This is a simple bash function that solves the problem of activating a Python virtualenv that is in the current directory or a parent directory. It recursively searches for a directory named venv and activates the bin/activate script inside that directory.

Rather than storing all virtualenvs in a single directory, as required by the workon script included with virtualenv-wrappers, this script assumes that the virtualenv for a given codebase is in the same directory as the code it is being maintained for. For example, my code looks something like this:

/home/dusty/code/

• project1 | + src | | + pkg1 | | + pkg2 | + doc | + venv
• project2 | + src | + venv27 | + venvpypy
• project3 | + venv

If I am in the code/project1/src/pkg1 directory, I can run the v function and it will find and activate the virtualenv script in code/project1/venv/bin/activate. If I am in the project2/src directory and I run the v venvpypy command, it will find and activate the virtualenv in code/project2/venvpypy/bin/activate.

The easiest way to install is to copy the function in your ~/.bashrc.

Note that I am a Python programmer, this may not be the prettiest bash you've seen.