System Requirements

python 3.7+ is required to install pipx. pipx can run binaries from packages with Python 3.3+. Don't have Python 3.7 or later? See Python 3 Installation & Setup Guide.

You also need to have pip installed on your machine for python3. Installing it varies from system to system. Consult pip's installation instructions. Installing on Linux works best with a Linux Package Manager.

pipx works on macOS, linux, and Windows.

Install pipx

On macOS:

brew install pipx
pipx ensurepath

Otherwise, install via pip (requires pip 19.0 or later):

python3 -m pip install --user pipx
python3 -m pipx ensurepath

Installation Options

The default binary location for pipx-installed apps is ~/.local/bin. This can be overridden with the environment variable PIPX_BIN_DIR.

pipx's default virtual environment location is ~/.local/pipx. This can be overridden with the environment variable PIPX_HOME.

As an example, you can install global apps accessible by all users on your system with the following command (on MacOS, Linux, and Windows WSL):

sudo PIPX_HOME=/opt/pipx PIPX_BIN_DIR=/usr/local/bin pipx install PACKAGE
# Example: $ sudo PIPX_HOME=/opt/pipx PIPX_BIN_DIR=/usr/local/bin pipx install cowsay

Upgrade pipx

On macOS:

brew update && brew upgrade pipx

Otherwise, upgrade via pip:

python3 -m pip install --user -U pipx

Note: Upgrading pipx from a pre-0.15.0.0 version to 0.15.0.0 or later

After upgrading to pipx 0.15.0.0 or above from a pre-0.15.0.0 version, you must re-install all packages to take advantage of the new persistent pipx metadata files introduced in the 0.15.0.0 release. These metadata files store pip specification values, injected packages, any custom pip arguments, and more in each main package's venv.

If you have no packages installed using the --spec option, and no venvs with injected packages, you can do this by running pipx reinstall-all.

If you have any packages installed using the --spec option or venvs with injected packages, you should reinstall packages manually using pipx uninstall-all, followed by pipx install and possibly pipx inject.

Shell Completion

You can easily get your shell's tab completions working by following instructions printed with this command:

pipx completions

Install pipx Development Versions

New versions of pipx are published as beta or release candidates. These versions look something like 0.13.0b1, where b1 signifies the first beta release of version 0.13. These releases can be tested with

pip install --user --upgrade --pre pipx