# Install virtualfish with Homebrew Python virtual environment manager for the fish shell. Version 2.5.9 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:virtualfish ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install virtualfish ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:virtualfish - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 2.5.9 - **Source summary:** Python virtual environment manager for the fish shell - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** MIT - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - vf (cli) - vf (alias) ## Dependencies - fish - python@3.14 ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Caveats: To activate virtualfish, run the following in a fish shell: vf install - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 2.5.9 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://virtualfish.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage VirtualFish is a Python virtual-environment manager for the fish shell. It occupies the same niche as virtualenvwrapper, but for fish users who want `vf` commands, prompt integration, optional auto-activation, and project helpers that fit fish's syntax and startup model. ### Project history The upstream README says VirtualFish is maintained by Justin Mayer and was originally created by Daisy Leigh Brenecki. Public discussion from 2012 describes it as a fish-shell replacement inspired by Doug Hellmann's virtualenvwrapper, which matches the project's long-running positioning as fish-native virtualenv workflow glue. PyPI's visible release history starts with 1.0.0a1 in March 2015, while the current repository documents fish 3.1 or newer as a requirement and points users to the Read the Docs manual. The 2.x line added the current plugin-oriented shape, including project management, environment-variable automation, and compatibility aliases. ### Adoption history VirtualFish is a niche tool by design: its audience is Python developers who already prefer fish over bash or zsh. Its sustained packaging in PyPI and Homebrew, and its explicit IRC/support channel alongside fish, show a small but persistent shell-specific community rather than broad mainstream Python tooling dominance. The tool has also aged alongside Python's built-in fish activation scripts. Python's venv module can generate `activate.fish`, but VirtualFish remains useful when users want a named environment registry, `vf new` and `vf activate`, automatic activation from `.venv` marker files, or virtualenvwrapper-style habits in fish. ### How it is used The quickstart is intentionally short: install the package with pip, run `vf install`, add VirtualFish to the prompt if desired, then create an environment with a command such as `vf new myvirtualenv`. Users can enable plugins for auto-activation, projects, environment variables, and compatibility aliases. The package is most often used interactively rather than as a dependency of applications. Its value is reducing shell friction: fish users get completions, prompt state, and activation/deactivation behavior without sourcing bash-oriented scripts. ### Why package nerds care VirtualFish is package-nerd significant because it preserves an older virtualenvwrapper style of environment management inside a shell that deliberately differs from POSIX shell syntax. It is a reminder that packaging workflows are shaped as much by shell ergonomics as by Python packaging standards. ### Timeline - 2012: Daisy Leigh Brenecki publicly described starting a fish-shell replacement for virtualenvwrapper-style workflows. - 2015-03-22: The earliest VirtualFish files currently listed on PyPI were uploaded. - 2020-04-01: GitHub releases list VirtualFish 2.0.0. - 2024-05-13: GitHub releases list VirtualFish 2.5.9. ### Related projects - virtualenv provides the underlying environment model. virtualenvwrapper is the older Bourne-shell-oriented inspiration. Python's standard-library venv module provides fish activation scripts for simpler workflows. ### Sources - Python venv activation documentation: https://docs.python.org/3/library/venv.html - Stack Overflow answer by Daisy Leigh Brenecki describing early VirtualFish: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10956335/how-to-get-virtualenv-to-work-with-fish-shell - VirtualFish GitHub README: https://github.com/justinmayer/virtualfish - VirtualFish PyPI project: https://pypi.org/project/virtualfish/ - VirtualFish documentation: https://virtualfish.readthedocs.io/ - VirtualFish plugins documentation: https://virtualfish.readthedocs.io/en/latest/plugins.html ## Security Notes generalized runtime or code generation signal. - **Geiger risk:** yellow / medium - generalized runtime or code generation signal ## Configuration and credential file locations These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval. ## Configuration files - Unix: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/fish/conf.d/virtualfish-loader.fish, ~/.config/fish/conf.d/virtualfish-loader.fish ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** virtualfish - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 3 - **Head Version:** HEAD - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** head, stable ## Related links - [Secret-risk packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/secret-risk-packages/) - Has protected-tool coverage, approval-gate, or non-low Geiger security signals. - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata. - [Developer build packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/developer-build-tools/) - Matched build, compiler, generator, or developer workflow metadata. - [fish](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/fish/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [python@3.14](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/python-3-14/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [pyenv-virtualenv](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pyenv-virtualenv/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, environment-management, python, virtualenv. - [virtualenvwrapper](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/virtualenvwrapper/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, environment-management, python, virtualenv. - [fades](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/fades/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, environment-management, python, virtualenv. - [pyenv-virtualenvwrapper](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pyenv-virtualenvwrapper/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, environment-management, python, virtualenv. - [pyenv-pip-migrate](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pyenv-pip-migrate/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, environment-management, python. - [rye](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/rye/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, python, virtualenv. - [abi3audit](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/abi3audit/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, python. - [chardet](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/chardet/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, python. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/virtualfish.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/virtualfish.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - cross-ecosystem install command graph