I can't find any page explaining what the pex tools are and do, is there any?

Yes, I mean, what tools does PEX_TOOLS add and how to use them?

Currently your best bet is the oldest and most universal bet. Just try it. Either add the option to a

pex_binary

target in Pants, run

./pants package ...

and then run

PEX_TOOLS=1 dist/my.pex --help

, or install Pex in a venv somewhere and run

pex-tools -h

. You'll get a list of 5 subcommands:

$ pex-tools
usage: pex-tools [-h] [-V]
                 PATH
                 {info,interpreter,graph,repository,venv}
                 ...
pex-tools: error: the following arguments are required: PATH

Ok, thanks!

Currently your best bet is the oldest and most universal bet.

I was so expecting this to continue with: “.. Read the source.” as the oldest most universal 😄

🙂 That would be a good answer if my question had been "what's the thing with pex_tools?", but I asked about a documentation page, if it exists or not.

I personally much prefer command line help, it's ~always there. No need to Google to find some arbitrary site. And there is no better way for me to learn than by doing; so command line help is best. Man pages, second best. The rest, I'm in trouble if I have to reach for that...!

For simple things it is ideal. For heavy prose (for example "man bash"), a web page is better for me.