diff --git a/examples/black b/examples/black
index 8e0ec92..b07524a 100755
--- a/examples/black
+++ b/examples/black
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-# AUTOGENERATED by viv (v23.5a7-6-g5febbe0-dev)
+# AUTOGENERATED by viv (v23.8a1-5-g4c782db-dev)
 # see `python3 <(curl -fsSL viv.dayl.in/viv.py) --help`
 
 
@@ -14,21 +14,19 @@ def _viv_use(*pkgs, track_exe=False, name=""):
 
     meta = dict.fromkeys(("created", "accessed"), (t := str(datetime.today())))
     runner = str(Path(__file__).absolute().resolve())
-    env = lambda x: os.getenv(f"VIV_{x}")  # noqa
-    F, V, no_st = map(env, ("FORCE", "VERBOSE", "NO_SETUPTOOLS"))
-    xdg = os.getenv("XDG_CACHE_HOME")
-    cache = (Path(xdg) if xdg else Path.home() / ".cache") / "viv" / "venvs"
-    cache.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    envvar = lambda x: os.getenv(f"VIV_{x}")  # noqa
+    F, V, no_st = map(envvar, ("FORCE", "VERBOSE", "NO_SETUPTOOLS"))
+    base = Path(xdg) if (xdg := os.getenv("XDG_CACHE_HOME")) else Path.home() / ".cache"
+    (cache := (base) / "viv/venvs").mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
     exe = str(Path(sys.executable).resolve()) if track_exe else "N/A"
-    (sha256 := hashlib.sha256()).update((str(spec := [*pkgs]) + exe).encode())
-    _id = sha256.hexdigest()
+    _id = hashlib.sha256((str(spec := [*pkgs]) + exe).encode()).hexdigest()
     if (env := cache / (name if name else _id)) not in cache.glob("*/") or F:
         sys.stderr.write(f"generating new vivenv -> {env.name}\n")
         venv.create(env, prompt=f"viv-{name}", symlinks=True, clear=True)
         kw = dict(zip(("stdout", "stderr"), ((None,) * 2 if V else (-1, 2))))
-        if (not no_st) and (not [x for x in spec if x.startswith("setuptools")]):
-            spec.append("setuptools")
         cmd = ["pip", "--python", str(env / "bin" / "python"), "install", *spec]
+        if (not no_st) and (not [x for x in spec if x.startswith("setuptools")]):
+            cmd.append("setuptools")
         p = run(cmd, **kw)
         if (rc := p.returncode) != 0:
             if env.is_dir():
diff --git a/src/viv/viv.py b/src/viv/viv.py
index 64cffb0..72f87cf 100755
--- a/src/viv/viv.py
+++ b/src/viv/viv.py
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ from typing import (
 from urllib.error import HTTPError
 from urllib.request import urlopen
 
-__version__ = "23.8a1-3-ga78624c-dev"
+__version__ = "23.8a1-5-g4c782db-dev"
 
 
 class Spinner:
@@ -340,21 +340,19 @@ class Template:
 
     meta = dict.fromkeys(("created", "accessed"), (t := str(datetime.today())))
     runner = str(Path(__file__).absolute().resolve())
-    env = lambda x: os.getenv(f"VIV_{x}") # noqa
-    F, V, no_st = map(env, ("FORCE", "VERBOSE", "NO_SETUPTOOLS"))
-    xdg = os.getenv("XDG_CACHE_HOME")
-    cache = (Path(xdg) if xdg else Path.home() / ".cache") / "viv" / "venvs"
-    cache.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    envvar = lambda x: os.getenv(f"VIV_{x}")  # noqa
+    F, V, no_st = map(envvar, ("FORCE", "VERBOSE", "NO_SETUPTOOLS"))
+    base = Path(xdg) if (xdg := os.getenv("XDG_CACHE_HOME")) else Path.home() / ".cache"
+    (cache := (base) / "viv/venvs").mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
     exe = str(Path(sys.executable).resolve()) if track_exe else "N/A"
-    (sha256 := hashlib.sha256()).update((str(spec := [*pkgs]) + exe).encode())
-    _id = sha256.hexdigest()
+    _id = hashlib.sha256((str(spec := [*pkgs]) + exe).encode()).hexdigest()
     if (env := cache / (name if name else _id)) not in cache.glob("*/") or F:
         sys.stderr.write(f"generating new vivenv -> {env.name}\n")
         venv.create(env, prompt=f"viv-{name}", symlinks=True, clear=True)
         kw = dict(zip(("stdout", "stderr"), ((None,) * 2 if V else (-1, 2))))
-        if (not no_st) and (not [x for x in spec if x.startswith("setuptools")]):
-            spec.append("setuptools")
         cmd = ["pip", "--python", str(env / "bin" / "python"), "install", *spec]
+        if (not no_st) and (not [x for x in spec if x.startswith("setuptools")]):
+            cmd.append("setuptools")
         p = run(cmd, **kw)
         if (rc := p.returncode) != 0:
             if env.is_dir():