Package indexes

By default, uv uses the Python Package Index (PyPI) for dependency resolution and package installation. However, uv can be configured to use other package indexes, including private indexes, via the [[tool.uv.index]] configuration option (and --index, the analogous command-line option).

Defining an index

To include an additional index when resolving dependencies, add a [[tool.uv.index]] entry to your pyproject.toml:

[[tool.uv.index]]
# Optional name for the index.
name = "pytorch"
# Required URL for the index.
url = "https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu"

Indexes are prioritized in the order in which they’re defined, such that the first index listed in the configuration file is the first index consulted when resolving dependencies, with indexes provided via the command line taking precedence over those in the configuration file.

By default, uv includes the Python Package Index (PyPI) as the "default" index, i.e., the index used when a package is not found on any other index. To exclude PyPI from the list of indexes, set default = true on another index entry (or use the --default-index command-line option):

[[tool.uv.index]]
name = "pytorch"
url = "https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu"
default = true

The default index is always treated as lowest priority, regardless of its position in the list of indexes.

Index names may only contain alphanumeric characters, dashes, underscores, and periods, and must be valid ASCII.

When providing an index on the command line (with --index or --default-index) or through an environment variable (UV_INDEX or UV_DEFAULT_INDEX), names are optional but can be included using the <name>=<url> syntax, as in:

# On the command line.
$ uv lock --index pytorch=https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu
# Via an environment variable.
$ UV_INDEX=pytorch=https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu uv lock

Pinning a package to an index

A package can be pinned to a specific index by specifying the index in its tool.uv.sources entry. For example, to ensure that torch is always installed from the pytorch index, add the following to your pyproject.toml:

[tool.uv.sources]
torch = { index = "pytorch" }

[[tool.uv.index]]
name = "pytorch"
url = "https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu"

Similarly, to pull from a different index based on the platform, you can provide a list of sources disambiguated by environment markers:

pyproject.toml

[project]
dependencies = ["torch"]

[tool.uv.sources]
torch = [
  { index = "pytorch-cu118", marker = "sys_platform == 'darwin'"},
  { index = "pytorch-cu124", marker = "sys_platform != 'darwin'"},
]

[[tool.uv.index]]
name = "pytorch-cu118"
url = "https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cu118"

[[tool.uv.index]]
name = "pytorch-cu124"
url = "https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cu124"

An index can be marked as explicit = true to prevent packages from being installed from that index unless explicitly pinned to it. For example, to ensure that torch is installed from the pytorch index, but all other packages are installed from PyPI, add the following to your pyproject.toml:

[tool.uv.sources]
torch = { index = "pytorch" }

[[tool.uv.index]]
name = "pytorch"
url = "https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu"
explicit = true

Named indexes referenced via tool.uv.sources must be defined within the project's pyproject.toml file; indexes provided via the command-line, environment variables, or user-level configuration will not be recognized.

If an index is marked as both default = true and explicit = true, it will be treated as an explicit index (i.e., only usable via tool.uv.sources) while also removing PyPI as the default index.

Searching across multiple indexes

By default, uv will stop at the first index on which a given package is available, and limit resolutions to those present on that first index (first-index).

For example, if an internal index is specified via [[tool.uv.index]], uv's behavior is such that if a package exists on that internal index, it will always be installed from that internal index, and never from PyPI. The intent is to prevent "dependency confusion" attacks, in which an attacker publishes a malicious package on PyPI with the same name as an internal package, thus causing the malicious package to be installed instead of the internal package. See, for example, the torchtriton attack from December 2022.

Users can opt in to alternate index behaviors via the--index-strategy command-line option, or the UV_INDEX_STRATEGY environment variable, which supports the following values:

first-index (default): Search for each package across all indexes, limiting the candidate versions to those present in the first index that contains the package.
unsafe-first-match: Search for each package across all indexes, but prefer the first index with a compatible version, even if newer versions are available on other indexes.
unsafe-best-match: Search for each package across all indexes, and select the best version from the combined set of candidate versions.

While unsafe-best-match is the closest to pip's behavior, it exposes users to the risk of "dependency confusion" attacks.

Providing credentials

Most private registries require authentication to access packages, typically via a username and password (or access token).

To authenticate with a provide index, either provide credentials via environment variables or embed them in the URL.

For example, given an index named internal-proxy that requires a username (public) and password (koala), define the index (without credentials) in your pyproject.toml:

[[tool.uv.index]]
name = "internal-proxy"
url = "https://example.com/simple"

From there, you can set the UV_INDEX_INTERNAL_PROXY_USERNAME and UV_INDEX_INTERNAL_PROXY_PASSWORD environment variables, where INTERNAL_PROXY is the uppercase version of the index name, with non-alphanumeric characters replaced by underscores:

export UV_INDEX_INTERNAL_PROXY_USERNAME=public
export UV_INDEX_INTERNAL_PROXY_PASSWORD=koala

By providing credentials via environment variables, you can avoid storing sensitive information in the plaintext pyproject.toml file.

Alternatively, credentials can be embedded directly in the index definition:

[[tool.uv.index]]
name = "internal"
url = "https://public:[email protected]/simple"

For security purposes, credentials are never stored in the uv.lock file; as such, uv must have access to the authenticated URL at installation time.

`--index-url` and `--extra-index-url`

In addition to the [[tool.uv.index]] configuration option, uv supports pip-style --index-url and --extra-index-url command-line options for compatibility, where --index-url defines the default index and --extra-index-url defines additional indexes.

These options can be used in conjunction with the [[tool.uv.index]] configuration option, and follow the same prioritization rules:

The default index is always treated as lowest priority, whether defined via the legacy --index-url argument, the recommended --default-index argument, or a [[tool.uv.index]] entry with default = true.
Indexes are consulted in the order in which they’re defined, either via the legacy --extra-index-url argument, the recommended --index argument, or [[tool.uv.index]] entries.

In effect, --index-url and --extra-index-url can be thought of as unnamed [[tool.uv.index]] entries, with default = true enabled for the former. In that context, --index-url maps to --default-index, and --extra-index-url maps to --index.