BPYTHON(1)

📦
version 0.26 · 10 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

💖 BPYTHON(1) 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because this is bpython — the fancy {curtsies, curses, urwid} interface to the Python interactive interpreter, manual section 1, version 0.26, and honestly? it's giving main character energy for your terminal. 🐍✨

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

bpython [options] [file [args]]

bpython-curses [options] [file [args]]

bpython-urwid [options] [file [args]]

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so the whole idea, the vision, the concept, is that you get all the features in-line, much like modern IDEs, but in a simple, lightweight package that can be run in a terminal window. no bloat, no waiting, just vibes and features. 🫶

Here's the lineup, and yes each of these is iconic:

  • In-line syntax highlighting. — Highlights commands as you type! literally as you type, it's like your code is glowing at you. ✨
  • Readline-like autocomplete with suggestions displayed as you type. — Press tab to complete expressions when there's only one suggestion. (one suggestion = one tap, slay.)
  • Expected parameter list. — This displays a list of parameters for any function you call. It uses the inspect module, then tries pydoc. so like, it tries its best and then tries again. 💅
  • Rewind. — ok this name is a bit misleading, bestie, i'm not gonna lie to you. What it actually does: code that has been entered is remembered, and when you Rewind, it pops the last line and re-evaluates the entire code. And heads up — this is error-prone, and mostly useful for defining classes and functions. use with love and caution. 😭
  • Pastebin code/write to file. — This posts the current buffer to a pastebin (bpaste.net) or writes it to a file. sharing is caring. 💌
  • Flush curses screen to stdout. — Unlike other curses apps, bpython dumps the screen data to stdout when you quit, so you see what you've done in the buffer of your terminal. no disappearing act, she stays visible. 👑

🔥 OPTIONS 🔥

The long and short forms of options, shown here as alternatives, are equivalent. And one thing to know: if bpython sees an argument it does not know, execution falls back to the regular Python interpreter. (it's not confused, it's just delegating. 🤝)

The following options are supported by all frontends:

  • --config=<config> — Use <config> instead of default config file. your config, your rules. 🎀
  • -h, --help — Show the help message and exit. the classic. 🫡
  • -i, --interactive — Drop to bpython shell after running file instead of exiting. Heads up: the PYTHONSTARTUP file is not read. 🙈
  • -q, --quiet — Do not flush the output to stdout. shhh. 🤫
  • -V, --version — Print bpython's version and exit. identity check! ⭐
  • -l <level>, --log-level=<level> — Set logging level
  • -L <file>, --log-output=<file> — Set log output file

In addition to the above options, bpython also supports the following:

  • -p file, --paste=file — Paste in the contents of a file at startup. 📋✨

In addition to the common options, bpython-urwid also supports the following options if Twisted is available (iykyk):

  • -r <reactor>, --reactor=<reactor> — Use Twisted's <reactor> instead of urwid's event loop. 🌀
  • --help-reactors — Display a list of available Twisted reactors.
  • -p <plugin>, --plugin=<plugin> — Execute a twistd plugin. Use twistd to get a list of available plugins. Use -- to pass options to the plugin.
  • -s <port>, --server=<port> — Run an eval server on port <port>. This option forces the use of a Twisted reactor. (no takebacksies 🔒)

🌈 KEYS 🌈

bpython's keys are fully configurable. See <http://docs.bpython-interpreter.org/configuration.html#keyboard> — go customize, make it yours, it's literally your keyboard era. ⌨️💖

🦋 FILES 🦋

  • $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/bpython/config

Your bpython config. See sample-config (in /usr/share/doc/bpython/examples on Debian) for various options you can use, or read bpython-config(5). 🍓

💀 KNOWN BUGS 💀

See <http://github.com/bpython/bpython/issues/> for a list of known issues. (we're aware, we're working on it, we're all in this together bestie 🫶)

🌸 SEE ALSO 🌸

bpython-config(5), python(1)

👑 AUTHOR 👑

bpython was written by Robert Anthony Farrell <robertanthonyfarrel@gmail.com> and his bunch of loyal followers. (the squad!! 🎉)

This manual page was written by Jørgen Pedersen Tjernø <jorgen@devsoft.no>, for the Debian project (but may be used by others).

2008-2022 Bob Farrell, Andreas Stuehrk, Sebastian Ramacher, Thomas Ballinger, et al.

okay that's the whole page, you're fully caught up, no notes. 💅 this was BPYTHON(1), version 0.26, from Mar 26, 2026 — mwah, bye bestie, go type some Python and feel iconic doing it 🧚💜

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