Allow --force to overwrite existing virtualenv

crates/uv-build/src/lib.rs

@@ -410,6 +410,7 @@ impl SourceBuild {
                 uv_virtualenv::Prompt::None,
                 false,
                 Vec::new(),
+                false,
             )?,
             BuildIsolation::Shared(venv) => venv.clone(),
         };

crates/uv-fs/src/lib.rs

@@ -85,19 +85,26 @@ pub fn replace_symlink(src: impl AsRef<Path>, dst: impl AsRef<Path>) -> std::io:
     )
 }
 
-/// Create a symlink from `src` to `dst`, replacing any existing symlink.
+/// Create a symlink from `src` to `dst`, replacing any existing symlink if necessary.
 #[cfg(unix)]
 pub fn replace_symlink(src: impl AsRef<Path>, dst: impl AsRef<Path>) -> std::io::Result<()> {
-    // Create a symlink to the directory store.
-    let temp_dir =
-        tempfile::tempdir_in(dst.as_ref().parent().expect("Cache entry to have parent"))?;
-    let temp_file = temp_dir.path().join("link");
-    std::os::unix::fs::symlink(src, &temp_file)?;
+    // Attempt to create the symlink directly.
+    match std::os::unix::fs::symlink(src.as_ref(), dst.as_ref()) {
+        Ok(()) => Ok(()),
+        Err(err) if err.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::AlreadyExists => {
+            // Create a symlink to the directory store, using a temporary file to ensure atomicity.
+            let temp_dir =
+                tempfile::tempdir_in(dst.as_ref().parent().expect("Cache entry to have parent"))?;
+            let temp_file = temp_dir.path().join("link");
+            std::os::unix::fs::symlink(src, &temp_file)?;
 
-    // Move the symlink into the wheel cache.
-    fs_err::rename(&temp_file, dst.as_ref())?;
+            // Move the symlink into the wheel cache.
+            fs_err::rename(&temp_file, dst.as_ref())?;
 
-    Ok(())
+            Ok(())
+        }
+        Err(err) => Err(err),
+    }
 }
 
 /// Write `data` to `path` atomically using a temporary file and atomic rename.

crates/uv-virtualenv/src/bare.rs

@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ pub fn create_bare_venv(
     prompt: Prompt,
     system_site_packages: bool,
     extra_cfg: Vec<(String, String)>,
+    force: bool,
 ) -> Result<Virtualenv, Error> {
     // Determine the base Python executable; that is, the Python executable that should be
     // considered the "base" for the virtual environment. This is typically the Python executable
@@ -89,7 +90,9 @@ pub fn create_bare_venv(
                     format!("File exists at `{}`", location.simplified_display()),
                 )));
             } else if metadata.is_dir() {
-                if location.join("pyvenv.cfg").is_file() {
+                if force {
+                    info!("Overwriting existing directory");
+                } else if location.join("pyvenv.cfg").is_file() {
                     info!("Removing existing directory");
                     fs::remove_dir_all(location)?;
                     fs::create_dir_all(location)?;
@@ -140,19 +143,17 @@ pub fn create_bare_venv(
     fs::write(location.join(".gitignore"), "*")?;
 
     // Different names for the python interpreter
-    fs::create_dir(&scripts)?;
+    fs::create_dir_all(&scripts)?;
     let executable = scripts.join(format!("python{EXE_SUFFIX}"));
 
     #[cfg(unix)]
     {
-        use fs_err::os::unix::fs::symlink;
-
-        symlink(&base_python, &executable)?;
-        symlink(
+        uv_fs::replace_symlink(&base_python, &executable)?;
+        uv_fs::replace_symlink(
             "python",
             scripts.join(format!("python{}", interpreter.python_major())),
         )?;
-        symlink(
+        uv_fs::replace_symlink(
             "python",
             scripts.join(format!(
                 "python{}.{}",

crates/uv-virtualenv/src/lib.rs

@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ pub fn create_venv(
     prompt: Prompt,
     system_site_packages: bool,
     extra_cfg: Vec<(String, String)>,
+    force: bool,
 ) -> Result<PythonEnvironment, Error> {
     // Create the virtualenv at the given location.
     let virtualenv = create_bare_venv(
@@ -60,6 +61,7 @@ pub fn create_venv(
         prompt,
         system_site_packages,
         extra_cfg,
+        force,
     )?;
 
     // Create the corresponding `PythonEnvironment`.

crates/uv-virtualenv/src/main.rs

@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ fn run() -> Result<(), uv_virtualenv::Error> {
         Prompt::from_args(cli.prompt),
         cli.system_site_packages,
         Vec::new(),
+        false,
     )?;
     Ok(())
 }

crates/uv/src/commands/venv.rs

@@ -28,7 +28,11 @@ use crate::printer::Printer;
 use crate::shell::Shell;
 
 /// Create a virtual environment.
-#[allow(clippy::unnecessary_wraps, clippy::too_many_arguments)]
+#[allow(
+    clippy::unnecessary_wraps,
+    clippy::too_many_arguments,
+    clippy::fn_params_excessive_bools
+)]
 pub(crate) async fn venv(
     path: &Path,
     python_request: Option<&str>,
@@ -38,6 +42,7 @@ pub(crate) async fn venv(
     system_site_packages: bool,
     connectivity: Connectivity,
     seed: bool,
+    force: bool,
     exclude_newer: Option<DateTime<Utc>>,
     native_tls: bool,
     cache: &Cache,
@@ -52,6 +57,7 @@ pub(crate) async fn venv(
         system_site_packages,
         connectivity,
         seed,
+        force,
         exclude_newer,
         native_tls,
         cache,
@@ -87,7 +93,7 @@ enum VenvError {
 }
 
 /// Create a virtual environment.
-#[allow(clippy::too_many_arguments)]
+#[allow(clippy::too_many_arguments, clippy::fn_params_excessive_bools)]
 async fn venv_impl(
     path: &Path,
     python_request: Option<&str>,
@@ -97,6 +103,7 @@ async fn venv_impl(
     system_site_packages: bool,
     connectivity: Connectivity,
     seed: bool,
+    force: bool,
     exclude_newer: Option<DateTime<Utc>>,
     native_tls: bool,
     cache: &Cache,
@@ -131,9 +138,15 @@ async fn venv_impl(
     let extra_cfg = vec![("uv".to_string(), env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION").to_string())];
 
     // Create the virtual environment.
-    let venv =
-        uv_virtualenv::create_venv(path, interpreter, prompt, system_site_packages, extra_cfg)
-            .map_err(VenvError::Creation)?;
+    let venv = uv_virtualenv::create_venv(
+        path,
+        interpreter,
+        prompt,
+        system_site_packages,
+        extra_cfg,
+        force,
+    )
+    .map_err(VenvError::Creation)?;
 
     // Install seed packages.
     if seed {

crates/uv/src/main.rs

@@ -1229,6 +1229,15 @@ struct VenvArgs {
     #[clap(long)]
     seed: bool,
 
+    /// Overwrite the directory at the specified path when creating the virtual environment.
+    ///
+    /// By default, `uv venv` will remove an existing virtual environment at the given path, and
+    /// exit with an error if the path is non-empty but _not_ a virtual environment. The `--force`
+    /// option will instead write to the given path, regardless of its contents, and without
+    /// clearing it beforehand.
+    #[clap(long)]
+    force: bool,
+
     /// The path to the virtual environment to create.
     #[clap(default_value = DEFAULT_VENV_NAME)]
     name: PathBuf,
@@ -1781,6 +1790,7 @@ async fn run() -> Result<ExitStatus> {
                     Connectivity::Online
                 },
                 args.seed,
+                args.force,
                 args.exclude_newer,
                 cli.native_tls,
                 &cache,