installation via pipx?

[charger89]

The quickstart docs instruct us to install serena using uv. Is there any reason why we couldn't install it via pipx install serena-agent?

[tt-a1i]

Yes, pipx works with the current PyPI package.

pipx install --python python3.13 serena-agent
serena init

The package publishes the serena, serena-agent, and serena-hooks entry points. The main thing to watch is the Python version: the current release requires Python 3.11 through 3.14. Using --python python3.13 matches the version chosen in the quickstart instead of relying on whichever system Python pipx finds.

I also tried this with the current 1.7.0 package in a clean pipx home; the install completed and the serena CLI started normally. So unless you specifically want to follow the project's uv-based setup, pipx is fine here.

[charger89]

Thanks for confirmation. Any idea why the docs ask us to use v 3.13? Given the package correctly sets the version bounds, I don't see why we couldn't omit it. If version requirement is not met, only then it should be considered.

Also mise users often set python-downloads = "manual" in their uv.toml, which would make --python flag inop.

[tt-a1i]

You are right: for pipx, I would omit it unless you specifically need to choose an interpreter.

The 3.13 pin is not a Serena package requirement. It was added to the project commands in April as a workaround for a uvx / uv tool behavior where the interpreter was chosen before the package requires-python constraint was resolved:

6faf12b9fa

The current package declares >=3.11, <3.15, so this is sufficient when the Python used by pipx is in that range:

pipx install serena-agent

Use --python python3.13 only when you want a predictable interpreter across machines, or when the default pipx interpreter is outside the supported range. My first command was more conservative than necessary for pipx.

[MischaPanch]

The docs ask for uv because originally, and still now for many users, Serena was/is installed directly from the master branch of this repo.

Also, our recommended hook configurations expect uv to exist, as does the download logic of some language servers. You can install with pipx, but hooks and those LS would need a different treatment and we don't want to explode our documentation with all possible methods

[charger89]

Right, I'll continue installing it via uv tool install serena-agent in that case, only providing py version if my current system python does not satisfy the requirement.