A CLI which aims to provide an npm-like experience when installing Python packages.

• Install packages to isolated global virtual environments.
  • Executables are linked to the Python Scripts folder so you can still use the CLI without activating the venv.
  • This allows you to install different CLI tools without worrying about dependency conflicts.
• Install packages to a local virtual environment.
  • Dependencies are stored in requirements.txt (development) and setup.cfg/pyproject.toml (production).
• When removing a package, also remove its sub-dependencies.
• Easily run commands in the local virtual environment.
• Generate a lock file (requirements-lock.txt).

vpip is hosted on pypi:

pip install vpip

After installing vpip as a CLI, you can use it to install other packages (globally or locally).

Install:

• vpip install - Create/activate a local venv and install all dependencies.
• vpip install configupdater - Create/activate a local venv, install configupdater, and add to production dependency.
• vpip install -g youtube-dl - Create a venv under ~/.vpip, install youtube-dl, and link the executable (youtube-dl.exe) to the script folder.
• vpip install -g https://github.com/eight04/ComicCrawler/archive/refs/heads/master.zip - You can also install global CLI from a URL.

Uninstall:

• vpip uninstall pylint - Activate the local venv, uninstall pylint, and remove pylint from both dev/prod dependency.

Update:

• vpip update pylint - Upgrade pylint to the compatible version.
• vpip update pylint --latest - Upgrade pylint to the latest release.

Execute command:

• vpip run python - Launch python REPL in the local venv.
• vpip run pylint my_proj - Run pylint installed in the local venv.

List dependencies:

• vpip list - List development/production dependencies.
• vpip list --outdated - List development/production dependencies that are outdated.
• vpip list -g - List globally installed packages.

vpip is a cross-platform CLI. Please report any compatibility issues.

https://vpip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/index.html

• pipm - which doesn't use virtualenv.
• pipx - like vpip install -g.
• pdm - a more feature-rich depdenency manager.

• 0.11.1 (Aug 20, 2025)
  • Fix: exclude venv scripts folder when checking for global scripts folder.
  • Add: improve error message in link command.
• 0.11.0 (Aug 19, 2025)
  • Change: use symlink on Windows. Now vpip will display a UAC prompt when installing global packages if it has to symlink python scripts and the current user has no symlink permission.
  • Fix: ignore yanked versions when checking updates.
• 0.10.1 (Dec 29, 2024)
  • Fix: use VIRTUAL_ENV env variable when building inspect() cache.
  • Fix: try to search script folder in base_exec_prefix.
• 0.10.0 (Nov 16, 2024)
  • Fix: packages only bump major should use >= version range.
  • Fix: use pip inspect instead of pip show to get package information.
  • Fix: support editable install for pyproject.toml.
  • Fix: don't throw on versions without minor numbers.
  • Fix: unable to list global packages if extra is used.
• 0.9.2 (Feb 4, 2024)
  • Fix: ignore unsupported version number in list --outdated.
• 0.9.1 (Oct 22, 2023)
  • Fix: type error on Python 3.9
• 0.9.0 (Oct 22, 2023)
  • Change: bump to python>=3.9, update dependencies.
  • Add: support pyproject.toml.
  • Add: link command now accepts an optional package name.
  • Fix: install -g error when using a specifier.
  • Fix: JSON error in pip_api.list_.
• 0.8.0 (Apr 23, 2022)
  • Change: now vpip would try to avoid sub-dependencies conflicts by passing all dependencies to pip install when installing/updating packages.
  • Fix: now vpip update won't install packages whose env marker evaluates to false.
• 0.7.0 (Feb 9, 2022)
  • Change: now wheel is also pre-installed in venv like pip.
• 0.6.0 (Jan 25, 2022)
  • Fix: make sure the script folder is in env variable path when vpip link.
  • Add: support installing global CLI from a URL.
  • Change: pip_api.install now accepts multiple packages.
  • Change: vpip update now updates sub-dependencies.
• 0.5.0 (Jan 5, 2022)
  • Change: bump to python@3.7+
  • Change: drop pkg_resources, improve performance.
  • Change: don't use pip internal when finding global scripts folder.
  • Fix: use utf8 encoding when reading/writing setup.cfg or requirements.txt.
• 0.4.3 (Jan 31, 2020)
  • Fix: don't break sub-dependencies when uninstall.
• 0.4.2 (Nov 9, 2019)
  • Fix: generate setup.py automatically if needed.
  • Fix: use utf8 encoding when parsing pip output.
• 0.4.1 (Nov 2, 2019)
  • Nothing is changed. Updated README and corrected some errors.
• 0.4.0 (Nov 1, 2019)
  • Fix: rebuild egg files after doing an incompatible update.
  • Fix: clean unused packages after uninstall.
  • Add: update_venv command.
  • Breaking: pip_api.show and pip_api.uninstall now accept multiple packages.
• 0.3.0 (Oct 31, 2019)
  • Support Unix system.
  • Add: generate a lock file.
• 0.2.3 (Feb 10, 2019)
  • Fix: pypi.is_compatible treat 0.1.0 and 0.2.0 as compatible.
  • Fix: don't include pre-release when checking updates.
  • Update dependencies.
• 0.2.2 (Feb 2, 2019)
  • Add: link command.
• 0.2.1 (Nov 16, 2018)
  • Add: user defined commands.
• 0.2.0 (Nov 16, 2018)
  • Add documentation.
  • Change: console scripts will be overwritten by default, matching pip's default behavior.
• 0.1.0 (Nov 13, 2018)
  • First release