After creating your project and installing the State Tool, you can get started using your project locally. This guide covers the essential first steps to deploy and work with your ActiveState project.
Before starting, ensure you have:
After creating your project, you need to download it to your local machine. This is called “checking out” the project.
To download your project to a new folder in your current directory:
state checkout <orgname>/<projectname>
For example: state checkout myOrg/python-project
This creates a new folder containing your project’s activestate.yaml configuration file.
If you’re already in the directory where you want your project:
state checkout <orgname>/<projectname> .
For example: state checkout myOrg/python-project .
This downloads the configuration directly into your current directory without creating a new folder.
To see all projects you’ve checked out:
state projects
This shows the location of each project on your system.
Need more deployment options? See the Checkout and Activate guide for advanced options including custom paths, branch checkouts, and multi-project setups.
After checking out your project, you need to activate it to use the runtime environment.
The state shell command creates an isolated environment for your project:
state shell
Run this command from your project directory (where the activestate.yaml file is located). Your terminal prompt will change to show you’re in the project environment.
To exit the environment, type exit.
Activate from anywhere:
state shell <orgname>/<projectname>
To set a project as your system default:
state use <orgname>/<projectname>
This makes the project available from anywhere on your system without activating a shell each time.
Check your default:
state use show
Remove default:
state use reset
Working with multiple projects? See the Checkout and Activate guide for strategies on managing multiple projects simultaneously.
By default, the State Tool operates on the project in your current working directory, looking for an activestate.yaml file.
If an activestate.yaml is not present, running state install <packagename> will create a new project in your current directory. Make sure you’re in the correct project folder before installing packages.
To install a new package:
state install <packagename[@version]>
For example: state install pandas@1.3.1
The version is optional. Without it, the most recent version will be installed.
To remove a package:
state uninstall <packagename>
For example: state uninstall pandas
To search for available packages:
state search <packagename>
For example: state search requests
If you have packages defined in a requirements file, you can import them:
state import requirements.txt
Supported file formats:
requirements.txt (Python)cpanfile (Perl)META.json (Perl)Gemfile (Ruby)For more information, see Manage Requirements.
To list all packages in your project:
state packages
Once you’ve made changes to your project locally (installed packages, changed configuration), you can save those changes to the Platform.
To push your local changes:
state push
This creates a commit with your changes, generating a commit ID that you can use to revert if needed.
If others have made changes to the project, or you’ve made changes via the web interface:
state pull
This syncs your local project with the latest changes from the Platform.
If you need to revert to an earlier version:
state revert <commitID>
You can view commit IDs in the History tab of your project page on the Platform.
Now that you have your project set up and working locally, you can:
If you encounter issues:
state auth to re-authenticateFor more detailed troubleshooting, see the complete troubleshooting section.