locate

What it is and what it does

Locate is a small utility library that solves the problem of finding the directory of the currently running Python script and dynamically modifying the import search path relative to that location. It provides three main functions: `this_dir()` returns the directory of the executing script (or the current working directory in interactive sessions), while `append_sys_path()` and `prepend_sys_path()` allow you to add directories relative to the script location to Python's import path, either permanently or temporarily via context manager. The context manager implementation uses a tagged string subclass to safely track and remove insertions, so nested context managers won't corrupt the restoration.

The package targets developers who organize their projects with custom modules stored alongside scripts and want those imports to work consistently whether the script runs directly, from a notebook, or from a REPL. It's inspired by Julia's approach to directory resolution. Since the package has no runtime dependencies and installs as a pure Python wheel, it has minimal friction—but it has been abandoned since mid-2023, so no further updates or fixes should be expected.

Use it for:

• Load custom modules stored in a sibling directory without modifying PYTHONPATH or installing them as packages
• Write scripts that work identically whether run from the command line, Jupyter notebook, or interactive shell
• Temporarily import from a local directory within a specific code block using a context manager

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

Provides utilities to locate the current Python file's directory and modify sys.path relative to that location for importing from nearby modules.

Yes, if you need a lightweight way to locate your script and manage relative imports without external dependencies. No, if you require ongoing maintenance or active support—the package is abandoned and will not receive updates. The unclear license is a secondary concern but worth clarifying before use in proprietary code.

Install

locate on PyPI

pip install locate

uv add locate

poetry add locate

Installing locate

Before you install

Low friction install with no runtime dependencies. However, the package is abandoned—last release was 2022-12-15 and last commit 2023-06-01—so it will not receive bug fixes or maintenance.

License in practice

License treatment is unclear; the classifier lists 'Other/Proprietary License' but no SPDX identifier or raw license text is provided, making the actual terms of use ambiguous.

Quickstart

import locate

# Get the directory of the current script
script_dir = locate.this_dir()

# Temporarily add a relative path to sys.path
with locate.prepend_sys_path("../modules"):
    pass

Verify before relying

• Whether the 'Other/Proprietary License' classifier reflects actual licensing terms or is a placeholder
• Whether the package works correctly with Python versions beyond 3.4 despite being abandoned since mid-2023

Package facts

Evidence: locate-1.1.1-py3-none-any.whl

Tags

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