A better Python REPL
pip install ptpython
Ptpython is an advanced Python REPL. It should work on all Python versions from 2.6 up to 3.5 and work cross platform (Linux, BSD, OS X and Windows).
Install it using pip:
pip install ptpython
Start it by typing ptpython
.
[1] Disabled by default. (Enable in the menu.)
[2] If the terminal supports it (most terminals do), this allows pasting without going into paste mode. It will keep the indentation.
The configuration menu:
The history page and its help:
Autocompletion:
Embedding the REPL in any Python application is easy:
from ptpython.repl import embed embed(globals(), locals())
Multi-line editing mode will automatically turn on when you press enter after a colon.
To execute the input in multi-line mode, you can either press Alt+Enter
, or Esc
followed by Enter
. (If you want the first to work in the OS X terminal, you have to check the "Use option as meta key" checkbox in your terminal settings. For iTerm2, you have to check "Left option acts as +Esc" in the options.)
Before execution, ptpython
will see whether the input is syntactically correct Python code. If not, it will show a warning, and move the cursor to the error.
Running system commands: Press Meta-!
in Emacs mode or just !
in Vi navigation mode to see the "Shell command" prompt. There you can enter system commands without leaving the REPL.
Selecting text: Press Control+Space
in Emacs mode on V
(major V) in Vi navigation mode.
It is possible to create a ~/.ptpython/config.py
file to customize the configuration.
Have a look at this example to see what is possible:config.py
Run ptipython
(prompt_toolkit - IPython), to get a nice interactive shell with all the power that IPython has to offer, like magic functions and shell integration. Make sure that IPython has been installed. ( pip install ipython
)
django-extensions has a shell_plus
management command. When ptpython
has been installed, it will by default use ptpython
or ptipython
.
There is an experimental PDB replacement:ptpdb.
prompt_toolkit
and ptpython
works better on Linux and OS X than on Windows. Some things might not work, but it is usable:
Q: The Ctrl-S
forward search doesn't work and freezes my terminal.
A: Try to run stty -ixon
in your terminal to disable flow control.
Q: The Meta
-key doesn't work.
A: For some terminals you have to enable the Alt-key to act as meta key, but you can also type Escape
before any key instead.
If you find another alternative, you can create an issue and we'll list it here. If you find a nice feature somewhere that is missing in ptpython
, also create a GitHub issue and maybe we'll implement it.