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Yurij
Asked: 2018-04-20 00:46:46 +0800 CST

Does pip have autocomplete?

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Pip has a long list of commands. Is there any way to use auto-complete by Tab in console (Bash)?

python bash auto-completion pip

3 Answers

  1. A reasonably current pip comes with built-in functionality to create completion helpers for bash, zsh or fish:

    $ pip help completion

Usage:   pip completion [options]

Description:
  A helper command to be used for command completion.

Completion Options:
  -b, --bash                  Emit completion code for bash
  -z, --zsh                   Emit completion code for zsh
  -f, --fish                  Emit completion code for fish

    You can use it like so:

    pip completion --bash >> ~/.bashrc

    And then start a new shell or source ~/.bashrc to have it take effect.

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  2. Best Answer

    UPDATE: Don’t forget to look at muru’s answer which may provide a more straightforward solution.

    A pip autocompletion plugin for Bash can be found at https://github.com/ekalinin/pip-bash-completion.

    You can download it as a ZIP or simply install using Git:

    git clone https://github.com/ekalinin/pip-bash-completion.git
sudo cp ./pip-bash-completion/pip /etc/bash_completion.d/
. /etc/bash_completion.d/pip  # to enable in the current shell, next time should load automatically
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  3. I would like to complete muru’s answer answer. I like to keep my .bashrc relatively clean, plus if you use the following code, you won't have to update your .bashrc if/when the completion snippet has an update!

    Just add this single line to your .bashrc:

    eval "$(pip completion --bash)"

    Also, you might want to add that line too, because the completion is only added to pip, not pip3:

    complete -o default -F _pip_completion pip3

    UPDATE: Running the command each time a new terminal is open is actually slow. It takes from 1 to 5 seconds on my PC. I used muru’s answer at the end.

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