diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
index 824fb1416e6..50a4d556ab9 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 FROM mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/base:jammy
 
-ARG PIXI_VERSION=v0.59.0
+ARG PIXI_VERSION=v0.63.2
 
 RUN curl -L -o /usr/local/bin/pixi -fsSL --compressed "https://github.com/prefix-dev/pixi/releases/download/${PIXI_VERSION}/pixi-$(uname -m)-unknown-linux-musl" \
     && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/pixi \
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-additional.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci-additional.yaml
index ba8d5f1e092..3af9d06ff65 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-additional.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-additional.yaml
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ concurrency:
 
 env:
   FORCE_COLOR: 3
-  PIXI_VERSION: "v0.63.2"
 
 jobs:
   detect-ci-trigger:
@@ -48,8 +47,6 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: Parcels-code/pixi-lock/create-and-cache@9a2866f8258b87a3c616d5ad7d51c6cd853df78b
         id: pixi-lock
-        with:
-          pixi-version: ${{env.PIXI_VERSION}}
       - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
         with:
           name: pixi-lock
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index 21d0ed3301c..e0c3c91dcec 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ concurrency:
 
 env:
   FORCE_COLOR: 3
-  PIXI_VERSION: "v0.63.2"
 
 jobs:
   detect-ci-trigger:
@@ -43,14 +42,11 @@ jobs:
 
     outputs:
       cache-key: ${{ steps.pixi-lock.outputs.cache-key }}
-      pixi-version: ${{ steps.pixi-lock.outputs.pixi-version }}
 
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: Parcels-code/pixi-lock/create-and-cache@9a2866f8258b87a3c616d5ad7d51c6cd853df78b
         id: pixi-lock
-        with:
-          pixi-version: ${{env.PIXI_VERSION}}
       - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
         with:
           name: pixi-lock
diff --git a/.github/workflows/hypothesis.yaml b/.github/workflows/hypothesis.yaml
index bb8823f78d1..397d1b053a9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/hypothesis.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/hypothesis.yaml
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ on:
 
 env:
   FORCE_COLOR: 3
-  PIXI_VERSION: "v0.63.2"
 
 jobs:
   detect-ci-trigger:
@@ -55,8 +54,6 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: Parcels-code/pixi-lock/create-and-cache@9a2866f8258b87a3c616d5ad7d51c6cd853df78b
         id: pixi-lock
-        with:
-          pixi-version: ${{env.PIXI_VERSION}}
       - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
         with:
           name: pixi-lock
diff --git a/.github/workflows/upstream-dev-ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/upstream-dev-ci.yaml
index 1623430e22b..0059eb147de 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/upstream-dev-ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/upstream-dev-ci.yaml
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ concurrency:
 
 env:
   FORCE_COLOR: 3
-  PIXI_VERSION: "v0.63.2"
 
 jobs:
   detect-ci-trigger:
@@ -62,8 +61,6 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: Parcels-code/pixi-lock/create-and-cache@9a2866f8258b87a3c616d5ad7d51c6cd853df78b
         id: pixi-lock
-        with:
-          pixi-version: ${{env.PIXI_VERSION}}
       - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
         with:
           name: pixi-lock
diff --git a/doc/contribute/contributing.rst b/doc/contribute/contributing.rst
index abb9ee71900..f1f8d920d15 100644
--- a/doc/contribute/contributing.rst
+++ b/doc/contribute/contributing.rst
@@ -198,11 +198,8 @@ Xarray uses `Pixi <https://pixi.sh/latest/>`_ to manage development environments
 Before starting any development, you'll need to create an isolated xarray
 development environment:
 
-- `Install Pixi <https://pixi.sh/latest/installation/>`_ - preferably the same version as the one listed in our ``ci.yaml`` `file <https://github.com/pydata/xarray/blob/main/.github/workflows/ci.yaml>`_
-
-  - Some features in Pixi are in active development, and xarray depends on these features.
-    Using the same version results in the best dev experience.
-  - Instructions for installing specific versions of Pixi can be seen on the Pixi installation page.
+- `Install Pixi <https://pixi.sh/latest/installation/>`_
+  - Xarray uses some Pixi features that are in active development. You might be prompted to upgrade your Pixi version to contribute to Xarray (this is controlled by the ``requires-pixi`` field in ``pixi.toml``)
 - Make sure that you have :ref:`cloned the repository <contributing.dev_workflow>`
 - ``cd`` to the *xarray* source directory
 
diff --git a/pixi.toml b/pixi.toml
index 140cbfca598..a853d6e35c9 100644
--- a/pixi.toml
+++ b/pixi.toml
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 preview = ["pixi-build"]
 channels = ["conda-forge", "nodefaults"]
 platforms = ["win-64", "linux-64", "osx-arm64", "osx-64"]
+requires-pixi = ">=0.63.2"
 
 [package]
 name = "xarray"