UV Cheatsheet

uv-cheatsheet.org

cave! `–` becomes often a single hyphen. Please be aware. (You see - it is actually a double hyphen :P).

Replaces: pyenv	Purpose	Command
	Install a specific Python version	uv python install <version>
	List available Python versions	uv python list
	Use a specific Python version in a project	uv python use <version>
	Automatically install the required Python version	uv run –python <version> script.py
	Pin the Python version for a project	uv python pin

Replaces: venv	Purpose	Command
	Create a virtual environment	uv venv
	Create a virtual environment with specific Python ver.	uv venv –python <version>
	Activate virtual environment (Linux/macOS)	source .venv/bin/activate
	Activate virtual environment (Windows)	.venv\Scripts\activate
	Remove a virtual environment	uv remove
	Reinstall all dependencies in the virtual environment	uv sync –reinstall

Replaces: poetry	Purpose	Command
	Initialize a new project	uv init <project-name>
	Add a package as a dependency	uv add <package-name>
	Add a dev dependency	uv add –dev <package-name>
	Add a package from Git	uv add git+https://github.com/user/repo.git
	Remove a package	uv remove <package-name>
	Lock dependencies to exact versions	uv lock
	Upgrade a specific package only on `uv.lock`	uv lock –upgrade-package <package-name>
	Upgrade all dependencies only on `uv.lock`	uv lock –upgrade
	Build a Python package	uv build
	Publish a package to PyPI	uv publish

Replaces: pip, pipx	Purpose	Command
	Install a package	uv add <package-name>
	Remove a package	uv remove <package-name>
	Install dependencies from pyproject.toml	uv sync
	Install dependencies while excluding some groups	uv sync –no-group dev –no-group lint
	Install dependencies from requirements.txt	uv pip install -r requirements.txt
	Freeze dependencies into requirements.txt	uv pip freeze > requirements.txt
	Generate requirements.txt from uv.lock	uv export –format requirements-txt > requirements.txt
	Upgrade only the `uv.lock` file	uv lock –upgrade
	Upgrade all packages (`uv.lock` and execution)	uv sync –upgrade
	Upgrade a single package (`uv.lock` and execution)	uv sync –upgrade-package <package-name>
	Install CLI tools globally	uv tool install <tool-name>
	List all installed tools	uv tool list
	Remove a globally installed CLI tool	uv tool uninstall <tool-name>
	Upgrade all installed CLI tools	uv tool upgrade –all

Replaces: Python Tools	Purpose	Command
	Run a Python script inside the virtual environment	uv run <script.py>
	Run a script while automatically installing deps	uv run –with <package> python script.py
	Run a command inside the virtual environment	uv run – <command>
	Run a one-time CLI tool without installing globally	uvx <tool-name> –version
	Install a tool globally	uv tool install <tool-name>
	Upgrade a specific tool	uv tool upgrade <tool-name>
	Upgrade all installed tools	uv tool upgrade –all
	Enable shell auto-completion for uv	eval “$(uv generate-shell-completion bash)”

uv tool uninstall instead of remove.

@arturmartins thank you!

Is there an official way to copy/clone a venv (same python and packages)?

cp -r .venv1 .venv2

still shows the previous VIRTUAL_ENV (obviously hardcoded in all bin scripts like activate 😄).

By the way, none of your arguments are working (– instead of --).

uv lock --upgrade doesn't upgrade in project environment, but just update uv.lock file. so uv sync --upgrade and uv sync --upgrade-package <package_name> are correct.

@ohdowon064 is correct

@ohdowon064 @vabsalack Thank you guys! back then I believed that was true. I will correct it now. Yes - one has to use uv sync commands to execute the changes in uv.lock. Very true. - I corrected now.

i think we will get all these from the command "uv" and can refer it instead of redundantly storing in repo?
and one more command "uv help " will give all the options.
and both gives comprehensive lists.

@reneleonhardt Sorry for the late answer.

The official way would be not to transfer .venv manually but just to transfer pyproject.toml and uv.lock and .python-version to your new project and run uv sync for proper installation.

Ok, let's say you don't have internet access in your second computer due to security reasons.

The way would be to transform your uv.lock into requirements.txt so that you can use the mechanism of pip to transfer the wheels directly.:

uv export --format requirements.txt --output-file requirements.txt
mkdir -p wheelhouse
python -m pip download -r requirements.txt -d wheelhouse

Transfer then the wheelhouse folder and requirements.txt file to the new computer. Transfer in addition your .python-version file!

So you could try this (I haven't tested this yet):

cd my-new-project
uv init
uv pip install --no-index --find-links=wheelhouse -r requirements.txt
# update then uv.lock and pyproject.toml
uv lock --no-index --find-links wheelhouse
uv sync --no-index --find-links wheelhouse

And maybe you can tell me, if it worked?