uv Cheat Sheet

This cheat sheet provides a concise overview of the uv Python packaging tool for developers.

Poetry vs UV compares poetry to uv.

What's Included

• Fast installation instructions
• Managing Python versions with uv
• Creating and activating virtual environments
• Installing, uninstalling, and listing packages
• Using uv lock and uv sync for dependency resolution
• Managing optional dependency groups (e.g., dev, prod)
• Running commands in virtual environments with uv run
• Using uv tool run for ephemeral tooling environments

Audience

This sheet is intended for developers who are already familiar with:

• Python packaging tools like pip and poetry
• Virtual environments and their purpose