How to install locally built package with uv

Question

I am struggling a bit with uv mental model and compatibility with existing tool.

I have a project with a "setup.py", previously using python -m build to run the build. I couldn't find a way to install "build" globally though, using uv pip install --system build will try to literally use system's Python but won't install the package at user level outside of a virtual env (build already creates a venv).

Anway with uv a simple uv build seems to be sufficient. But then documentation only deals with publishing the package but here I am building a CLI.

uv pip install --system ./dist.tar.gz gives me an error

error: The interpreter at /usr is externally managed, and indicates the following:

  To install Python packages system-wide, try apt install
  python3-xyz, where xyz is the package you are trying to
  install.

uv pip install --user ./dist/foobar.tar.gz gives me:

error: pip's `--user` is unsupported (use a virtual environment instead)

How to install the built wheel or tar.gz files globally, on my own machine?

Eric Burel · Accepted Answer · 2025-12-01 09:02:50Z

0

Found answer to my own question: CLI are considered as "tools" in uv language, so the proper command is uv tool install ./dist/foobar.tar.gz.

The CLI tool seems to be available anywhere after that.

answered 3 hours ago

Eric Burel

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