Refuse to remove non-virtual environments in uv venv

crates/uv-virtualenv/src/lib.rs

@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 use std::io;
-use std::path::Path;
+use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 
 use thiserror::Error;
 
+use uv_fs::Simplified;
 use uv_preview::Preview;
 use uv_python::{Interpreter, PythonEnvironment};
 
@@ -20,6 +21,8 @@ pub enum Error {
     NotFound(String),
     #[error(transparent)]
     Python(#[from] uv_python::managed::Error),
+    #[error("The directory at `{}` is not a virtual environment; remove it manually to proceed", _0.user_display())]
+    NonVirtualEnvironment(PathBuf),
 }
 
 /// The value to use for the shell prompt when inside a virtual environment.

crates/uv-virtualenv/src/virtualenv.rs

@@ -110,7 +110,8 @@ pub(crate) fn create(
             );
         }
         Ok(metadata) if metadata.is_dir() => {
-            let name = if uv_fs::is_virtualenv_base(location) {
+            let is_virtualenv = uv_fs::is_virtualenv_base(location);
+            let name = if is_virtualenv {
                 "virtual environment"
             } else {
                 "directory"
@@ -120,6 +121,11 @@ pub(crate) fn create(
                     debug!("Allowing existing {name} due to `--allow-existing`");
                 }
                 OnExisting::Remove => {
+                    // Refuse to remove a non-virtual environment, even if `--clear` is provided.
+                    if !is_virtualenv {
+                        return Err(Error::NonVirtualEnvironment(location.to_path_buf()));
+                    }
+
                     debug!("Removing existing {name} due to `--clear`");
                     // Before removing the virtual environment, we need to canonicalize the path
                     // because `Path::metadata` will follow the symlink but we're still operating on
@@ -131,6 +137,11 @@ pub(crate) fn create(
                     fs::create_dir_all(&location)?;
                 }
                 OnExisting::Fail => {
+                    // Refuse to remove a non-virtual environment.
+                    if !is_virtualenv {
+                        return Err(Error::NonVirtualEnvironment(location.to_path_buf()));
+                    }
+
                     match confirm_clear(location, name)? {
                         Some(true) => {
                             debug!("Removing existing {name} due to confirmation");

crates/uv/tests/it/venv.rs

@@ -958,23 +958,41 @@ fn empty_dir_exists() -> Result<()> {
 fn non_empty_dir_exists() -> Result<()> {
     let context = TestContext::new_with_versions(&["3.12"]);
 
-    // Create a non-empty directory at `.venv`. Creating a virtualenv at the same path should fail.
+    // Create a non-empty directory at `.venv`. Creating a virtualenv at the same path should fail,
+    // even if `--clear` is specified.
     context.venv.create_dir_all()?;
     context.venv.child("file").touch()?;
 
     uv_snapshot!(context.filters(), context.venv()
         .arg(context.venv.as_os_str())
         .arg("--python")
         .arg("3.12"), @r"
-    success: true
-    exit_code: 0
+    success: false
+    exit_code: 2
     ----- stdout -----
 
     ----- stderr -----
     Using CPython 3.12.[X] interpreter at: [PYTHON-3.12]
     Creating virtual environment at: .venv
-    warning: A directory already exists at `.venv`. In the future, uv will require `--clear` to replace it
-    Activate with: source .venv/[BIN]/activate
+    error: Failed to create virtual environment
+      Caused by: The directory at `.venv` is not a virtual environment; remove it manually to proceed
+    "
+    );
+
+    uv_snapshot!(context.filters(), context.venv()
+        .arg(context.venv.as_os_str())
+        .arg("--clear")
+        .arg("--python")
+        .arg("3.12"), @r"
+    success: false
+    exit_code: 2
+    ----- stdout -----
+
+    ----- stderr -----
+    Using CPython 3.12.[X] interpreter at: [PYTHON-3.12]
+    Creating virtual environment at: .venv
+    error: Failed to create virtual environment
+      Caused by: The directory at `.venv` is not a virtual environment; remove it manually to proceed
     "
     );
 
@@ -994,15 +1012,15 @@ fn non_empty_dir_exists_allow_existing() -> Result<()> {
         .arg(context.venv.as_os_str())
         .arg("--python")
         .arg("3.12"), @r"
-    success: true
-    exit_code: 0
+    success: false
+    exit_code: 2
     ----- stdout -----
 
     ----- stderr -----
     Using CPython 3.12.[X] interpreter at: [PYTHON-3.12]
     Creating virtual environment at: .venv
-    warning: A directory already exists at `.venv`. In the future, uv will require `--clear` to replace it
-    Activate with: source .venv/[BIN]/activate
+    error: Failed to create virtual environment
+      Caused by: The directory at `.venv` is not a virtual environment; remove it manually to proceed
     "
     );
 
@@ -1578,17 +1596,33 @@ fn create_venv_current_working_directory() {
     let context = TestContext::new_with_versions(&["3.12"]);
 
     uv_snapshot!(context.filters(), context.venv()
-        .arg(".")
+        .arg(context.venv.as_os_str())
         .arg("--python")
         .arg("3.12"), @r"
     success: true
     exit_code: 0
     ----- stdout -----
 
+    ----- stderr -----
+    Using CPython 3.12.[X] interpreter at: [PYTHON-3.12]
+    Creating virtual environment at: .venv
+    Activate with: source .venv/[BIN]/activate
+    "
+    );
+
+    uv_snapshot!(context.filters(), context.venv()
+        .arg(".")
+        .arg("--clear")
+        .arg("--python")
+        .arg("3.12")
+        .current_dir(&context.venv), @r"
+    success: true
+    exit_code: 0
+    ----- stdout -----
+
     ----- stderr -----
     Using CPython 3.12.[X] interpreter at: [PYTHON-3.12]
     Creating virtual environment at: .
-    warning: A directory already exists at `.`. In the future, uv will require `--clear` to replace it
     Activate with: source bin/activate
     "
     );