astral-sh/uv · error

The interpreter at {} is externally managed, and indicates t

Error message

The interpreter at {} is externally managed, and indicates the following:

{}

Consider creating a virtual environment with `uv venv`.

What it means

Error "The interpreter at {} is externally managed, and indicates the following: {} Consider creating a virtual environment with `uv venv`." thrown in astral-sh/uv.

Source

Thrown at crates/uv/src/commands/pip/uninstall.rs:82

        );
        environment.with_target(target)?
    } else if let Some(prefix) = prefix {
        debug!(
            "Using `--prefix` directory at {}",
            prefix.root().user_display()
        );
        environment.with_prefix(prefix)?
    } else {
        environment
    };

    // If the environment is externally managed, abort.
    if let Some(externally_managed) = environment.interpreter().is_externally_managed() {
        if break_system_packages {
            debug!("Ignoring externally managed environment due to `--break-system-packages`");
        } else {
            return if let Some(error) = externally_managed.into_error() {
                Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
                    "The interpreter at {} is externally managed, and indicates the following:\n\n{}\n\nConsider creating a virtual environment with `uv venv`.",
                    environment.root().user_display().cyan(),
                    textwrap::indent(&error, "  ").green(),
                ))
            } else {
                Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
                    "The interpreter at {} is externally managed. Instead, create a virtual environment with `uv venv`.",
                    environment.root().user_display().cyan()
                ))
            };
        }
    }

    let _lock = environment
        .lock()
        .await
        .inspect_err(|err| {
            warn!("Failed to acquire environment lock: {err}");

View on GitHub (pinned to f1a42680ff)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at crates/uv/src/commands/pip/uninstall.rs:82 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of astral-sh/uv@f1a42680ff (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/faf8d5f0b1ed8576. Report an issue: GitHub.