Set up a project

To use pytask for larger projects, organize the project as a Python package. This tutorial explains the minimal setup.

If you want to use pytask with a collection of scripts, you can skip this lesson and move to the next section of the tutorials.

See also

In case you are thinking about developing multiple packages in the project that should be separated (one for dealing with the data, one for the analysis and a package for the pytask tasks), consider using a workspace.

The directory structure

The following directory tree gives an overview of the project’s different parts.

my_project
│
├───.pytask
│
├───bld
│   └────...
│
├───src
│   └───my_project
│       ├────__init__.py
│       ├────config.py
│       └────...
│
└───pyproject.toml

Replicate this directory structure for your project or start from pytask’s cookiecutter-pytask-project template or any other linked template or example project.

The src directory

The src directory only contains a folder for the project in which the tasks and source files reside. The nested structure is called the “src layout” and is the preferred way to structure Python packages.

It contains a config.py or a similar module to store the project’s configuration. You should define paths pointing to the source and build directory of the project. They later help to define other paths.

# Content of config.py.
from pathlib import Path


SRC = Path(__file__).parent.resolve()
BLD = SRC.joinpath("..", "..", "bld").resolve()

See also

If you want to know more about the “src layout” and why it is NASA-approved, read this article by Hynek Schlawack or this setuptools article.

The bld directory

The variable BLD defines the path to a build directory called bld. It is best practice to store any outputs of the tasks in your project in a different folder than src.

Whenever you want to regenerate your project, delete the build directory and rerun pytask.

Configuration Files

The configuration depends on your package manager choice. Each creates different files to manage dependencies and project metadata.

uv

Create a pyproject.toml file for project configuration and dependencies:

[project]
name = "my_project"
version = "0.1.0"
requires-python = ">=3.10"
dependencies = ["pytask"]

[build-system]
requires = ["uv_build"]
build-backend = "uv_build"

[tool.pytask.ini_options]
paths = ["src/my_project"]

uv automatically handles build system configuration and package discovery.

pixi

Create a pixi.toml file for project configuration:

[project]
name = "my_project"
version = "0.1.0"
requires-python = ">=3.10"
channels = ["conda-forge"]
platforms = ["linux-64", "osx-64", "osx-arm64", "win-64"]

[build-system]
requires = ["hatchling"]
build-backend = "hatchling.build"

[dependencies]
pytask = "*"
python = ">=3.10"

[tool.pytask.ini_options]
paths = ["src/my_project"]

The [tool.pytask.ini_options] section tells pytask to look for tasks in src/my_project. You will learn more about configuration in the configuration tutorial.

The .pytask directory

The .pytask directory is where pytask stores its information. You do not need to interact with it.

Installation

uv

$ uv sync

The command installs all packages. uv will ensure that all your dependencies are up-to-date.

pixi

$ pixi install

pixi automatically creates the environment and installs dependencies. pixi will ensure that all your dependencies are up-to-date.