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Tutorial: Installation

In this tutorial you'll install Panel Live Server so that the pls command is available in your terminal. By the end, pls --version will print the installed version.

What You'll Need

  • Python 3.12 or later
  • uv installed (pip install uv or see the uv docs)

Install Panel Live Server

Install Panel Live Server as a standalone tool using uv tool install. This puts the pls command on your PATH in an isolated environment, so it doesn't interfere with your project dependencies:

uv tool install "panel-live-server[pydata]"

The [pydata] extra includes the full visualization stack used in these tutorials:

hvplot · plotly · altair · matplotlib · seaborn · holoviews · polars · duckdb · and more

Only need the core server?

Install without extras if you only want to serve your own code and manage packages yourself: 

uv tool install panel-live-server

Verify the installation

pls --version

You should see the installed version printed. If the command is not found, ensure your uv tools directory is on your PATH — run uv tool update-shell and restart your terminal.

Add packages to the server environment

Because Panel Live Server runs in an isolated tool environment, it executes your Python snippets using the packages installed in that environment. To add a package:

uv tool install --with my-package "panel-live-server[pydata]"

For example, to add prophet for time series forecasting:

uv tool install --with prophet "panel-live-server[pydata]"

You can chain multiple --with flags:

uv tool install --with prophet --with xgboost "panel-live-server[pydata]"

No server restart is needed — the package is available immediately the next time the server starts.

Upgrading

To upgrade to the latest version: 

uv tool upgrade panel-live-server

What You've Learned

  • Install Panel Live Server as a uv tool with the [pydata] extras
  • Verify the installation with pls --version
  • Add extra packages to the server environment with --with

Next Steps