Installation

The Neovim Python client supports Python 3.7 or later.

Using uv or pipx

For automatic detection by Neovim, pynvim should be installed in a dedicated Python virtual environment and the pynvim-python executable should be placed on the PATH. The recommended approach for this is to use a tool like uv (https://docs.astral.sh/uv/) or pipx (https://pipx.pypa.io/stable/); the --upgrade switch ensures installation of the latest version:

Install using uv (recommended):
```
uv tool install --upgrade pynvim
```
Install using pipx:
```
pipx install --upgrade pynvim
```

NOTE For Neovim before v0.12.0, set the variable python3_host_prog in init.vim to point to pynvim-python:

let g:python3_host_prog = 'pynvim-python'

Using manually created Python virtual environment

Alternatively, you may manually create a Python virtual environment (https://docs.python.org/3.13/library/venv.html):

python3 -m venv pynvim-venv

Then install pynvim into the virtual environment; the --upgrade switch ensures installation of the latest version:

- For Unix::

pynvim-venv/bin/python -m pip install –upgrade pynvim

For Windows:

pynvim-venv\Scripts\python -m pip install --upgrade pynvim

Then copy the pynvim-python executable somewhere on the PATH:

For Unix:

# Assuming `~/.local/bin` is on `PATH`:
cp pynvim-venv/bin/pynvim-python ~/.local/bin/pynvim-python

For Windows:

REM Assuming `C:\apps` is on `PATH`:
copy pynvim-venv\Scripts\pynvim-python.exe C:\apps\pynvim-python.exe

NOTE For Neovim before v0.12.0, set the variable python3_host_prog in init.vim to point to pynvim-python:

let g:python3_host_prog = 'pynvim-python'

Install from source

Clone the repository somewhere on your disk and enter to the repository:

git clone https://github.com/neovim/pynvim.git
cd pynvim

Now you can install it following the instructions above, using . instead of pynvim; the --upgrade switch ensures installation of the latest version:

Install from source using uv:
```
uv tool install --upgrade .
```
Install from source using pipx:
```
pipx install --upgrade .
```
Install from source using manually created Python virtual environment:
- Create pynvim-venv as above.
- Install:
  - For Unix:
    pynvim-venv/bin/python -m pip install --upgrade .
  - For Windows:
    pynvim-venv\Scripts\python -m pip install --upgrade .
- Copy pynvim-python executable as above.

NOTE For Neovim before v0.12.0, set the variable python3_host_prog in init.vim to point to pynvim-python:

let g:python3_host_prog = 'pynvim-python'

Upgrade pynvim when upgrading Neovim

Make sure to upgrade pynvim when you upgrade Neovim. Follow the previous instructions; the --upgrade switch will ensure installation of the latest version.

Explicitly choosing pynvim virtual environment

As an alternative to exposing pynvim-python on PATH, you may configure Neovim to use a specific Python interpreter that has pynvim installed; this may be useful when working on pynvim itself.

After installing into a virtual environment named pynvim-venv, add the following into Neovim’s init.vim file:

For Unix:

let g:python3_host_prog = '/path/to/pynvim-venv/bin/python'

For Windows:

let g:python3_host_prog = 'c:\path\to\pynvim-venv\bin\python.exe'

Installing outside of a virtual environment is deprecated

Installing into the per-user Python site package area is a deprecated practice with recent Python versions. For example, the following command fails on Ubuntu 24.04 with the error message error: externally-managed-environment:

pip install --user pynvim

Instead, always install into a virtual environment.