Disable global installs using pip - allow only virtualenvs

Question

Sometimes by mistake, I install some packages globally with plain pip install package and contaminate my system instead of creating a proper virtualenv and keeping things tidy.

How can I easily disable global installs with pip at all?

Or at least show a big warning when using it this way to ensure I know what I am doing?

Answer 1

I can be late, but you can do it either via:

1. config (~/.pip/pip.conf):

[global]
require-virtualenv = true

2. env variable PIP_REQUIRE_VIRTUALENV

3. For pip versions >= 10.0.0b1, from the command line system-wide using:

pip config set global.require-virtualenv true

This gives you exactly what you want, example:

$ pip install foobar
ERROR: Could not find an activated virtualenv (required).