Complete workflow

New project checklist

Follow these steps every time you start a new Python project.

Step 1: Open terminal

Open your terminal:

Mac: Terminal app or iTerm
Windows: Terminal, Command Prompt, or PowerShell

Step 2: Navigate to your projects folder

# Go to your projects directory
cd ~/Documents/Projects  # Mac
cd C:\Users\YourName\Documents\Projects  # Windows

Create a dedicated folder for all your Python projects. This keeps things organized!

Step 3: Create the project

Use uv to create your project:

uv init my-awesome-project

What happens:

Creates a new folder my-awesome-project
Creates .gitignore (Git will ignore .venv, .env, etc.)
Creates .python-version (specifies Python version)
Creates pyproject.toml (project configuration)
Creates README.md (project description)
Creates main.py (example file)

Initial structure:

my-awesome-project/
├── .gitignore      # Git ignore rules
├── .python-version # Python version
├── pyproject.toml  # Project config
├── README.md       # Project description
└── main.py         # Example file

The .venv folder is created automatically when you run uv add to install your first package. Same with uv.lock.

Step 4: Open in VS Code

# Enter the project folder
cd my-awesome-project

# Open in VS Code
code .

What happens:

VS Code opens with your project
Python extension activates automatically
Virtual environment is detected

If code . doesn’t work, see the Git section for setup instructions.

Step 5: Add packages

Open terminal in VS Code (Ctrl+`):

# Add packages you need
uv add requests
uv add pandas numpy
uv add python-dotenv

# For interactive Python (optional)
uv add ipykernel

What happens:

Packages download and install
pyproject.toml updates with dependencies
uv.lock locks exact versions

Step 6: Test your setup

Edit main.py:

import requests
from dotenv import load_dotenv
import os

# Load environment variables
load_dotenv()

# Test the setup
print("✅ Packages imported successfully!")

# Test environment variable
api_key = os.environ.get("API_KEY", "not-set")
print(f"✅ API_KEY: {api_key}")

# Test requests
response = requests.get("https://api.github.com")
print(f"✅ GitHub API status: {response.status_code}")

Run it:

uv run python main.py

Step 7: Set up environment variables

Create .env for secrets:

# .env
API_KEY=your-secret-key-here
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://localhost/mydb
DEBUG=True

Create .env.example for others:

# .env.example
API_KEY=your-api-key-here
DATABASE_URL=your-database-url
DEBUG=True

Important: .env is already in .gitignore - your secrets are safe!

Step 8: Initialize Git

# Initialize Git repository
git init

# Add all files
git add .

# First commit
git commit -m "Initial commit"

What happens:

Git starts tracking your files
All files except those in .gitignore are staged
Your first snapshot is saved

Step 9: Create GitHub repository

Create the repository directly from your terminal:

Using GitHub CLI (Recommended)
Using Git (Traditional)

# Create private repository
gh repo create my-awesome-project --private --source=. --remote=origin --push

# Or create public repository
gh repo create my-awesome-project --public --source=. --remote=origin --push

What happens:

Creates repository on GitHub
Sets up remote connection
Pushes your code automatically

If you don’t have GitHub CLI, install it:Mac:

brew install gh

Windows:

winget install --id GitHub.cli
# Or download from cli.github.com

Linux:

# Debian/Ubuntu
curl -fsSL https://cli.github.com/packages/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg | sudo dd of=/usr/share/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg
sudo chmod go+r /usr/share/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg
echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg] https://cli.github.com/packages stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/github-cli.list > /dev/null
sudo apt update
sudo apt install gh

After installing, authenticate with:

gh auth login

If you prefer the traditional way:

Go to github.com
Click + > New repository
Name it my-awesome-project
Choose Private or Public
Don’t add any files
Click Create repository

Then run:

git remote add origin https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/my-awesome-project.git
git push -u origin main

You’re done! Your project is now:

Set up locally with uv
Tracked by Git
Backed up on GitHub

The daily workflow

From here, your routine is:

# Make changes to your code...

# Add packages as needed
uv add some-package

# Commit changes
git add .
git commit -m "Add new feature"

# Push to GitHub
git push

Prefer clicking? You can do all Git operations using VS Code’s UI:

Source Control panel (Ctrl+Shift+G): Stage, commit, and push with clicks
Status bar: Shows branch and sync button
Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P): Type “Git” to see all commands

See the Git & GitHub section for details!

Quick reference

# Project setup (one time)
uv init project-name
cd project-name
code .
git init
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"
gh repo create project-name --private --source=. --remote=origin --push

# Daily development
uv add package-name        # Add packages
uv run python script.py    # Run code
git add .                  # Stage changes
git commit -m "message"    # Commit
git push                   # Push to GitHub

Pro tips

Commit often - Small commits are better than huge ones
Write clear messages - “Fix login bug” not “updates”
Use .env - Never hardcode secrets
Keep it simple - Don’t over-engineer

Commands summary

Here’s everything in one place:

# Setup (one time)
uv init my-project
cd my-project
code .
uv add requests pandas python-dotenv
uv add --dev ipykernel
echo "API_KEY=your-key" > .env
git init
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"
gh repo create my-project --private --source=. --remote=origin --push

# Daily workflow
uv add package-name        # Add packages
uv run python script.py    # Run code
git add .                  # Stage changes
git commit -m "message"    # Commit
git push                   # Push to GitHub

What’s next

You’ve completed the Python fundamentals course. Continue your journey with these next steps:

Course summary

See what you’ve learned and continue with AI agents in Python

Introduction

Git & GitHub

Environment & secrets

Code quality

Modern Python

New project checklist

Step 1: Open terminal

Step 2: Navigate to your projects folder

Step 3: Create the project

Step 4: Open in VS Code

Step 5: Add packages

Step 6: Test your setup

Step 7: Set up environment variables

Step 8: Initialize Git

Step 9: Create GitHub repository

The daily workflow

Quick reference

Pro tips

Commands summary

What’s next

Course summary

​New project checklist

​Step 1: Open terminal

​Step 2: Navigate to your projects folder

​Step 3: Create the project

​Step 4: Open in VS Code

​Step 5: Add packages

​Step 6: Test your setup

​Step 7: Set up environment variables

​Step 8: Initialize Git

​Step 9: Create GitHub repository

​The daily workflow

​Quick reference

​Pro tips

​Commands summary

​What’s next

Course summary

New project checklist

Step 1: Open terminal

Step 2: Navigate to your projects folder

Step 3: Create the project

Step 4: Open in VS Code

Step 5: Add packages

Step 6: Test your setup

Step 7: Set up environment variables

Step 8: Initialize Git

Step 9: Create GitHub repository

The daily workflow

Quick reference

Pro tips

Commands summary

What’s next