Skip to content

Basic Usage

Ensure you've got pixi set up. If running pixi doesn't show the help, see the getting started if it doesn't.

pixi

Initialize a new project and navigate to the project directory.

pixi init pixi-hello-world
cd pixi-hello-world

Add the dependencies you would like to use.

pixi add python

Create a file named hello_world.py in the directory and paste the following code into the file.

hello_world.py
def hello():
    print("Hello World, to the new revolution in package management.")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    hello()

Run the code inside the environment.

pixi run python hello_world.py

You can also put this run command in a task.

pixi task add hello python hello_world.py

After adding the task, you can run the task using its name.

pixi run hello

Use the shell command to activate the environment and start a new shell in there.

pixi shell
python
exit()

You've just learned the basic features of pixi:

  1. initializing a project
  2. adding a dependency.
  3. adding a task, and executing it.
  4. running a program.

Feel free to play around with what you just learned like adding more tasks, dependencies or code.

Happy coding!

Use pixi as a global installation tool#

Use pixi to install tools on your machine.

Some notable examples:

# Awesome cross shell prompt, huge tip when using pixi!
pixi global install starship

# Want to try a different shell?
pixi global install fish

# Install other prefix.dev tools
pixi global install rattler-build

# Install a linter you want to use in multiple projects.
pixi global install ruff

Use pixi in GitHub Actions#

You can use pixi in GitHub Actions to install dependencies and run commands. It supports automatic caching of your environments.

- uses: prefix-dev/setup-pixi@v0.5.1
- run: pixi run cowpy "Thanks for using pixi"

See the GitHub Actions for more details.