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Nov 12, 2025
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Documentation: Improve virtualenvwrapper setup instructions for new contributors #7741

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Documentation: Improve virtualenvwrapper setup instructions for new c…
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Format for better plain-text readability and add link to virtualenvwr…
pavoljuhas Nov 12, 2025
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24 changes: 19 additions & 5 deletions docs/dev/development.md
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Expand Up @@ -85,10 +85,24 @@ package manager.

There are some extra steps if Protocol Buffers are changed; see the next section.

2. Prepare a Python virtual environment that includes the Cirq dev tools (such as Mypy).
2. Setup virtualenvwrapper

One of the system dependencies we installed was `virtualenvwrapper`, which makes it easy to create virtual environments.
If you did not have `virtualenvwrapper` previously, you may need to re-open your terminal or run `source ~/.bashrc` before these commands will work:
One of the system dependencies we installed was `virtualenvwrapper`, which makes it easy to
create virtual environments. If you did not have `virtualenvwrapper` previously, then to
complete the setup of virtualenvwrapper, the following lines must be added to your ~/.bashrc or
~/.zshrc file. Once the file is saved, you will need to either open a new terminal session or
execute `source ~/.bashrc` to activate the new configuration.

```bash
export WORKON_HOME=$HOME/.virtualenvs
export VIRTUALENVWRAPPER_PYTHON=/usr/bin/python3
source /usr/share/virtualenvwrapper/virtualenvwrapper.sh
```

For a complete reference see the [virtualenvwrapper documentation](
https://virtualenvwrapper.readthedocs.io).

3. Prepare a Python virtual environment that includes the Cirq dev tools (such as Mypy).

```bash
mkvirtualenv cirq-py3 --python=/usr/bin/python3
Expand All @@ -102,13 +116,13 @@ package manager.
**Note**: Some highly managed or customized devices have configurations that interfere with `virtualenv`.
In that case, [anaconda](https://www.anaconda.com/) environments may be a better choice.

3. Check that the tests pass.
4. Check that the tests pass.

```bash
./check/pytest .
```

4. (**OPTIONAL**) include your development copy of Cirq and its subpackages in your Python path.
5. (**OPTIONAL**) include your development copy of Cirq and its subpackages in your Python path.

```bash
source dev_tools/pypath
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