How do I migrate from Pipenv to uv?

Run `uvx migrate-to-uv` in the project directory. The tool reads `Pipfile`, creates a `pyproject.toml` with `[project]` metadata and `[dependency-groups]`, translates `[packages]` to `dependencies` and `[dev-packages]` to the `dev` group, generates a `uv.lock` from `Pipfile.lock`, and removes the old files. Verify with `uv sync` and `uv run pytest`.

What replaces Pipfile after migrating to uv?

`pyproject.toml` replaces `Pipfile`, and `uv.lock` replaces `Pipfile.lock`. The `[packages]` section becomes `[project] dependencies`, `[dev-packages]` becomes the `dev` entry in `[dependency-groups]`, `[requires] python_version` becomes `[project] requires-python`, and `[source]` non-default indexes become `[[tool.uv.index]]` blocks.

What's the uv equivalent of `pipenv shell`?

uv keeps the virtual environment in `.venv` at the project root. Activate it with `source .venv/bin/activate` on macOS or Linux, or `.venv\Scripts\activate` on Windows. Alternatively, prefix commands with `uv run` instead of activating, which runs the command inside the project's venv without changing the parent shell.

How do uv commands map to Pipenv commands?

`pipenv install` becomes `uv sync`, `pipenv install ` becomes `uv add `, `pipenv install --dev ` becomes `uv add --dev `, `pipenv run ` becomes `uv run `, `pipenv lock` becomes `uv lock`, `pipenv update` becomes `uv lock --upgrade`, and `pipenv graph` becomes `uv tree`.

How to migrate from Pipenv to uv

by Tim Hopper · Markdown

uv Packaging verified with uv 0.12

Pipenv combines pip and virtualenv into a single tool. uv covers the same ground and adds Python version management, a standards-compliant pyproject.toml-based workflow, and 10-100x faster dependency resolution.

Migrating replaces the Pipfile and Pipfile.lock with pyproject.toml and uv.lock, and swaps pipenv commands for their uv equivalents.

Automated migration

The migrate-to-uv tool automates the conversion.

1. Run the migration tool

$ uvx migrate-to-uv

The tool reads your Pipfile and:

Creates a pyproject.toml with [project] metadata and [dependency-groups]
Translates [packages] to dependencies and [dev-packages] to the dev dependency group
Generates a uv.lock file from the resolved dependencies in Pipfile.lock
Removes Pipfile and Pipfile.lock

2. Verify the result

$ uv sync
$ uv run pytest

Manual migration

If the automated tool doesn’t cover your setup, map Pipfile sections to pyproject.toml by hand.

A typical Pipfile:

Pipfile

[[source]]
url = "https://pypi.org/simple"
verify_ssl = true
name = "pypi"

[packages]
requests = ">=2.28"
click = ">=8.0"

[dev-packages]
pytest = ">=7.0"
ruff = "*"

[requires]
python_version = "3.11"

Becomes:

pyproject.toml

[project]
name = "my-project"
version = "0.1.0"
requires-python = ">=3.11"
dependencies = [
    "requests>=2.28",
    "click>=8.0",
]

[dependency-groups]
dev = [
    "pytest>=7.0",
    "ruff",
]

[build-system]
requires = ["hatchling"]
build-backend = "hatchling.build"

Key translations:

Pipfile	pyproject.toml
`[packages]`	`[project] dependencies`
`[dev-packages]`	`[dependency-groups] dev`
`[requires] python_version`	`[project] requires-python`
`[source]` (non-default index)	`[[tool.uv.index]]`
`"*"` (any version)	omit the version constraint

After creating pyproject.toml, generate the lockfile :

$ uv lock
$ uv sync

Then delete Pipfile and Pipfile.lock.

Command equivalents

Pipenv	uv
`pipenv install`	`uv sync`
`pipenv install requests`	`uv add requests`
`pipenv install --dev pytest`	`uv add --dev pytest`
`pipenv uninstall requests`	`uv remove requests`
`pipenv run python script.py`	`uv run python script.py`
`pipenv run pytest`	`uv run pytest`
`pipenv shell`	`source .venv/bin/activate`
`pipenv lock`	`uv lock`
`pipenv sync`	`uv sync`
`pipenv update`	`uv lock --upgrade`
`pipenv update requests`	`uv lock --upgrade-package requests`
`pipenv graph`	`uv tree`

Tip

pipenv shell spawns a subshell. uv keeps the virtual environment in .venv at the project root. Activate it with source .venv/bin/activate (macOS/Linux) or .venv\Scripts\activate (Windows), or prefix commands with uv run instead of activating.

Learn More

uv: A Complete Guide covers what uv does, how fast it is, the core workflows, and recent releases.
uv reference
migrate-to-uv documentation
uv project documentation
What is a lockfile?
How to migrate from requirements.txt to pyproject.toml with uv
How to migrate from Poetry to uv

Last updated on August 11, 2026

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