blog/2025/03/29/self-contained-python-scripts-with-uv/

[giscus[bot]]

blog/2025/03/29/self-contained-python-scripts-with-uv/

https://dusktreader.github.io/blog/2025/03/29/self-contained-python-scripts-with-uv/

[dusktreader]

Test comment.

[h0h0h0]

Rad. Quick note for those seeing the inline script metadata syntax (PEP 723) at the top of the file; this is from from a very cool addition to the python language

[regob]

This is a great feature. The only downside I see is I don't get linting/autocomplete properly for the environment, since the venv is not created/resolved before execution.

[Wingysam]

When developing scripts with inline metadata, I usually set up a venv and install the packages, then configure my editor to use the venv. Once I'm done, I just nuke the venv and recreate it when I need it.

[Wingysam]

I've tried this before! The idea is beautiful but it has one fatal (in some situations) drawback: it depends on coreutils env. The busybox env that you get in Alpine by default doesn't support the -S flag.

One workaround is to install GNU coreutils in your container, or to install uutils-coreutils for a permissively-licensed implementation in rust.

[dusktreader]

Oh, that's interesting! For my use-cases, I don't forsee needing to use a stand-alone script in a minimalist container like that. For those cases, I would almost certainly make an installable app with an image that includes uv in at least the build environment.

[Wingysam]

It's definitely somewhat uncommon! My main use-case for it is CI pipelines. You might not need alpine for CI images, but if the software you ship runs in alpine it makes sense for the CI to also be alpine.

[NorthIsUp]

vote for supporting this in vscode here: microsoft/vscode-python#24916

[Wingysam]

That would be incredible if VSCode could use uv to automatically get the right interpreter and dependencies to make LSP for these scripts work!

[Carreau]

IPython dev here, you csn use ipython -i <script.py>, to run a script and be dropped in IPython at the end, this avoids modifying the script.

[dusktreader]

oh, nice! I didn't know that.

[Carreau]

IPython have tips of the days now, want to sent a PR that adds this as a tip ?

[jklaiho]

I have a problem with this method. (There's likely a workaround for this, but I'm reasonably new to uv and don't know it.) If I use ipython -i script.py and that script has imports, IPython doesn't see them. With the IPython.embed() method, it works since the inline dependencies section lists both IPython and whatever the script otherwise needs.

For context that may be relevant, I'm using an asdf-installed Python 3.12 on macOS.

Side note: I like to use IPython.embed(colors="neutral") to get the same appearance as I'd get from running ipython directly.

[Carreau]

maybe there is a way to tell uv to run with ipython -i (and add Ipython to deps). i'm mostly saying this as it works without editring the script.

[jailop]

I've tested your indications. It works nicely!

[laike9m]

Again, I just don't understand why so many people think this is a uv feature (I've seen similar posts on X). Like other people mentioned, this is PEP 723 and many tools have implemented it, including uv, PDM, and more

https://x.com/pdm_project/status/1805512110811890180