Is it possible to launch python idle from a virtual environment

Question

I have a package that I installed from a virtual environment. if I launch Idle, that package cannot be imported since it's only available in one particular virtualenv. How can I launch Idle from a virtualenv, so that all packages from the virtualenv would be available?

Answer 1

Assuming that you are using python 3, you can do it using following steps - 

1. Start the virtual environment
2. Run python -m idlelib.idle

Now you can import the required package that you want to use.

Comments

Thank you! I have been trying to solve the same problem. The following also works while still allowing you to use the terminal:

pythonw -m idlelib.idle

Answer 2

Try running the following code.

#!/usr/bin/env python
"""Simple script to run Idle from a venv in PyCharm."""

try:
    # Import for Python pre 3.6
    from idlelib.PyShell import main
except ModuleNotFoundError:
    # Import for Python version 3.6 and later
    from idlelib.pyshell import main

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()