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matt-graham merged 2 commits into from
Feb 24, 2026
Merged

Recommend uv for virtual environment management #617

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2e1d631
Make uv recommended virtual environment solution
matt-graham Feb 23, 2026
26d800b
Suggest using uv in template README
matt-graham Feb 23, 2026
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20 changes: 10 additions & 10 deletions docs/pages/virtual.md
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Expand Up @@ -5,16 +5,16 @@

## Virtual environments

| Name | Short description | 🚦 |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :------------------------------------------: |
| conda-forge [miniforge] | Installs, runs, and updates packages and their dependencies. Uses `conda`, but with community maintained packages from `conda-forge` channel instead of commercially maintained packages. | <span class="label label-green">Best</span> |
| [uv] | Fast dependency (and project) management tool. A drop-in replacement for `venv`. This will probably become our <span class="label label-green">Best</span> tool, but for now we are playing cautious as there are some open bugs and features. If you're comfortable using `venv` syntax we'd recommend this. | <span class="label label-yellow">Good</span> |
| [pipenv] | Automatically creates and manages a virtualenv for your projects. | <span class="label label-yellow">Good</span> |
| [pixi] | A fast drop-in replacement for `conda`. | <span class="label label-yellow">Good</span> |
| [pyenv] | Lets you easily switch between multiple versions of Python. | <span class="label label-yellow">Good</span> |
| [virtualenv] | Creates isolated Python environments, and offers more features than venv. | <span class="label label-yellow">Good</span> |
| [venv] | Creates isolated Python environments. Fewer features than other tools, but very widely used and comes built into Python. | <span class="label label-yellow">Good</span> |
| [anaconda] | Due to recent [licensing ambiguity][anaconda-problems], we recommend avoiding anaconda and many of the default channels. We recommend installing miniforge and sticking to the `conda-forge` channel. | <span class="label label-red">Avoid</span> |
| Name | Short description | 🚦 |
| ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :------------------------------------------: |
| [uv] | Fast dependency (and project) management tool. A drop-in replacement for `venv` with additional features including easy management of multiple Python versions. | <span class="label label-green">Best</span> |
| conda-forge [miniforge] | Installs, runs, and updates packages and their dependencies. Uses `conda`, but with community maintained packages from `conda-forge` channel instead of commercially maintained packages. | <span class="label label-yellow">Good</span> |
| [pipenv] | Automatically creates and manages a virtualenv for your projects. | <span class="label label-yellow">Good</span> |
| [pixi] | A fast drop-in replacement for `conda`. | <span class="label label-yellow">Good</span> |
| [pyenv] | Lets you easily switch between multiple versions of Python. | <span class="label label-yellow">Good</span> |
| [virtualenv] | Creates isolated Python environments, and offers more features than venv. | <span class="label label-yellow">Good</span> |
| [venv] | Creates isolated Python environments. Fewer features than other tools, but very widely used and comes built into Python. | <span class="label label-yellow">Good</span> |

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[vale] docs/pages/virtual.md#L16 

[proselint.Very] Remove 'very'.
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{"message": "[proselint.Very] Remove 'very'.", "location": {"path": "docs/pages/virtual.md", "range": {"start": {"line": 16, "column": 104}}}, "severity": "ERROR"}

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[vale] docs/pages/virtual.md#L16 

[write-good.Weasel] 'very' is a weasel word!
Raw output 
{"message": "[write-good.Weasel] 'very' is a weasel word!", "location": {"path": "docs/pages/virtual.md", "range": {"start": {"line": 16, "column": 104}}}, "severity": "WARNING"}
| [anaconda] | Due to recent [licensing ambiguity][anaconda-problems], we recommend avoiding anaconda and many of the default channels. We recommend installing miniforge and sticking to the `conda-forge` channel. | <span class="label label-red">Avoid</span> |

<!-- links here for a more readable table -->

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10 changes: 5 additions & 5 deletions tests/data/test_package_generation/README.md
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Expand Up @@ -57,12 +57,12 @@ Centre for Advanced Research Computing, University College London

We recommend installing in a project specific virtual environment created using
a environment management tool such as
[Conda](https://docs.conda.io/projects/conda/en/stable/). To install the latest
development version of `cookiecutter-test` using `pip` in the currently active
[uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/). To install the latest
development version of `cookiecutter-test` using `uv pip` in the currently active
environment run

```sh
pip install git+https://github.com/test-user/cookiecutter-test.git
uv pip install git+https://github.com/test-user/cookiecutter-test.git
```

Alternatively create a local clone of the repository with
Expand All @@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ git clone https://github.com/test-user/cookiecutter-test.git
and then install in editable mode by running

```sh
pip install -e .
uv pip install -e .
```

### Running Locally
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ from the root of the repository. The built documentation will be written to
`site`.

Alternatively to build and preview the documentation locally, in a Python
environment with the optional `docs` dependencies installed, run
environment with the `docs` dependency group installed, run

```sh
mkdocs serve
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10 changes: 5 additions & 5 deletions {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/README.md
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Expand Up @@ -63,12 +63,12 @@ Centre for Advanced Research Computing, University College London

We recommend installing in a project specific virtual environment created using
a environment management tool such as
[Conda](https://docs.conda.io/projects/conda/en/stable/). To install the latest
development version of `{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}` using `pip` in the currently active
[uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/). To install the latest
development version of `{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}` using `uv pip` in the currently active
environment run

```sh
pip install git+{{cookiecutter.__repo_url}}.git
uv pip install git+{{cookiecutter.__repo_url}}.git
```

Alternatively create a local clone of the repository with
Expand All @@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ git clone {{cookiecutter.__repo_url}}.git
and then install in editable mode by running

```sh
pip install -e .
uv pip install -e .
```

### Running Locally
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ from the root of the repository. The built documentation will be written to
`site`.

Alternatively to build and preview the documentation locally, in a Python
environment with the optional `docs` dependencies installed, run
environment with the `docs` dependency group installed, run

```sh
mkdocs serve
Expand Down