Automatic Activation

If you'd like your shell to automatically activate and deactivate venvs when you switch directories, there are a few tools to make that happen.

Here's how to configure them to do so in a zpy-friendly way. If you notice room for improvement, or your favorite tool is missing, please open an issue or discussion on GitHub.

zsh-autoenvmisedirenv

zsh-autoenv runs any Zsh code you want in your current shell, making it the simplest tool to configure for this job.

In any project folder, create the following two files:

.autoenv.zsh:

a8 ${0:h}

.autoenv_leave.zsh:

if [[ $VIRTUAL_ENV ]]  envout

The zero in ${0:h} is the path of the .autoenv.zsh file, and the :h expansion gets that path's parent. This ensures the proper project folder is used, even if you're activating the script by entering a deeper subdirectory.

mise supports automatic venv activation, so we can configure the venv location to match zpy's.

Let's create a self-contained script for venvs_path, so that we can easily call it from Bash.

Assuming ~/.local/bin is in your PATH, run

$ zpy mkbin venvs_path ~/.local/bin/

Now you can add the following to your project's mise.local.toml:

[env._.python]
venv = "{{exec(command='venvs_path')}}/venv"

This can also be done with commands:

$ touch mise.local.toml
$ mise config set -f mise.local.toml env._.python.venv "{{exec(command='venvs_path')}}/venv"

direnv runs Bash (not Zsh) and exports variables. We'll create a self-contained script for each of a8 and venvs_path, so that we can easily call them from Bash.

Assuming ~/.local/bin is in your PATH, run

$ zpy mkbin a8 ~/.local/bin/
$ zpy mkbin venvs_path ~/.local/bin/

Now define a Bash function within the file ~/.config/direnv/direnvrc:

layout_zpy () {
  a8
  export VIRTUAL_ENV="$(venvs_path)/venv"
  PATH_add "$VIRTUAL_ENV/bin"
  export VENV_ACTIVE=1
}

In any project folder, create .envrc:

layout zpy