uv-package-manager

UV Package Manager

Use uv - an extremely fast Python package installer and resolver written in Rust - for modern Python project management and dependency workflows.

When to Invoke

• Setting up new Python projects or managing dependencies
• Creating and managing virtual environments
• Installing or switching Python interpreter versions
• Resolving dependency conflicts efficiently
• Migrating from pip, pip-tools, or poetry to uv
• Speeding up CI/CD pipelines with faster installs
• Working with lockfiles for reproducible builds
• Managing monorepo Python projects with workspaces

Core Concepts

What is uv?

• Ultra-fast package installer: 10-100x faster than pip
• Written in Rust: Leverages Rust's performance
• Drop-in pip replacement: Compatible with pip workflows
• Virtual environment manager: Create and manage venvs
• Python installer: Download and manage Python versions
• Lockfile support: Reproducible installations

UV vs Traditional Tools

• vs pip: 10-100x faster, better resolver
• vs pip-tools: Faster, simpler, better UX
• vs poetry: Faster, less opinionated, lighter
• vs conda: Faster, Python-focused

Installation

# macOS/Linux
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# Windows (PowerShell)
powershell -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

# Using pip
pip install uv

# Using Homebrew (macOS)
brew install uv

# Verify
uv --version

Quick Start

# Create new project
uv init my-project
cd my-project

# Install packages (creates venv if needed)
uv add requests pandas

# Install dev dependencies
uv add --dev pytest black ruff

# Install from requirements.txt
uv pip install -r requirements.txt

# Sync from pyproject.toml
uv sync

Virtual Environment Management

# Create virtual environment
uv venv
uv venv --python 3.12
uv venv my-env

# Activate
source .venv/bin/activate          # Linux/macOS
.venv\Scripts\activate.bat         # Windows CMD
.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1         # Windows PowerShell

# Or skip activation with uv run
uv run python script.py
uv run pytest
uv run --python 3.11 python script.py