The Python Launcher for Unix
Launch your Python interpreter the lazy/smart way!
This project is an implementation of the py command for Unix-based platforms
(with some potential experimentation for good measure
The goal is to have py become the cross-platform command that Python users
typically use to launch an interpreter while doing development. By having a
command that is version-agnostic when it comes to Python, it side-steps
the "what should the python command point to?" debate by clearly specifying
that upfront (i.e. the newest version of Python that can be found). This also
unifies the suggested command to document for launching Python on both Windows
as Unix as py has existed as the preferred
command on Windows
since 2012 with the release of Python 3.3.
Typical usage would be:
py -m venv .venv
py ... # Normal `python` usage.
This creates a virtual environment in a .venv directory using the latest
version of Python installed. Subsequent uses of py will then use that virtual
environment as long as it is in the current (or higher) directory; no
environment activation required (although the Python Launcher supports activated
environments as well)!
A non-goal of this project is to become the way to launch the Python interpreter all the time. If you know the exact interpreter you want to launch then you should launch it directly; same goes for when you have requirements on the type of interpreter you want (e.g. 32-bit, framework build on macOS, etc.). The Python Launcher should be viewed as a tool of convenience, not necessity.
Installation
Linux
Linuxbrew
brew install python-launcher
https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/python-launcher
Arch
yay -S python-launcher
https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/python-launcher
Fedora
sudo dnf install python-launcher
Requires Fedora 34 or higher.
https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/rust-python-launcher/
RISC-V
curl --location --remote-name https://github.com/brettcannon/python-launcher/releases/download/v1.0.0/python_launcher-1.0.0-riscv64gc-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.xz
- Install into, e.g.
/usr/local:
tar --extract --strip-components 1 --directory /usr/local --file python_launcher-1.0.0-riscv64gc-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.xz
AArch64
curl --location --remote-name https://github.com/brettcannon/python-launcher/releases/download/v1.0.0/python_launcher-1.0.0-aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.xz
- Install into, e.g.
/usr/local:
tar --extract --strip-components 1 --directory /usr/local --file python_launcher-1.0.0-aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.xz
x86-64
curl --location --remote-name https://github.com/brettcannon/python-launcher/releases/download/v1.0.0/python_launcher-1.0.0-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.xz
- Install into, e.g.
/usr/local:
tar --extract --strip-components 1 --directory /usr/local --file python_launcher-1.0.0-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.xz
macOS
Homebrew
brew install python-launcher
https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/python-launcher
Apple Silicon
curl --location --remote-name https://github.com/brettcannon/python-launcher/releases/download/v1.0.0/python_launcher-1.0.0-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.xz
- Install into, e.g.
/usr/local:
tar --extract --strip-components 1 --directory /usr/local --file python_launcher-1.0.0-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.xz
x86-64
curl --location --remote-name https://github.com/brettcannon/python-launcher/releases/download/v1.0.0/python_launcher-1.0.0-x86_64-apple-darwin.tar.xz
- Install into, e.g.
/usr/local:
tar --extract --strip-components 1 --directory /usr/local --file python_launcher-1.0.0-x86_64-apple-darwin.tar.xz
NetBSD
x86-64
curl --location --remote-name https://github.com/brettcannon/python-launcher/releases/download/v1.0.0/python_launcher-1.0.0-x86_64-unknown-netbsd.tar.xz
- Install into, e.g.
/usr/local:
tar --extract --strip-components 1 --directory /usr/local --file python_launcher-1.0.0-x86_64-unknown-netbsd.tar.xz
Any OS supporting Rust
Crates.io
cargo install python-launcher
https://crates.io/crates/python-launcher
Source
cargo install --path .
https://github.com/brettcannon/python-launcher
Documentation
The general control flow for finding the appropriate Python executable is the following (with Python 3.6, Python 3, and the newest version of Python installed as examples):
See the
man page
or the top section of py --help for more details.
See the API docs for using this project to build your own custom Launcher.
FAQ
How do I have Starship use the Python Launcher to display the Python version?
Add the following to your Starship configuration file:
[python]
python_binary = ["py"]
# The following isn't necessary, but convenient.
detect_folders = [".venv"]
By using the Launcher with Starship, your prompt will tell you which Python
version will be used if you run py. Since the Launcher supports virtual
environments, the prompt will properly reflect both what global install of
Python will be used, but also the local virtual environment.
How do I get a table of Python executables in Nushell?
py --list | lines | split column "│" version path | str trimDo note that the character that is being split on is not the traditional
U+007C/"Vertical Line"/pipe character (|),
but U+2502/"Box Drawings Light Vertical" (│).
How can I make the Python Launcher use my default Python version from pyenv?
If you're using pyenv to manage your Python versions, you'll want to set the version the Launcher uses to the pyenv global version.
Add this line to your .zshrc or .bashrc file:
export PY_PYTHON=$(pyenv exec python -c "import sys; print('.'.join(map(str, sys.version_info[:2])))")Or this line to your ~/.config/fish/config.fish file:
set -gx PY_PYTHON (pyenv exec python -c "import sys; print('.'.join(map(str, sys.version_info[:2])))")Appendix
- PEP 397: Python launcher for Windows
- PEP 486: Make the Python Launcher aware of virtual environments
- Python Launcher for Windows