pipx

Installation and Setup

Install it from PyPI and add it to PATH:

• Windows
• Linux + macOS

PS> py -m pip install pipx
PS> py -m pipx ensurepath
PS> pipx --version

$ python -m pip install pipx
$ python -m pipx ensurepath
$ pipx --version

The official install guide uses brew install pipx on macOS and scoop install pipx on Windows. On distributions that adopt PEP 668, such as Ubuntu 23.04+, Debian 12+, and Fedora 38+, the system Python is externally managed and installing pipx with pip fails with externally-managed-environment. Those systems install the distribution package with sudo apt install pipx or sudo dnf install pipx.

Restart your shell so the PATH changes take effect.

Key Features

• Per-app isolation by creating one environment for each installed tool to avoid dependency conflicts.
• One-off execution with pipx run to try a tool without installing it permanently, including local, URL-hosted, or VCS-hosted .py scripts that declare their own dependencies in a PEP 723 # /// script block.
• Flexible installation from PyPI, local paths, or version control systems (VCS), including extras and exact versions.
• Environment management commands to list, upgrade, reinstall, pin, and uninstall apps, plus inject to add extra packages to an app’s environment.
• Control over the interpreter used for an app with --python, which helps test tools across Python versions, plus --fetch-python=missing|always to download a standalone build when no local interpreter fits.
• Pluggable backend that lets pipx build environments with uv instead of pip and venv, chosen with --backend uv or PIPX_DEFAULT_BACKEND, while the CLI surface stays the same.

Usage

Install a command-line tool and expose its entry points:

$ pipx install black

Run a tool once without a permanent install:

$ pipx run pycowsay "Hello, World!"

Choose the interpreter for an app:

$ pipx install --python 3.14 nox

Install from a VCS URL or from a local project directory:

$ pipx install "git+https://github.com/psf/black"
$ pipx install .

Upgrade or remove tools and inspect what is installed:

$ pipx upgrade --all
$ pipx uninstall black
$ pipx list

Add an extra helper inside an app’s environment:

$ pipx inject black mypy

Related Resources

Tutorial

Install and Execute Python Applications Using pipx

In this tutorial, you'll learn about a tool called pipx, which lets you conveniently install and run Python packages as standalone command-line applications in isolated environments. In a way, pipx turns the Python Package Index (PyPI) into an app marketplace for Python programmers.

intermediate tools

For additional information on related topics, take a look at the following resources:

• Python Virtual Environments: A Primer (Tutorial)
• A Beginner's Guide to pip (Course)
• Working With Python Virtual Environments (Course)
• Python Basics: Installing Packages With pip (Course)
• uv vs pip: Managing Python Packages and Dependencies (Tutorial)
• How to Publish an Open-Source Python Package to PyPI (Tutorial)
• Publishing Python Packages to PyPI (Course)
• Install and Execute Python Applications Using pipx (Quiz)
• Python Virtual Environments: A Primer (Quiz)
• uv vs pip: Python Packaging and Dependency Management (Course)
• uv vs pip: Managing Python Packages and Dependencies (Quiz)
• How to Publish Your Own Python Package to PyPI (Course)
• How to Publish an Open-Source Python Package to PyPI (Quiz)