Difference between pip-sync and pip install -r requirements.txt

Question

I'm using pip-tools in my project to manage my Python dependencies. What the purpose of pip-sync? Looks like it does exactly the same thing as pip install -r.

If I have a single requirements.txt file, is there any difference between the following two commands?

pip-sync
pip install -r requirements.txt

Answer 1

Both commands are used for installing Python packages based on a requirements file.

Command pip install -r requirements.txt simply installs the packages listed in the file, while pip-sync ensures that the installed packages exactly match the contents of the requirements file by adding, upgrading, or removing packages as necessary.