uv

uv is a high-performance Python package and project manager, created by Astral (makers of Ruff).

Key Features

• Package Management: Drop-in replacement for pip that’s 10-100x faster
• Project Management: Creates and manages Python projects, dependencies, and environments
• Python Management: Downloads and manages Python interpreters
• Tool Management: Runs and installs Python CLI tools in isolated environments
• Universal Lockfiles: Cross-platform dependency locking
• Cache Optimization: Aggressive caching and build optimizations

Key Components

• uv pip: Drop-in pip replacement for package management
• uv run: Executes Python scripts and commands in managed environments
• uv venv: Creates and manages virtual environments
• uvx: Alias for uv tool run to execute tools in isolated environments
• uv python: Manages Python interpreter installations

Advantages

• Written in Rust for exceptional performance
• Integrates multiple tools’ functionality into one CLI
• Cross-platform support (macOS, Linux, Windows)
• Supports Python virtual environments and packaging standards
• Aggressive caching optimizations
• Can be installed without Python

Limitations

• Newer tool still gaining features
• Some pip features not yet supported
• Pre-release software may have breaking changes

Learn More

• Create your first Python project
• Setting up testing with pytest and uv
• Run your first Python script with uv
• uv documentation
• Installation guide
• Package management
• Project management
• Python version management
• Tool management