Nopkg: Re-use local Python code without pip package setup

1 month ago 1

Install your custom python modules into any python environment without setup.py, pyproject.toml, or any other typical python packaging setup.

Use For:

Personal scripts and utilities
Prototyping, evaluating the usefulness of a module before putting the effort into packaging
Sharing small utilities with your team, without maintaining a proper pip package or hosting an internal pip repository

Install python files as importable modules

Install a single Python file as a module:

nopkg install mymodule.py

Install multiple modules using glob patterns:

nopkg install *.py # Install all .py files nopkg install utils/*.py # Install all .py files in utils/ nopkg install one.py two.py three.py # Install specific files

Install a directory as a package (will create __init__.py if needed):

Note: If you run nopkg install on a module or package that's already installed by nopkg, it will automatically update it instead of giving an error.

Use it in python:

from mymodule import hello from mypackage import utils hello("I just installed a module without any setup!")

Works with virtual environments

# Create and activate virtual environment python -m venv myenv source myenv/bin/activate # On Windows: myenv\Scripts\activate # Install your module nopkg install mymodule.py # Use it in your virtual environment python -c "from mymodule import hello; hello('Virtual env works!')"

Development mode installs

Install your python file(s) as an importable module, and keep them exactly where they are. Changes to your files will take effect immediately without any re-installing.

nopkg install -e mymodule.py nopkg install --dev mypackage/

Managing Installed Modules

Update an installed module

Remove an installed module

Remove multiple modules using patterns

nopkg uninstall 'test_*' # Remove all modules starting with 'test_' nopkg uninstall '*' # Remove all installed modules

nopkg installs modules and packages directly into Python's site-packages directory. It's much simpler than pip and works in one of two ways:

Development mode (-e or --dev): Creates a .pth file in site-packages that points to your module's location. Changes to your files are immediately available without reinstalling.
Copy mode (default): Copies your source files directly into site-packages.

nopkg maintains a simple registry file (~/.nopkg/registry.txt) to track installations, enabling the list, info, update, and uninstall commands.

All this means:

No setup.py required
No pyproject.toml needed
No wheel building

Limitations:

Cannot publish to PyPI (still need setup.py or pyproject.toml for that)
No dependency management - you must manually ensure dependencies are installed
Only works with local files and directories (no URL installation)
Package directories are copied entirely, preserving all resource files and assets

nopkg is intended as a tool for personal utility management and prototyping, as well as sharing of ad-hoc utility modules within a team. nopkg is NOT intended as a pip replacement or production package management solution. It is a bridge that lets you get going quickly.

nopkg install <sources...> # Install modules/packages (supports glob patterns) nopkg install -e <sources...> # Install in development mode nopkg list # List installed modules nopkg info <module> # Show module information nopkg update <module> # Update an installed module nopkg uninstall <modules...> # Remove installed modules (supports glob patterns)

Future Features (Contributions Welcome!)

URL Installation: nopkg install https://raw.githubusercontent.com/user/repo/main/utils.py
CLI Python Interpreter Selection: nopkg install mymodule --python /path/to/python
Environment Management: nopkg env current, nopkg env use /path/to/python
Package Bootstrapping: nopkg pipify mymodule.py - Setup boilerplate for full Python packaging and PyPI publishing
Dependency Detection: Automatically detect and warn about missing dependencies

MIT

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