locate
Locate the file location of your current running script.
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
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.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
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 · maintenance · safety
(unclear) — 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.
last release 2022-12-15 (1338 days) · last repo commit 2023-06-01 · 3 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 2,257,106 downloads/mo, #3,184 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
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- 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
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 on it.
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
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"):
passVerify 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
| License | Not declared unclear |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.4 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Abandoned 1,338 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 2,257,106 / month, #3,184 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | License :: Other/Proprietary LicenseOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: Python :: 3 |
Evidence: locate-1.1.1-py3-none-any.whl
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