Pyxenv 🐍 - Python Version/Environment Manager

npx for Python - Manage Python versions and virtual environments with ease

Pyxenv is a command-line tool inspired by Node.js's npx, designed to simplify managing multiple Python versions and virtual environments.

Features

• Quick version switching - Run scripts with different Python versions
• Automatic installation - Downloads and installs Python versions automatically (Windows)
• Virtual environment management - Create and activate virtual environments easily
• Smart detection - Lists all available Python versions
• Cross-platform - Support for Windows, Linux and macOS
• Zero configuration - Works immediately after installation

Installation

Via pip (recommended)

pip install pyxenv

Via GitHub

git clone https://github.com/luigicfilho/pyxenv.git
cd pyxenv
pip install -e .

Quick Usage

Run script with specific version

# Run script.py with Python 3.11
pyxenv 3.11 script.py

# With arguments
pyxenv 3.11 script.py --arg1 value1 --arg2 value2

Manage Python versions

# List versions installed by pyxenv
pyxenv --list

# List all versions (including globals)
pyxenv --list-all

# Auto-install (Windows)
pyxenv 3.12 script.py  # Installs 3.12 if not exists

Manage virtual environments

# Create virtual environment
pyxenv 3.11 --create-env my-project

# Create with default name (pyxenv-3.11)
pyxenv 3.11 --create-env

# Activate environment
pyxenv --activate my-project

# List environments
pyxenv --list-envs

Examples

Multi-version development

# Test your code in different versions
pyxenv 3.8 test_script.py
pyxenv 3.9 test_script.py
pyxenv 3.11 test_script.py
pyxenv 3.12 test_script.py

Isolated projects

# Django project with Python 3.11
pyxenv 3.11 --create-env django-project
pyxenv --activate django-project
pip install django
django-admin startproject mysite

# FastAPI project with Python 3.12
pyxenv 3.12 --create-env fastapi-project
pyxenv --activate fastapi-project
pip install fastapi uvicorn

CI/CD

# .github/workflows/test.yml
name: Tests

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: windows-latest
    strategy:
      matrix:
        python-version: ['3.8', '3.9', '3.10', '3.11', '3.12']
    
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Install pyxenv
        run: pip install pyxenv
      - name: Run tests
        run: pyxenv ${{ matrix.python-version }} -m pytest

Commands

Directory Structure

~/.pyxenv/
├── pythons/          # Installed Python versions
│   ├── 3.8.10/
│   ├── 3.11.5/
│   └── 3.12.0/
└── envs/             # Virtual environments
    ├── my-project/
    ├── django-app/
    └── pyxenv-3.11/

Configuration

pyxenv works without configuration, but you can customize:

# ~/.pyxenv/config.py (optional)
pyxenv_HOME = Path.home() / ".pyxenv"
PYTHON_DIR = pyxenv_HOME / "pythons"
ENV_DIR = pyxenv_HOME / "envs"

Troubleshooting

Python not found

# Check available versions
pyxenv --list-all

# Install specific version (Windows)
pyxenv 3.11 --version  # Auto-installs

Virtual environment not activating

# Check if it exists
pyxenv --list-envs

# Recreate if necessary
pyxenv 3.11 --create-env env-name

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for details.

Development setup

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/luigicfilho/pyxenv.git
cd pyxenv

# Install development dependencies
pip install -e .

# Run tests
pytest

# Check coverage
pytest --cov=pyxenv --cov-report=html

Run tests

# All tests
pytest

# Specific tests
pytest tests/test_cli.py

# With verbose output
pytest -vv

# With coverage
pytest --cov=pyxenv --cov-report=term-missing

Code style

# Format code
black pyxenv tests

# Sort imports
isort pyxenv tests

# Check style
flake8 pyxenv tests

# Type checking
mypy pyxenv

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Author

Luigi C. Filho

• Email: lcdev@lcdesenvolvimentos.com.br
• GitHub: @luigicfilho

Acknowledgments

• Inspired by Node.js's npx
• Python community for excellent documentation

Project Status

• Python version detection
• Virtual environment management
• Automatic installation (Windows)
• Automatic installation (Linux/macOS) - In development
• Download cache - Planned
• Auto-update - Planned

Useful Links

• Documentation
• Issues
• Changelog
• Contribution Guide

Roadmap

v0.2.0

• pyenv support
• Auto-install on Linux/macOS
• Installer cache

v0.3.0

• Interactive TUI interface
• Project configuration (.pyxenvrc)
• Docker integration

v1.0.0

• Stable API
• Complete documentation
• Verified PyPI package

Inspiration and Alternatives

• pyenv - Complete Python version manager
• virtualenv - Virtual environment creation
• pipx - Install and run Python applications
• conda - Package and environment manager

pyxenv combines the best of these worlds with the simplicity of npx!

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