the Virtual Environment--either package name or pip package spec

--quiet, -q

Give less output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the ERROR and CRITICAL logging levels. The count maxes out at 2.

--verbose, -v

Give more output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the INFO, DEBUG and NOTSET logging levels. The count maxes out at 3.

--global

Perform action globally for all users.

-r file, --requirement file

file containing the packages to inject into the Virtual Environment--one package name or pip package spec per line. May be specified multiple times.

--include-apps

Add apps from the injected packages onto your PATH and expose their manual pages

--include-deps

Include apps of dependent packages. Implies --include-apps

--system-site-packages

Give the virtual environment access to the system site-packages dir.

--index-url INDEX_URL, -i INDEX_URL

Base URL of Python Package Index

--editable, -e

Install a project in editable mode

--pip-args PIP_ARGS

Arbitrary pip arguments to pass directly to pip install/upgrade commands

--force, -f

Modify existing virtual environment and files in PIPX_BIN_DIR and PIPX_MAN_DIR

--with-suffix

Add the suffix (if given) of the Virtual Environment to the packages to inject

usage: pipx pin [-h] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--global] [--injected-only]
               [--skip SKIP [SKIP ...]]
               package

Pin the specified package to prevent it from being upgraded

package

Installed package to pin

--quiet, -q

Give less output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the ERROR and CRITICAL logging levels. The count maxes out at 2.

--verbose, -v

Give more output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the INFO, DEBUG and NOTSET logging levels. The count maxes out at 3.

--global

Perform action globally for all users.

--injected-only

Pin injected packages in venv only, so that they will not be upgraded during upgrade operations. Note that this should not be passed if you wish to pin both main package and injected packages.

--skip SKIP [SKIP ...]

Skip these packages. Implies `--injected-only`.

usage: pipx unpin [-h] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--global] package

Unpin the specified package and all injected packages in its venv to allow them to be upgraded

package

Installed package to unpin

--quiet, -q

Give less output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the ERROR and CRITICAL logging levels. The count maxes out at 2.

--verbose, -v

Give more output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the INFO, DEBUG and NOTSET logging levels. The count maxes out at 3.

--global

Perform action globally for all users.

usage: pipx upgrade [-h] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--global] [--include-injected]
                   [--force] [--system-site-packages] [--index-url INDEX_URL]
                   [--editable] [--pip-args PIP_ARGS] [--install]
                   [--python PYTHON] [--fetch-missing-python]
                   packages [packages ...]

Upgrade package(s) in pipx-managed Virtual Environment(s) by running 'pip install --upgrade PACKAGE'

packages

package names(s) to upgrade

--quiet, -q

Give less output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the ERROR and CRITICAL logging levels. The count maxes out at 2.

--verbose, -v

Give more output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the INFO, DEBUG and NOTSET logging levels. The count maxes out at 3.

--global

Perform action globally for all users.

--include-injected

Also upgrade packages injected into the main app's environment

--force, -f

Modify existing virtual environment and files in PIPX_BIN_DIR and PIPX_MAN_DIR

--system-site-packages

Give the virtual environment access to the system site-packages dir.

--index-url INDEX_URL, -i INDEX_URL

Base URL of Python Package Index

--editable, -e

Install a project in editable mode

--pip-args PIP_ARGS

Arbitrary pip arguments to pass directly to pip install/upgrade commands

--install

Install package spec if missing

--python PYTHON

Python to install with. Possible values can be the executable name (python3.11), the version of an available system Python or to pass to py launcher (3.11), or the full path to the executable. Requires Python 3.8 or above.

--fetch-missing-python

Whether to fetch a standalone python build from GitHub if the specified python version is not found locally on the system.

usage: pipx upgrade-all [-h] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--global]
                       [--include-injected] [--skip SKIP [SKIP ...]]
                       [--force]

Upgrades all packages within their virtual environments by running 'pip install --upgrade PACKAGE'

--quiet, -q

Give less output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the ERROR and CRITICAL logging levels. The count maxes out at 2.

--verbose, -v

Give more output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the INFO, DEBUG and NOTSET logging levels. The count maxes out at 3.

--global

Perform action globally for all users.

--include-injected

Also upgrade packages injected into the main app's environment

--skip SKIP [SKIP ...]

skip these packages

--force, -f

Modify existing virtual environment and files in PIPX_BIN_DIR and PIPX_MAN_DIR

usage: pipx upgrade-shared [-h] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--global]
                          [--pip-args PIP_ARGS]

Upgrade shared libraries.

--quiet, -q

Give less output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the ERROR and CRITICAL logging levels. The count maxes out at 2.

--verbose, -v

Give more output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the INFO, DEBUG and NOTSET logging levels. The count maxes out at 3.

--global

Perform action globally for all users.

--pip-args PIP_ARGS

Arbitrary pip arguments to pass directly to pip install/upgrade commands

usage: pipx uninstall [-h] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--global] package

Uninstalls a pipx-managed Virtual Environment by deleting it and any files that point to its apps.

package

--quiet, -q

Give less output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the ERROR and CRITICAL logging levels. The count maxes out at 2.

--verbose, -v

Give more output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the INFO, DEBUG and NOTSET logging levels. The count maxes out at 3.

--global

Perform action globally for all users.

usage: pipx uninstall-all [-h] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--global]

Uninstall all pipx-managed packages

--quiet, -q

Give less output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the ERROR and CRITICAL logging levels. The count maxes out at 2.

--verbose, -v

Give more output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the INFO, DEBUG and NOTSET logging levels. The count maxes out at 3.

--global

Perform action globally for all users.

usage: pipx reinstall [-h] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--global] [--python PYTHON]
                     [--fetch-missing-python]
                     package

Reinstalls a package.

Package is uninstalled, then installed with pipx install PACKAGE with the same options used in the original install of PACKAGE.

package

--quiet, -q

Give less output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the ERROR and CRITICAL logging levels. The count maxes out at 2.

--verbose, -v

Give more output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the INFO, DEBUG and NOTSET logging levels. The count maxes out at 3.

--global

Perform action globally for all users.

--python PYTHON

Python to install with. Possible values can be the executable name (python3.11), the version of an available system Python or to pass to py launcher (3.11), or the full path to the executable. Requires Python 3.8 or above.

--fetch-missing-python

Whether to fetch a standalone python build from GitHub if the specified python version is not found locally on the system.

usage: pipx reinstall-all [-h] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--global]
                         [--python PYTHON] [--fetch-missing-python]
                         [--skip SKIP [SKIP ...]]

Reinstalls all packages.

Packages are uninstalled, then installed with pipx install PACKAGE with the same options used in the original install of PACKAGE. This is useful if you upgraded to a new version of Python and want all your packages to use the latest as well.

--quiet, -q

Give less output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the ERROR and CRITICAL logging levels. The count maxes out at 2.

--verbose, -v

Give more output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the INFO, DEBUG and NOTSET logging levels. The count maxes out at 3.

--global

Perform action globally for all users.

--python PYTHON

Python to install with. Possible values can be the executable name (python3.11), the version of an available system Python or to pass to py launcher (3.11), or the full path to the executable. Requires Python 3.8 or above.

--fetch-missing-python

Whether to fetch a standalone python build from GitHub if the specified python version is not found locally on the system.

--skip SKIP [SKIP ...]

skip these packages

usage: pipx list [-h] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--global] [--include-injected]
                [--json | --short | --pinned | --skip-maintenance]

List packages and apps installed with pipx

--quiet, -q

Give less output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the ERROR and CRITICAL logging levels. The count maxes out at 2.

--verbose, -v

Give more output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the INFO, DEBUG and NOTSET logging levels. The count maxes out at 3.

--global

Perform action globally for all users.

--include-injected

Show packages injected into the main app's environment

--json

Output rich data in json format.

--short

List packages only.

--pinned

List pinned packages only. Pass --include-injected at the same time to list injected packages that were pinned.

--skip-maintenance

(deprecated) No-op

usage: pipx interpreter [-h] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--global]
                       {list,prune,upgrade} ...

Interact with interpreters managed by pipx

--quiet, -q

Give less output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the ERROR and CRITICAL logging levels. The count maxes out at 2.

--verbose, -v

Give more output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the INFO, DEBUG and NOTSET logging levels. The count maxes out at 3.

--global

Perform action globally for all users.

pipx interpreter list

List available interpreters

pipx interpreter prune

Prune unused interpreters

pipx interpreter upgrade

Upgrade installed interpreters to the latest available micro/patch version

usage: pipx interpreter list [-h]

List available interpreters

usage: pipx interpreter prune [-h]

Prune unused interpreters

usage: pipx interpreter upgrade [-h]

Upgrade installed interpreters to the latest available micro/patch version

usage: pipx run [-h] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--global] [--no-cache] [--path]
               [--pypackages] [--spec SPEC] [--python PYTHON]
               [--fetch-missing-python] [--system-site-packages]
               [--index-url INDEX_URL] [--editable] [--pip-args PIP_ARGS]
               app ...

Download the latest version of a package to a temporary virtual environment, then run an app from it. The environment will be cached and re-used for up to 14 days. This means subsequent calls to 'run' for the same package will be faster since they can reuse the cached Virtual Environment.

In support of PEP 582 'run' will use apps found in a local __pypackages__ directory, if present. Please note that this behavior is experimental, and acts as a companion tool to pythonloc. It may be modified or removed in the future. See https://github.com/cs01/pythonloc.

app ...

app/package name and any arguments to be passed to it

--quiet, -q

Give less output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the ERROR and CRITICAL logging levels. The count maxes out at 2.

--verbose, -v

Give more output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the INFO, DEBUG and NOTSET logging levels. The count maxes out at 3.

--global

Perform action globally for all users.

--no-cache

Do not reuse cached virtual environment if it exists

--path

Interpret app name as a local path

--pypackages

Require app to be run from local __pypackages__ directory

--spec SPEC

The package name or specific installation source passed to pip. Runs `pip install -U SPEC`. For example `--spec mypackage==2.0.0` or `--spec  git+https://github.com/user/repo.git@branch`

--python PYTHON

Python to install with. Possible values can be the executable name (python3.11), the version of an available system Python or to pass to py launcher (3.11), or the full path to the executable. Requires Python 3.8 or above.

--fetch-missing-python

Whether to fetch a standalone python build from GitHub if the specified python version is not found locally on the system.

--system-site-packages

Give the virtual environment access to the system site-packages dir.

--index-url INDEX_URL, -i INDEX_URL

Base URL of Python Package Index

--editable, -e

Install a project in editable mode

--pip-args PIP_ARGS

Arbitrary pip arguments to pass directly to pip install/upgrade commands

usage: pipx runpip [-h] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--global] package ...

Run pip in an existing pipx-managed Virtual Environment

package

Name of the existing pipx-managed Virtual Environment to run pip in

pipargs

Arguments to forward to pip command

--quiet, -q

Give less output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the ERROR and CRITICAL logging levels. The count maxes out at 2.

--verbose, -v

Give more output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the INFO, DEBUG and NOTSET logging levels. The count maxes out at 3.

--global

Perform action globally for all users.

usage: pipx ensurepath [-h] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--global] [--force]

Ensure directory where pipx stores apps is in your PATH environment variable. Also if pipx was installed via `pip install --user`, ensure pipx itself is in your PATH. Note that running this may modify your shell's configuration file(s) such as '~/.bashrc'.

--quiet, -q

Give less output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the ERROR and CRITICAL logging levels. The count maxes out at 2.

--verbose, -v

Give more output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the INFO, DEBUG and NOTSET logging levels. The count maxes out at 3.

--global

Perform action globally for all users.

--force, -f

Add text to your shell's config file even if it looks like your PATH already contains paths to pipx and pipx-install apps.

usage: pipx environment [-h] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--global]
                       [--value VARIABLE]

Prints the names and current values of environment variables used by pipx, followed by internal pipx variables which are derived from the environment variables and platform specific default values.

Available variables: PIPX_HOME, PIPX_BIN_DIR, PIPX_MAN_DIR, PIPX_SHARED_LIBS, PIPX_LOCAL_VENVS, PIPX_LOG_DIR, PIPX_TRASH_DIR, PIPX_VENV_CACHEDIR, PIPX_DEFAULT_PYTHON, USE_EMOJI

--quiet, -q

Give less output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the ERROR and CRITICAL logging levels. The count maxes out at 2.

--verbose, -v

Give more output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the INFO, DEBUG and NOTSET logging levels. The count maxes out at 3.

--global

Perform action globally for all users.

--value VARIABLE, -V VARIABLE

Print the value of the variable.

usage: pipx completions [-h] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--global]

Print instructions on enabling shell completions for pipx

--quiet, -q

Give less output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the ERROR and CRITICAL logging levels. The count maxes out at 2.

--verbose, -v

Give more output. May be used multiple times corresponding to the INFO, DEBUG and NOTSET logging levels. The count maxes out at 3.

--global

Perform action globally for all users.

pipx(1) was written by Chad Smith and contributors. The project can be found online at https://pipx.pypa.io

pip(1), virtualenv(1)