Installation
To ensure a clean and isolated environment, we recommend installing instant-python using a virtual environment. At your
own risk, you can install it at your system Python installation, but this is not recommended.
Below are the preferred installation methods.
Supported Python Versions
Instant Python tries to support the latest Python versions, we officially support from Python 3.10 to 3.13. Older versions of Python may work, but they are not guaranteed to be compatible.
Installation Methods
Install script (recommended)
The recommended way to install instant-python is via the install script. It downloads a self-contained ipy binary with
Python bundled in, so no local Python installation is required to install or run it.
macOS / Linux
By default the binary is installed to ~/.local/bin. You can override this with the IPY_BIN_DIR environment variable:
IPY_BIN_DIR="$HOME/bin" curl -LsSf https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dimanu-py/instant-python/main/scripts/install.sh | sh
By default the latest release is installed. To install a specific version instead, set the IPY_VERSION environment
variable:
IPY_VERSION="1.2.3" curl -LsSf https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dimanu-py/instant-python/main/scripts/install.sh | sh
Windows
powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dimanu-py/instant-python/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex"
This adds %USERPROFILE%\.local\bin to your user PATH automatically; restart your terminal afterwards so it picks up the
change. You can override the install directory with the IPY_BIN_DIR environment variable, and pin a specific version
with IPY_VERSION:
powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "$env:IPY_VERSION='1.2.3'; irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dimanu-py/instant-python/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex"
Supported platforms
The install script currently provides prebuilt binaries for macOS (Apple Silicon), Linux (x86_64 and arm64), and Windows (x86_64). On other platforms (Intel Mac, Windows on ARM), use one of the alternative methods below.
Other installation methods
If your platform isn't covered by the install script, or you prefer to manage instant-python as a regular Python package,
you can install it with uv, pipx, or pip instead.
Using uv
If you already use uv to manage Python tools, you can install instant-python with uv tool
install, which installs it in an isolated environment just like pipx.
Using pipx
pipx installs Python applications in isolated environments, ensuring that they do not interfere with other Python applications.
If you do not have pipx installed, you can install it using pip.
Using pyenv
If you already manage your Python versions using a tool like Pyenv, you can install instant-python using pip with
pyenv's global Python version.
A guide to install and configure pyenv can be found here
Updating
Whichever method you used to install instant-python, you can update it with:
ipy update detects how instant-python was installed and runs the matching upgrade command for you: the install
script's self-update for binary installs, uv tool upgrade, pipx upgrade, or pip install --upgrade. You don't need
to remember which method you used.
To install a specific version instead of the latest one, pass --version:
Binary installations
For binary installs, updating to the latest version uses the binary's own self-update mechanism, so no download
script is re-run. Passing --version instead re-runs the install script pinned to that release, the same way the
IPY_VERSION environment variable works above.
Next steps
Now that you have installed instant-python you can advance to the first steps
section to learn the basic features of instant-python and create your first project.