The pyproject.toml file#

In package mode, the only required fields are name and version
(either in the project section or in the tool.poetry section).
Other fields are optional.
In non-package mode, the name and version fields are required
if using the project section.

{{% note %}}
Run poetry check to print warnings about deprecated fields.
{{% /note %}}

The project section#

The project section of the pyproject.toml file according to the
specification of the PyPA.

name#

The name of the package. Always required when the project section is specified

This should be a valid name as defined by PEP 508.

[project]
name = "my-package"

version#

The version of the package. Always required when the project section is specified

This should be a valid PEP 440 string.

[project]
# ...
version = "0.1.0"

If you want to set the version dynamically via poetry build --local-version
or you are using a plugin, which sets the version dynamically, you should add version
to dynamic and define the base version in the tool.poetry section, for example:

[project]
name = "my-package"
dynamic = [ "version" ]

[tool.poetry]
version = "1.0" # base version

description#

A short description of the package.

[project]
# ...
description = "A short description of the package."

license#

An SPDX expression
representing the license of the package.

The recommended notation for the most common licenses is (alphabetical):

• Apache-2.0
• BSD-2-Clause
• BSD-3-Clause
• BSD-4-Clause
• GPL-2.0-only
• GPL-2.0-or-later
• GPL-3.0-only
• GPL-3.0-or-later
• LGPL-2.1-only
• LGPL-2.1-or-later
• LGPL-3.0-only
• LGPL-3.0-or-later
• MIT

Optional, but it is highly recommended to supply this.
More identifiers are listed at the SPDX Open Source License Registry.

[project]
# ...
license = "MIT"

{{% warning %}}
Specifying license as a table, e.g. { text = "MIT" } is deprecated.
If you used to specify a license file, e.g. { file = "LICENSE" },
use license-files instead.
{{% /warning %}}

license-files#

A list of glob patterns that match the license files of the package
relative to the root of the project source tree.

[project]
# ...
license-files = [
    "*-LICENSE",
    "CONTRIBUTORS",
    "MY-SPECIAL-LICENSE-DIR/**/*"
]

By default, Poetry will include the following files:

• LICENSE*
• LICENCE*
• COPYING*
• AUTHORS*
• NOTICE*
• LICENSES/**/*

{{% note %}}
The default applies only if the license-files field is not specified.
Specifying an empty list results in no license files being included.
{{% /note %}}

readme#

A path to the README file or the content.

[project]
# ...
readme = "README.md"

{{% note %}}
If you want to define multiple README files, you have to add readme to dynamic
and define them in the tool.poetry section.
{{% /note %}}

[project]
# ...
dynamic = [ "readme" ]

[tool.poetry]
# ...
readme = ["docs/README1.md", "docs/README2.md"]

requires-python#

The Python version requirements of the project.

[project]
# ...
requires-python = ">=3.8"

{{% note %}}
If you need an upper bound for locking, but do not want to define an upper bound
in your package metadata, you can omit the upper bound in the requires-python field
and add it in the tool.poetry.dependencies section.
{{% /note %}}

[project]
# ...
requires-python = ">=3.8"

[tool.poetry.dependencies]
python = ">=3.8,<4.0"

authors#

The authors of the package.

This is a list of authors and should contain at least one author.

[project]
# ...
authors = [
    { name = "Sébastien Eustace", email = "sebastien@eustace.io" },
]

maintainers#

The maintainers of the package.

This is a list of maintainers and should be distinct from authors.

[project]
# ...
maintainers = [
    { name = "John Smith", email = "johnsmith@example.org" },
    { name = "Jane Smith", email = "janesmith@example.org" },
]

keywords#

A list of keywords that the package is related to.

[project]
# ...
keywords = [ "packaging", "poetry" ]

classifiers#

A list of PyPI trove classifiers that describe the project.

[project]
# ...
classifiers = [
    "Topic :: Software Development :: Build Tools",
    "Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python Modules"
]

{{% warning %}}
Note that suitable classifiers based on your python requirement
are not automatically added for you if you define classifiers statically
in the project section.

If you want to enrich classifiers automatically, you should add classifiers to dynamic
and use the tool.poetry section instead.
{{% /warning %}}

[project]
# ...
dynamic = [ "classifiers" ]

[tool.poetry]
# ...
classifiers = [
    "Topic :: Software Development :: Build Tools",
    "Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python Modules"
]

urls#

The URLs of the project.

[project.urls]
homepage = "https://python-poetry.org/"
repository = "https://github.com/python-poetry/poetry"
documentation = "https://python-poetry.org/docs/"
"Bug Tracker" = "https://github.com/python-poetry/poetry/issues"

If you publish your package on PyPI, they will appear in the Project Links section.

scripts#

This section describes the console scripts (Python
entry points)
that will be installed when installing the package.

Each entry maps a command name to a Python callable using
package.module:function. In practical terms:

• package / module are import paths (directories and .py files under your
  project, typically matching a layout like my_package/console.py)
• function is the callable Poetry should invoke when the command runs

[project.scripts]
my_package_cli = 'my_package.console:run'

With a project laid out like this:

my-package/
├── pyproject.toml
└── my_package/
    ├── __init__.py
    └── console.py # defines run()

installing the package creates a my_package_cli command that calls
my_package.console:run. During development you can run it with
[poetry run]({{< relref "cli#run" >}}):

poetry install
poetry run my_package_cli
poetry run my_package_cli --help

Pass CLI arguments after the script name; parse them inside your function
(for example with argparse).

{{% note %}}
When a console script (entry point) is added or updated, run poetry install
again so the command wrappers are created/updated in the project's virtualenv.
This is the canonical place for that requirement; [poetry run]({{< relref "cli#run" >}})
relies on the same step.
{{% /note %}}

{{% note %}}
To include a file as a script, use [tool.poetry.scripts]({{< relref "#scripts-1" >}}) instead.
{{% /note %}}

gui-scripts#

This section describes the GUI scripts that will be installed when installing the package.

[project.gui-scripts]
my_package_gui = 'my_package.gui:run'

Here, we will have the my_package_gui script installed which will execute the run function in the gui module in the my_package package.

{{% note %}}
When a script is added or updated, run poetry install to make them available in the project's virtualenv.
{{% /note %}}

entry-points#

Entry points can be used to define plugins for your package.

Poetry supports arbitrary plugins, which are exposed as the ecosystem-standard
entry points
and discoverable using importlib.metadata.
This is similar to (and compatible with) the entry points feature of setuptools.
The syntax for registering a plugin is:

[project.entry-points] # Optional super table

[project.entry-points."A"]
B = "C:D"

Which are:

• A - type of the plugin, for example poetry.plugin or flake8.extension
• B - name of the plugin
• C - python module import path
• D - the entry point of the plugin (a function or class)

Example (from poetry-plugin-export):

[project.entry-points."poetry.application.plugin"]
export = "poetry_plugin_export.plugins:ExportApplicationPlugin"

dependencies#

The dependencies of the project.

[project]
# ...
dependencies = [
    "requests>=2.13.0",
]

These are the dependencies that will be declared when building an sdist or a wheel.

See [Dependency specification]({{< relref "dependency-specification" >}}) for more information
about the relation between project.dependencies and tool.poetry.dependencies.

optional-dependencies#

The optional dependencies of the project (also known as extras).

[project.optional-dependencies]
mysql = [ "mysqlclient>=1.3,<2.0" ]
pgsql = [ "psycopg2>=2.9,<3.0" ]
databases = [ "mysqlclient>=1.3,<2.0", "psycopg2>=2.9,<3.0" ]

{{% note %}}

You can enrich optional dependencies for locking in the tool.poetry section
analogous to dependencies.

{{% /note %}}

The tool.poetry section#

The tool.poetry section of the pyproject.toml file is composed of multiple sections.

package-mode#

Whether Poetry operates in package mode (default) or not.

See [basic usage]({{< relref "basic-usage#operating-modes" >}}) for more information.

[tool.poetry]
# ...
package-mode = false

name#

Deprecated: Use project.name instead.

The name of the package. Required in package mode if not defined in the project section

This should be a valid name as defined by PEP 508.

[tool.poetry]
name = "my-package"

version#

{{% note %}}
If you do not want to set the version dynamically via poetry build --local-version
and you are not using a plugin, which sets the version dynamically,
prefer project.version over this setting.
{{% /note %}}

The version of the package. Required in package mode if not defined in the project section

This should be a valid PEP 440 string.

[tool.poetry]
# ...
version = "0.1.0"

{{% note %}}

If you would like to use semantic versioning for your project, please see
[here]({{< relref "libraries#versioning" >}}).

{{% /note %}}

description#

Deprecated: Use project.description instead.

A short description of the package.

[tool.poetry]
# ...
description = "A short description of the package."

license#

Deprecated: Use project.license instead.

The license of the package.

The recommended notation for the most common licenses is (alphabetical):

• Apache-2.0
• BSD-2-Clause
• BSD-3-Clause
• BSD-4-Clause
• GPL-2.0-only
• GPL-2.0-or-later
• GPL-3.0-only
• GPL-3.0-or-later
• LGPL-2.1-only
• LGPL-2.1-or-later
• LGPL-3.0-only
• LGPL-3.0-or-later
• MIT

Optional, but it is highly recommended to supply this.
More identifiers are listed at the SPDX Open Source License Registry.

[tool.poetry]
# ...
license = "MIT"

authors#

Deprecated: Use project.authors instead.

The authors of the package.

This is a list of authors and should contain at least one author. Authors must be in the form name <email>.

[tool.poetry]
# ...
authors = [
    "Sébastien Eustace <sebastien@eustace.io>",
]

maintainers#

Deprecated: Use project.maintainers instead.

The maintainers of the package.

This is a list of maintainers and should be distinct from authors. Maintainers may contain an email and be in the form name <email>.

[tool.poetry]
# ...
maintainers = [
    "John Smith <johnsmith@example.org>",
    "Jane Smith <janesmith@example.org>",
]

readme#

{{% note %}}
If you do not want to set multiple README files, prefer project.readme over this setting.
{{% /note %}}

A path, or list of paths corresponding to the README file(s) of the package.

The file(s) can be of any format, but if you intend to publish to PyPI keep the
recommendations for a PyPI-friendly README in
mind. README paths are implicitly relative to pyproject.toml.

{{% note %}}
Whether paths are case-sensitive follows platform defaults, but it is recommended to keep cases.

To be specific, you can set readme = "rEaDmE.mD" for README.md on macOS and Windows, but Linux users can't poetry install after cloning your repo. This is because macOS and Windows are case-insensitive and case-preserving.
{{% /note %}}

The contents of the README file(s) are used to populate the Description
field
of your distribution's metadata (similar to long_description in setuptools).
When multiple files are specified they are concatenated with newlines.

[tool.poetry]
# ...
readme = "README.md"

[tool.poetry]
# ...
readme = ["docs/README1.md", "docs/README2.md"]

homepage#

Deprecated: Use project.urls instead.

A URL to the website of the project.

[tool.poetry]
# ...
homepage = "https://python-poetry.org/"

repository#

Deprecated: Use project.urls instead.

A URL to the repository of the project.

[tool.poetry]
# ...
repository = "https://github.com/python-poetry/poetry"

documentation#

Deprecated: Use project.urls instead.

A URL to the documentation of the project.

[tool.poetry]
# ...
documentation = "https://python-poetry.org/docs/"

keywords#

Deprecated: Use project.keywords instead.

A list of keywords that the package is related to.

[tool.poetry]
# ...
keywords = ["packaging", "poetry"]

classifiers#

A list of PyPI trove classifiers that describe the project.

[tool.poetry]
# ...
classifiers = [
    "Topic :: Software Development :: Build Tools",
    "Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python Modules"
]

{{% note %}}
Note that Python classifiers are automatically added for you
and are determined by your python requirement.

If you do not want Poetry to automatically add suitable classifiers
based on the python requirement, use project.classifiers instead of this setting.
{{% /note %}}

packages#

A list of packages and modules to include in the final distribution.

If packages are not automatically detected, you can specify the packages you want
to include in the final distribution.

{{% note %}}
Poetry automatically detects a single module or package whose name matches the
normalized
project name with - replaced with _.

The detected module or package must be located either:

• at the same level as the pyproject.toml file (flat layout), or
• inside a src/ directory (src layout).

{{% /note %}}

[tool.poetry]
# ...
packages = [
    { include = "my_package" },
    { include = "extra_package/**/*.py" },
]

If your package is stored inside a "lib" directory, you must specify it:

[tool.poetry]
# ...
packages = [
    { include = "my_package", from = "lib" },
]

The to parameter is designed to specify the relative destination path
where the package will be located upon installation. This allows for
greater control over the organization of packages within your project's structure.

[tool.poetry]
# ...
packages = [
    { include = "my_package", from = "lib", to = "target_package" },
]

If you want to restrict a package to a specific build format, you can specify
it by using format:

[tool.poetry]
# ...
packages = [
    { include = "my_package" },
    { include = "my_other_package", format = "sdist" },
]

From now on, only the sdist build archive will include the my_other_package package.

{{% note %}}
Using packages disables the package auto-detection feature meaning you have to
explicitly specify the "default" package.

For instance, if you have a package named my_package and you want to also include
another package named extra_package, you will need to specify my_package explicitly:

[tool.poetry]
# ...
packages = [
    { include = "my_package" },
    { include = "extra_package" },
]

{{% /note %}}

{{% note %}}
Poetry is clever enough to detect Python subpackages.

Thus, you only have to specify the directory where your root package resides.
{{% /note %}}

{{% warning %}}
If a VCS is being used, files matched by its ignore settings (for example, by
.gitignore for Git) are excluded from the built distributions even when their
parent directory is listed under packages. This can be surprising if a
packages entry points at generated code or another path that is intentionally
kept out of version control. To ship such files, add them back via
[include]({{< relref "#exclude-and-include" >}}) with an explicit format.
{{% /warning %}}

exclude and include#

{{% note %}}
If you just want to include a package or module, which is not picked up automatically,
use [packages]({{< relref "#packages" >}}) instead of include.
{{% /note %}}

A list of patterns that will be excluded or included in the final package.

[tool.poetry]
# ...
exclude = ["my_package/excluded.py"]
include = ["CHANGELOG.md"]

You can explicitly specify to Poetry that a set of globs should be ignored or included for the purposes of packaging.
The globs specified in the exclude field identify a set of files that are not included when a package is built.
include has priority over exclude.

You can also specify the formats for which these patterns have to be included, as shown here:

[tool.poetry]
# ...
include = [
    { path = "tests", format = "sdist" },
    { path = "my_package/for_sdist_and_wheel.txt", format = ["sdist", "wheel"] }
]

If no format is specified, include defaults to only sdist.

In contrast, exclude defaults to both sdist and wheel.

{{% warning %}}
When a wheel is installed, its includes are unpacked straight into the site-packages directory.
Pay attention to include top level files and directories with common names like
CHANGELOG.md, LICENSE, tests or docs only in sdists and not in wheels.
{{% /warning %}}

If a VCS is being used for a package, the exclude field will be seeded with the VCS’ ignore settings (.gitignore for git, for example).

{{% note %}}
VCS ignore settings can be negated by adding entries in include; be sure to explicitly set the format as above.
{{% /note %}}

dependencies and dependency groups#

Poetry is configured to look for dependencies on PyPI by default.
Only the name and a version string are required in this case.

[tool.poetry.dependencies]
requests = "^2.13.0"

If you want to use a [private repository]({{< relref "repositories#using-a-private-repository" >}}),
you can add it to your pyproject.toml file, like so:

[[tool.poetry.source]]
name = "private"
url = "http://example.com/simple"

If you have multiple repositories configured, you can explicitly tell poetry where to look for a specific package:

[tool.poetry.dependencies]
requests = { version = "^2.13.0", source = "private" }

You may also specify your project's compatible python versions in this section, instead of or in addition to project.requires-python.

[tool.poetry.dependencies]
python = "^3.7"

{{% note %}}
If you specify the compatible python versions in both tool.poetry.dependencies and in project.requires-python, then Poetry will use the information in tool.poetry.dependencies for locking, but the python versions must be a subset of those allowed by project.requires-python.

For example, the following is invalid and will result in an error, because versions 4.0 and greater are allowed by tool.poetry.dependencies, but not by project.requires-python.

[project]
# ...
requires-python = ">=3.8,<4.0"

[tool.poetry.dependencies]
python = ">=3.8" # not valid!

{{% /note %}}

You can organize your dependencies in [groups]({{< relref "managing-dependencies#dependency-groups" >}})
to manage them in a more granular way.

[tool.poetry.group.test.dependencies]
pytest = "*"

[tool.poetry.group.docs.dependencies]
mkdocs = "*"

See [Dependency groups]({{< relref "managing-dependencies#dependency-groups" >}}) for a more in-depth look
at how to manage dependency groups and [Dependency specification]({{< relref "dependency-specification" >}})
for more information on other keys and specifying version ranges.

scripts#

{{% note %}}
Deprecated: Use [project.scripts]({{< relref "#scripts" >}}) instead for console and gui scripts. Use
[tool.poetry.scripts] only for scripts of type file.
{{% /note %}}

This section describes the scripts or executables that will be installed when installing the package

[tool.poetry.scripts]
my_package_cli = 'my_package.console:run'

Here, we will have the my_package_cli script installed which will execute the run function in the console module in the my_package package.

{{% note %}}
When a script is added or updated, run poetry install to make them available in the project's virtualenv.
{{% /note %}}

[tool.poetry.scripts]
my_executable = { reference = "some_binary.exe", type = "file" }

This tells Poetry to include the specified file, relative to your project directory, in distribution builds. It will then be copied to the appropriate installation directory for your operating system when your package is installed.

• On Windows the file is placed in the Scripts/ directory.
• On *nix system the file is placed in the bin/ directory.

In its table form, the value of each script can contain a reference and type. The supported types are
console and file. When the value is a string, it is inferred to be a console script.

extras#

Deprecated: Use project.optional-dependencies instead.

Poetry supports extras to allow expression of:

• optional dependencies, which enhance a package, but are not required; and
• clusters of optional dependencies.

[tool.poetry]
name = "awesome"

[tool.poetry.dependencies]
# These packages are mandatory and form the core of this package’s distribution.
mandatory = "^1.0"

# A list of all of the optional dependencies, some of which are included in the
# below `extras`. They can be opted into by apps.
psycopg2 = { version = "^2.9", optional = true }
mysqlclient = { version = "^1.3", optional = true }

[tool.poetry.extras]
mysql = ["mysqlclient"]
pgsql = ["psycopg2"]
databases = ["mysqlclient", "psycopg2"]

When installing packages with Poetry, you can specify extras by using the -E|--extras option:

poetry install --extras "mysql pgsql"
poetry install -E mysql -E pgsql

Any extras you don't specify will be removed. Note this behavior is different from
[optional dependency groups]({{< relref "managing-dependencies#optional-groups" >}}) not
selected for installation, e.g., those not specified via install --with.

You can install all extras with the --all-extras option:

poetry install --all-extras

{{% note %}}
Note that install --extras and the variations mentioned above (--all-extras, --extras foo, etc.) only work on dependencies defined in the current project. If you want to install extras defined by dependencies, you'll have to express that in the dependency itself:

[tool.poetry.dependencies]
pandas = {version="^2.2.1", extras=["computation", "performance"]}

[tool.poetry.group.dev.dependencies]
fastapi = {version="^0.92.0", extras=["all"]}

{{% /note %}}

When installing or specifying Poetry-built packages, the extras defined in this section can be activated
as described in PEP 508.

For example, when installing the package using pip, the dependencies required by
the databases extra can be installed as shown below.

pip install awesome[databases]

{{% note %}}
The dependencies specified for each extra must already be defined as project dependencies.

Dependencies listed in [dependency groups]({{< relref "managing-dependencies#dependency-groups" >}}) cannot be specified as extras.
{{% /note %}}

plugins#

Deprecated: Use project.entry-points instead.

Poetry supports arbitrary plugins, which are exposed as the ecosystem-standard entry points and discoverable using importlib.metadata. This is similar to (and compatible with) the entry points feature of setuptools.
The syntax for registering a plugin is:

[tool.poetry.plugins] # Optional super table

[tool.poetry.plugins."A"]
B = "C:D"

Which are:

• A - type of the plugin, for example poetry.plugin or flake8.extension
• B - name of the plugin
• C - python module import path
• D - the entry point of the plugin (a function or class)

Example (from poetry-plugin-export):

[tool.poetry.plugins."poetry.application.plugin"]
export = "poetry_plugin_export.plugins:ExportApplicationPlugin"

urls#

Deprecated: Use project.urls instead.

In addition to the basic urls (homepage, repository and documentation), you can specify
any custom url in the urls section.

[tool.poetry.urls]
"Bug Tracker" = "https://github.com/python-poetry/poetry/issues"

If you publish your package on PyPI, they will appear in the Project Links section.

requires-poetry#

A constraint for the Poetry version that is required for this project.
If you are using a Poetry version that is not allowed by this constraint,
an error will be raised.

[tool.poetry]
# ...
requires-poetry = ">=2.0"

requires-plugins#

In this section, you can specify that certain plugins are required for your project:

[tool.poetry.requires-plugins]
my-application-plugin = ">=1.0"
my-plugin = ">=1.0,<2.0"

See [Project plugins]({{< relref "plugins#project-plugins" >}}) for more information.

build-constraints#

In this section, you can specify additional constraints to apply when creating the build
environment for a dependency. This is useful if a package does not provide wheels
(or shall be built from source for other reasons)
and specifies too loose build requirements (without an upper bound)
and is not compatible with current versions of one of its build requirements.

For example, if your project depends on some-package, which only provides an sdist
and defines its build requirements as build-requires = ["setuptools"],
but is incompatible with setuptools >= 78, building the package will probably fail
because per default the latest setuptools will be chosen. In this case, you can
work around this issue of some-package as follows:

[tool.poetry.build-constraints]
some-package = { setuptools = "<78" }

The syntax for specifying constraints is the same as for specifying dependencies
in the tool.poetry section.

Poetry and PEP-517#

PEP-517 introduces a standard way
to define alternative build systems to build a Python project.

Poetry is compliant with PEP-517, by providing a lightweight core library,
so if you use Poetry to manage your Python project, you should reference
it in the build-system section of the pyproject.toml file like so:

[build-system]
requires = ["poetry-core>=1.0.0"]
build-backend = "poetry.core.masonry.api"

{{% note %}}
When using the new or init command this section will be automatically added.
{{% /note %}}

{{% note %}}
If your pyproject.toml file still references poetry directly as a build backend,
you should update it to reference poetry-core instead.
{{% /note %}}