uv doesn't reinstall editable package when non-editable package is requested

[danielhollas]

Consider the following sequence

$ git clone https://github.com/aiidateam/aiida-core && cd aiida-core
$ uv venv --seed
$ uv pip install --no-deps -e .
   Built file:///home/hollas/atmospec/aiida-core                                                                                                                                                                   Built 1 editable in 170ms
Resolved 1 package in 0.71ms
Installed 1 package in 1ms
 + aiida-core==2.5.1.post0 (from file:///home/hollas/atmospec/aiida-core)

Running editable install for the second time re-installs the package, which is nice:

$ uv pip install --no-deps -e .
Built 1 editable in 183ms
Resolved 1 package in 0.93ms
Installed 1 package in 4ms
 - aiida-core==2.5.1.post0 (from file:///home/hollas/atmospec/aiida-core)
 + aiida-core==2.5.1.post0 (from file:///home/hollas/atmospec/aiida-core)

However, trying to install the package in non-editable mode does not re-install it

$ uv pip install --no-deps .
Resolved 1 package in 1ms
Audited 1 package in 0.04ms

uv version 0.1.36

[charliermarsh]

Hmm interesting. Makes sense to force a reinstall here I suppose.

[danielhollas]

My understanding was that while the editable mode generally tries to emulate the actual installation, it is not guaranteed to be perfect so I think reinstalling is the only correct option here. Citing from PEP 660

Depending on the way build backends implement this specification, some minor differences may be visible such as the presence of additional files that are in the source tree and would not be part of a regular install. Build backends are encouraged to document such potential differences.

[charliermarsh]

I'll label it as a bug.