diff --git a/examples/standalone.py b/examples/standalone.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e8f9b45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/standalone.py
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+# <<<<< auto-generated by daylinmorgan/viv (v.22.12a3)
+# fmt: off
+def _viv_activate(*pkgs: str, track_exe: bool = False, name: str = "") -> None: # noqa
+    i,m,e = __import__,map,lambda x: True if x else False # noqa
+    if not {*m(type, pkgs)} == {str}: raise ValueError(f"spec: {pkgs} is invalid") # noqa
+    ge,sys,P,exe = i("os").getenv,i("sys"),i("pathlib").Path,i("sys").executable # noqa
+    vivcache = (P(ge("XDG_CACHE_HOME",P.home()/".cache"))/"viv"/"venvs");vivcache.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True) # noqa
+    spec,exe_path = [*pkgs], (str(P(exe).resolve()) if track_exe else "N/A") # noqa
+    hash = i("hashlib").sha256(); hash.update(str(spec).encode()) # noqa
+    if track_exe: hash.update(exe_path.encode()) # noqa
+    _id = hash.hexdigest() # noqa
+    name, envpath = (lambda n: (n,vivcache/n))(name if name else _id)  # noqa
+    if name not in (d.name for d in vivcache.iterdir()) or ge("VIV_FORCE"): # noqa
+        run = i("subprocess").run; i("venv").EnvBuilder(with_pip=True, clear=True).create(envpath) # noqa
+        with (envpath/"pip.conf").open("w") as f:f.write("[global]\ndisable-pip-version-check = true") # noqa
+        p = run([envpath/"bin"/"pip","install","--force-reinstall", *spec], universal_newlines=True, # noqa
+            **dict(zip(("stdout","stderr"),[(-1,-2),(None,)*2,][e(ge("VIV_VERBOSE"))]))) # noqa
+        if (p.returncode!=0)*envpath.is_dir():i("shutil").rmtree(str(envpath)) # noqa
+        if p.returncode!=0:sys.stderr.write(f"pip had non zero exit ({p.returncode})\\n{p.stdout}");sys.exit(p.returncode) # noqa
+        with (envpath/"viv-info.json").open("w") as f: # noqa
+            i("json").dump({"created":str(i("datetime").datetime.today()),"id":_id,"spec":spec,"exe":exe},f) # noqa
+    sys.path = [p for p in (*sys.path, str(*(envpath/"lib").glob("py*/si*"))) if p!=i("site").USER_SITE] # noqa
+_viv_activate("pyfiglet==0.8.post1") # noqa
+
+# fmt: on
+# >>>>> code golfed with <3
+
+from pyfiglet import Figlet
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    f = Figlet(font="slant")
+    figtxt = f.renderText("viv").splitlines()
+    figtxt[-2] += " isn't venv!"
+    print("\n".join(figtxt))
diff --git a/src/viv/viv.py b/src/viv/viv.py
index 7c51220..633df44 100755
--- a/src/viv/viv.py
+++ b/src/viv/viv.py
@@ -471,9 +471,49 @@ def get_venvs():
 
 
 SYS_PATH_TEMPLATE = """__import__("sys").path.append("{path_to_viv}")  # noqa"""
-REL_SYS_PATH_TEMPLATE = """__import__("sys").path.append(__import__("os").path.expanduser("{path_to_viv}"))  # noqa"""
+REL_SYS_PATH_TEMPLATE = (
+    """__import__("sys").path.append(__import__("os")"""
+    """.path.expanduser("{path_to_viv}"))  # noqa"""
+)
 IMPORT_TEMPLATE = """__import__("viv").activate({spec})  # noqa"""
 
+STANDALONE_TEMPLATE = r"""
+# <<<<< auto-generated by daylinmorgan/viv (v.22.12a3)
+# fmt: off
+{activate}
+# fmt: on
+# >>>>> code golfed with <3
+"""  # noqa
+
+STANDALONE_TEMPLATE_ACTIVATE = " # noqa\n".join(
+    r"""
+def _viv_activate(*pkgs: str, track_exe: bool = False, name: str = "") -> None:
+    i,m,e = __import__,map,lambda x: True if x else False
+    if not {{*m(type, pkgs)}} == {{str}}: raise ValueError(f"spec: {{pkgs}} is invalid")
+    ge,sys,P,exe = i("os").getenv,i("sys"),i("pathlib").Path,i("sys").executable
+    vivcache = (P(ge("XDG_CACHE_HOME",P.home()/".cache"))/"viv"/"venvs");vivcache.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    spec,exe_path = [*pkgs], (str(P(exe).resolve()) if track_exe else "N/A")
+    hash = i("hashlib").sha256(); hash.update(str(spec).encode())
+    if track_exe: hash.update(exe_path.encode())
+    _id = hash.hexdigest()
+    name, envpath = (lambda n: (n,vivcache/n))(name if name else _id)
+    if name not in (d.name for d in vivcache.iterdir()) or ge("VIV_FORCE"):
+        run = i("subprocess").run; i("venv").EnvBuilder(with_pip=True, clear=True).create(envpath)
+        with (envpath/"pip.conf").open("w") as f:f.write("[global]\ndisable-pip-version-check = true")
+        p = run([envpath/"bin"/"pip","install","--force-reinstall", *spec], universal_newlines=True,
+            **dict(zip(("stdout","stderr"),[(-1,-2),(None,)*2,][e(ge("VIV_VERBOSE"))])))
+        if (p.returncode!=0)*envpath.is_dir():i("shutil").rmtree(str(envpath))
+        if p.returncode!=0:sys.stderr.write(f"pip had non zero exit ({{p.returncode}})\\n{{p.stdout}}");sys.exit(p.returncode)
+        with (envpath/"viv-info.json").open("w") as f:
+            i("json").dump({{"created":str(i("datetime").datetime.today()),"id":_id,"spec":spec,"exe":exe}},f)
+    sys.path = [p for p in (*sys.path, str(*(envpath/"lib").glob("py*/si*"))) if p!=i("site").USER_SITE]
+_viv_activate({spec})
+
+""".splitlines()[  # noqa
+        1:
+    ]
+)
+
 
 def spec_to_import(spec: List[str]) -> None:
     spec_str = ", ".join(f'"{pkg}"' for pkg in spec)
@@ -501,7 +541,12 @@ def freeze_venv(spec: List[str], path: Path | None = None):
 
 
 def generate_import(
-    requirements: Path, reqs: List[str], vivenvs, include_path: bool, keep: bool
+    requirements: Path,
+    reqs: List[str],
+    vivenvs,
+    include_path: bool,
+    keep: bool,
+    standalone: bool,
 ) -> None:
     # TODO: make compatible with Venv class for now just use the name /tmp/
     reqs_from_file = []
@@ -535,6 +580,19 @@ def generate_import(
             )
 
     echo("see below for import statements\n")
+
+    if standalone:
+        sys.stdout.write(
+            STANDALONE_TEMPLATE.format(
+                version=__version__,
+                activate=STANDALONE_TEMPLATE_ACTIVATE.format(
+                    spec=", ".join(f'"{pkg}"' for pkg in resolved_spec.splitlines())
+                ),
+            )
+            + "\n"
+        )
+        return
+
     if include_path == "absolute":
         sys.stdout.write(
             SYS_PATH_TEMPLATE.format(
@@ -750,7 +808,12 @@ class Viv:
             sys.exit(1)
 
         generate_import(
-            args.requirements, args.reqs, self.vivenvs, args.path, args.keep
+            args.requirements,
+            args.reqs,
+            self.vivenvs,
+            args.path,
+            args.keep,
+            args.standalone,
         )
 
     def list(self, args):
@@ -903,6 +966,12 @@ class Viv:
             help="preserve environment",
             action="store_true",
         )
+        p_freeze.add_argument(
+            "-s",
+            "--standalone",
+            help="generate standalone activation function",
+            action="store_true",
+        )
         p_freeze.add_argument("reqs", help="requirements specifiers", nargs="*")
 
         self._get_subcmd_parser(