If you’re using pip to install your packages, chances are you have a requirements.txt file in your repository, which may look something like this:
jupyter>=1.1.1
matplotlib>=3.10.7
numpy>=2.3.4
scipy>=1.16.3uv doesn’t handle requirements.txt files. Instead, it leverages a pyproject.toml file and requires you to have dependencies listed in there.
Creating a new pyproject.toml file
If you don’t have a pyproject.toml file, create one first by initializing a new project without any sample code (if you have one, skip this step):
$ uv init --bareThis will provide a file with the following:
[project]
name = "name_of_project"
version = "0.1.0"
requires-python = ">=3.13"
dependencies = []Migrating your requirements from requirements.txt
Then, copy all of the packages listed in your requirements.txt file:
$ uv add -r requirements.txtThis command will copy all of the requirements over and create the uv.lock file, which is a file that stores exact versions to create a reproducible environment for developers on your team:
[project]
name = "name_of_project"
version = "0.1.0"
requires-python = ">=3.13"
dependencies = [
"jupyter>=1.1.1",
"matplotlib>=3.10.7",
"numpy>=2.3.4",
"scipy>=1.16.3",
]Note: I’m not including the uv.lock file here, as this is nearly 2k lines!
At this point, it’s safe to delete your requirements.txt file:
$ rm requirements.txtInstalling dev dependencies from requirements-dev.txt
Say you also have a separate requirements file specific for development (i.e. separated from production code):
black>=25.9.0
isort>=7.0.0
mypy>=1.18.2
pytest>=8.4.2Run the same command, but pass in the --dev flag and your dev text file:
$ uv add --dev -r requirements-dev.txtIn pyproject.toml you’ll see a new section specifically for dev:
[dependency-groups]
dev = [
"black>=25.9.0",
"isort>=7.0.0",
"mypy>=1.18.2",
"pytest>=8.4.2",
]From here, you can use uv like normal to manage your packages.
Happy coding!
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