Commands

Commands #

You’ve already learned how to use the command-line interface to do some things. This chapter documents all the available commands.

To get help from the command-line, simply call poetry to see the complete list of commands, then --help combined with any of those can give you more information.

Global options #

• --verbose (-v|vv|vvv): Increase the verbosity of messages: “-v” for normal output, “-vv” for more verbose output and “-vvv” for debug.
• --help (-h) : Display help information.
• --quiet (-q) : Do not output any message.
• --ansi: Force ANSI output.
• --no-ansi: Disable ANSI output.
• --version (-V): Display this application version.
• --no-interaction (-n): Do not ask any interactive question.
• --no-plugins: Disables plugins.
• --no-cache: Disables Poetry source caches.
• --directory=DIRECTORY (-C): The working directory for the Poetry command (defaults to the current working directory).

new #

This command will help you kickstart your new Python project by creating a directory structure suitable for most projects.

poetry new my-package

will create a folder as follows:

my-package
├── pyproject.toml
├── README.md
├── my_package
│   └── __init__.py
└── tests
    └── __init__.py

If you want to name your project differently than the folder, you can pass the --name option:

poetry new my-folder --name my-package

If you want to use a src folder, you can use the --src option:

poetry new --src my-package

That will create a folder structure as follows:

my-package
├── pyproject.toml
├── README.md
├── src
│   └── my_package
│       └── __init__.py
└── tests
    └── __init__.py

The --name option is smart enough to detect namespace packages and create the required structure for you.

poetry new --src --name my.package my-package

will create the following structure:

my-package
├── pyproject.toml
├── README.md
├── src
│   └── my
│       └── package
│           └── __init__.py
└── tests
    └── __init__.py

Options #

• --name: Set the resulting package name.
• --src: Use the src layout for the project.
• --readme: Specify the readme file extension. Default is md. If you intend to publish to PyPI keep the recommendations for a PyPI-friendly README in mind.

init #

This command will help you create a pyproject.toml file interactively by prompting you to provide basic information about your package.

It will interactively ask you to fill in the fields, while using some smart defaults.

poetry init

Options #

• --name: Name of the package.
• --description: Description of the package.
• --author: Author of the package.
• --python Compatible Python versions.
• --dependency: Package to require with a version constraint. Should be in format foo:1.0.0.
• --dev-dependency: Development requirements, see --dependency.

install #

The install command reads the pyproject.toml file from the current project, resolves the dependencies, and installs them.

poetry install

If there is a poetry.lock file in the current directory, it will use the exact versions from there instead of resolving them. This ensures that everyone using the library will get the same versions of the dependencies.

If there is no poetry.lock file, Poetry will create one after dependency resolution.

If you want to exclude one or more dependency groups for the installation, you can use the --without option.

poetry install --without test,docs

You can also select optional dependency groups with the --with option.

poetry install --with test,docs

It’s also possible to only install specific dependency groups by using the only option.

poetry install --only test,docs

To only install the project itself with no dependencies, use the --only-root flag.

poetry install --only-root

See Dependency groups for more information about dependency groups.

If you want to synchronize your environment – and ensure it matches the lock file – use the --sync option.

poetry install --sync

The --sync can be combined with group-related options:

poetry install --without dev --sync
poetry install --with docs --sync
poetry install --only dev

You can also specify the extras you want installed by passing the -E|--extras option (See Extras for more info). Pass --all-extras to install all defined extras for a project.

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

Extras are not sensitive to --sync. Any extras not specified will always be removed.

poetry install --extras "A B"  # C is removed

By default poetry will install your project’s package every time you run install:

$ poetry install
Installing dependencies from lock file

No dependencies to install or update

  - Installing <your-package-name> (x.x.x)

If you want to skip this installation, use the --no-root option.

poetry install --no-root

Similar to --no-root you can use --no-directory to skip directory path dependencies:

poetry install --no-directory

This is mainly useful for caching in CI or when building Docker images. See the FAQ entry for more information on this option.

By default poetry does not compile Python source files to bytecode during installation. This speeds up the installation process, but the first execution may take a little more time because Python then compiles source files to bytecode automatically. If you want to compile source files to bytecode during installation, you can use the --compile option:

poetry install --compile

Options #

• --without: The dependency groups to ignore.
• --with: The optional dependency groups to include.
• --only: The only dependency groups to include.
• --only-root: Install only the root project, exclude all dependencies.
• --sync: Synchronize the environment with the locked packages and the specified groups.
• --no-root: Do not install the root package (your project).
• --no-directory: Skip all directory path dependencies (including transitive ones).
• --dry-run: Output the operations but do not execute anything (implicitly enables –verbose).
• --extras (-E): Features to install (multiple values allowed).
• --all-extras: Install all extra features (conflicts with –extras).
• --compile: Compile Python source files to bytecode.
• --no-dev: Do not install dev dependencies. (Deprecated, use --without dev or --only main instead)
• --remove-untracked: Remove dependencies not presented in the lock file. (Deprecated, use --sync instead)

update #

In order to get the latest versions of the dependencies and to update the poetry.lock file, you should use the update command.

poetry update

This will resolve all dependencies of the project and write the exact versions into poetry.lock.

If you just want to update a few packages and not all, you can list them as such:

poetry update requests toml

Note that this will not update versions for dependencies outside their version constraints specified in the pyproject.toml file. In other terms, poetry update foo will be a no-op if the version constraint specified for foo is ~2.3 or 2.3 and 2.4 is available. In order for foo to be updated, you must update the constraint, for example ^2.3. You can do this using the add command.

Options #

• --without: The dependency groups to ignore.
• --with: The optional dependency groups to include.
• --only: The only dependency groups to include.
• --dry-run : Outputs the operations but will not execute anything (implicitly enables –verbose).
• --no-dev : Do not update the development dependencies. (Deprecated, use --without dev or --only main instead)
• --lock : Do not perform install (only update the lockfile).

add #

The add command adds required packages to your pyproject.toml and installs them.

If you do not specify a version constraint, poetry will choose a suitable one based on the available package versions.

poetry add requests pendulum

You can also specify a constraint when adding a package:

# Allow >=2.0.5, <3.0.0 versions
poetry add pendulum@^2.0.5

# Allow >=2.0.5, <2.1.0 versions
poetry add pendulum@~2.0.5

# Allow >=2.0.5 versions, without upper bound
poetry add "pendulum>=2.0.5"

# Allow only 2.0.5 version
poetry add pendulum==2.0.5

If you try to add a package that is already present, you will get an error. However, if you specify a constraint, like above, the dependency will be updated by using the specified constraint.

If you want to get the latest version of an already present dependency, you can use the special latest constraint:

poetry add pendulum@latest

You can also add git dependencies:

poetry add git+https://github.com/sdispater/pendulum.git

or use ssh instead of https:

poetry add git+ssh://git@github.com/sdispater/pendulum.git

# or alternatively:
poetry add git+ssh://git@github.com:sdispater/pendulum.git

If you need to checkout a specific branch, tag or revision, you can specify it when using add:

poetry add git+https://github.com/sdispater/pendulum.git#develop
poetry add git+https://github.com/sdispater/pendulum.git#2.0.5

# or using SSH instead:
poetry add git+ssh://github.com/sdispater/pendulum.git#develop
poetry add git+ssh://github.com/sdispater/pendulum.git#2.0.5

or reference a subdirectory:

poetry add git+https://github.com/myorg/mypackage_with_subdirs.git@main#subdirectory=subdir

You can also add a local directory or file:

poetry add ./my-package/
poetry add ../my-package/dist/my-package-0.1.0.tar.gz
poetry add ../my-package/dist/my_package-0.1.0.whl

If you want the dependency to be installed in editable mode you can use the --editable option.

poetry add --editable ./my-package/
poetry add --editable git+ssh://github.com/sdispater/pendulum.git#develop

Alternatively, you can specify it in the pyproject.toml file. It means that changes in the local directory will be reflected directly in environment.

[tool.poetry.dependencies]
my-package = {path = "../my/path", develop = true}

If the package(s) you want to install provide extras, you can specify them when adding the package:

poetry add "requests[security,socks]"
poetry add "requests[security,socks]~=2.22.0"
poetry add "git+https://github.com/pallets/flask.git@1.1.1[dotenv,dev]"

If you want to add a package to a specific group of dependencies, you can use the --group (-G) option:

poetry add mkdocs --group docs

See Dependency groups for more information about dependency groups.

Options #

• --group (-G): The group to add the dependency to.
• --dev (-D): Add package as development dependency. (Deprecated, use -G dev instead)
• --editable (-e): Add vcs/path dependencies as editable.
• --extras (-E): Extras to activate for the dependency. (multiple values allowed)
• --optional: Add as an optional dependency.
• --python: Python version for which the dependency must be installed.
• --platform: Platforms for which the dependency must be installed.
• --source: Name of the source to use to install the package.
• --allow-prereleases: Accept prereleases.
• --dry-run: Output the operations but do not execute anything (implicitly enables –verbose).
• --lock: Do not perform install (only update the lockfile).

remove #

The remove command removes a package from the current list of installed packages.

poetry remove pendulum

If you want to remove a package from a specific group of dependencies, you can use the --group (-G) option:

poetry remove mkdocs --group docs

See Dependency groups for more information about dependency groups.

Options #

• --group (-G): The group to remove the dependency from.
• --dev (-D): Removes a package from the development dependencies. (Deprecated, use -G dev instead)
• --dry-run : Outputs the operations but will not execute anything (implicitly enables –verbose).
• --lock: Do not perform operations (only update the lockfile).

show #

To list all the available packages, you can use the show command.

poetry show

If you want to see the details of a certain package, you can pass the package name.

poetry show pendulum

name        : pendulum
version     : 1.4.2
description : Python datetimes made easy

dependencies
 - python-dateutil >=2.6.1
 - tzlocal >=1.4
 - pytzdata >=2017.2.2

required by
 - calendar >=1.4.0

Options #

• --without: The dependency groups to ignore.
• --why: When showing the full list, or a --tree for a single package, display why a package is included.
• --with: The optional dependency groups to include.
• --only: The only dependency groups to include.
• --no-dev: Do not list the dev dependencies. (Deprecated, use --without dev or --only main instead)
• --tree: List the dependencies as a tree.
• --latest (-l): Show the latest version.
• --outdated (-o): Show the latest version but only for packages that are outdated.
• --all (-a): Show all packages (even those not compatible with current system).
• --top-level (-T): Only show explicitly defined packages.

build #

The build command builds the source and wheels archives.

poetry build

Note that, at the moment, only pure python wheels are supported.

Options #

• --format (-f): Limit the format to either wheel or sdist.

publish #

This command publishes the package, previously built with the build command, to the remote repository.

It will automatically register the package before uploading if this is the first time it is submitted.

poetry publish

It can also build the package if you pass it the --build option.

Options #

• --repository (-r): The repository to register the package to (default: pypi). Should match a repository name set by the config command.
• --username (-u): The username to access the repository.
• --password (-p): The password to access the repository.
• --cert: Certificate authority to access the repository.
• --client-cert: Client certificate to access the repository.
• --build: Build the package before publishing.
• --dry-run: Perform all actions except upload the package.
• --skip-existing: Ignore errors from files already existing in the repository.

config #

The config command allows you to edit poetry config settings and repositories.

poetry config --list

Usage #

poetry config [options] [setting-key] [setting-value1] ... [setting-valueN]

setting-key is a configuration option name and setting-value1 is a configuration value. See Configuration for all available settings.

Options #

• --unset: Remove the configuration element named by setting-key.
• --list: Show the list of current config variables.
• --local: Set/Get settings that are specific to a project (in the local configuration file poetry.toml).

run #

The run command executes the given command inside the project’s virtualenv.

poetry run python -V

It can also execute one of the scripts defined in pyproject.toml.

So, if you have a script defined like this:

[tool.poetry.scripts]
my-script = "my_module:main"

You can execute it like so:

poetry run my-script

Note that this command has no option.

shell #

The shell command spawns a shell, according to the $SHELL environment variable, within the virtual environment. If one doesn’t exist yet, it will be created.

poetry shell

Note that this command starts a new shell and activates the virtual environment.

As such, exit should be used to properly exit the shell and the virtual environment instead of deactivate.

check #

The check command validates the structure of the pyproject.toml file and returns a detailed report if there are any errors.

poetry check

search #

This command searches for packages on a remote index.

poetry search requests pendulum

lock #

This command locks (without installing) the dependencies specified in pyproject.toml.

poetry lock

Options #

• --check: Verify that poetry.lock is consistent with pyproject.toml
• --no-update: Do not update locked versions, only refresh lock file.

version #

This command shows the current version of the project or bumps the version of the project and writes the new version back to pyproject.toml if a valid bump rule is provided.

The new version should be a valid PEP 440 string or a valid bump rule: patch, minor, major, prepatch, preminor, premajor, prerelease.

The table below illustrates the effect of these rules with concrete examples.

Options #

• --short (-s): Output the version number only.
• --dry-run: Do not update pyproject.toml file.

export #

This command exports the lock file to other formats.

poetry export -f requirements.txt --output requirements.txt

Options #

• --format (-f): The format to export to (default: requirements.txt). Currently, only constraints.txt and requirements.txt are supported.
• --output (-o): The name of the output file. If omitted, print to standard output.
• --dev: Include development dependencies. (Deprecated, use --with dev instead)
• --extras (-E): Extra sets of dependencies to include.
• --without: The dependency groups to ignore.
• --with: The optional dependency groups to include.
• --only: The only dependency groups to include.
• --without-hashes: Exclude hashes from the exported file.
• --without-urls: Exclude source repository urls from the exported file.
• --with-credentials: Include credentials for extra indices.

env #

The env command regroups sub commands to interact with the virtualenvs associated with a specific project.

See Managing environments for more information about these commands.

cache #

The cache command regroups sub commands to interact with Poetry’s cache.

cache list #

The cache list command lists Poetry’s available caches.

poetry cache list

cache clear #

The cache clear command removes packages from a cached repository.

For example, to clear the whole cache of packages from the pypi repository, run:

poetry cache clear pypi --all

To only remove a specific package from a cache, you have to specify the cache entry in the following form cache:package:version:

poetry cache clear pypi:requests:2.24.0

source #

The source namespace regroups sub commands to manage repository sources for a Poetry project.

source add #

The source add command adds source configuration to the project.

For example, to add the pypi-test source, you can run:

poetry source add pypi-test https://test.pypi.org/simple/

You cannot use the name pypi for a custom repository as it is reserved for use by the default PyPI source. However, you can set the priority of PyPI:

poetry source add --priority=explicit pypi

Options #

• --default: Set this source as the default (disable PyPI). Deprecated in favor of --priority.
• --secondary: Set this source as a secondary source. Deprecated in favor of --priority.
• --priority: Set the priority of this source. Accepted values are: default, secondary, supplemental, and explicit. Refer to the dedicated sections in Repositories for more information.

source show #

The source show command displays information on all configured sources for the project.

poetry source show

Optionally, you can show information of one or more sources by specifying their names.

poetry source show pypi-test

source remove #

The source remove command removes a configured source from your pyproject.toml.

poetry source remove pypi-test

about #

The about command displays global information about Poetry, including the current version and version of poetry-core.

poetry about

help #

The help command displays global help, or help for a specific command.

To display global help:

poetry help

To display help for a specific command, for instance show:

poetry help show

poetry show --help

list #

The list command displays all the available Poetry commands.

poetry list

self #

The self namespace regroups sub commands to manage the Poetry installation itself.

self add #

The self add command installs Poetry plugins and make them available at runtime. Additionally, it can also be used to upgrade Poetry’s own dependencies or inject additional packages into the runtime environment

For example, to install the poetry-plugin-export plugin, you can run:

poetry self add poetry-plugin-export

To update to the latest poetry-core version, you can run:

poetry self add poetry-core@latest

To add a keyring provider artifacts-keyring, you can run:

poetry self add artifacts-keyring

Options #

• --editable (-e): Add vcs/path dependencies as editable.
• --extras (-E): Extras to activate for the dependency. (multiple values allowed)
• --allow-prereleases: Accept prereleases.
• --source: Name of the source to use to install the package.
• --dry-run: Output the operations but do not execute anything (implicitly enables –verbose).

self update #

The self update command updates Poetry version in its current runtime environment.

poetry self update

Options #

• --preview: Allow the installation of pre-release versions.
• --dry-run: Output the operations but do not execute anything (implicitly enables –verbose).

self lock #

The self lock command reads this Poetry installation’s system pyproject.toml file. The system dependencies are locked in the corresponding poetry.lock file.

poetry self lock

Options #

• --check: Verify that poetry.lock is consistent with pyproject.toml
• --no-update: Do not update locked versions, only refresh lock file.

self show #

The self show command behaves similar to the show command, but working within Poetry’s runtime environment. This lists all packages installed within the Poetry install environment.

To show only additional packages that have been added via self add and their dependencies use self show --addons.

poetry self show

Options #

• --addons: List only add-on packages installed.
• --tree: List the dependencies as a tree.
• --latest (-l): Show the latest version.
• --outdated (-o): Show the latest version but only for packages that are outdated.

self show plugins #

The self show plugins command lists all the currently installed plugins.

poetry self show plugins

self remove #

The self remove command removes an installed addon package.

poetry self remove poetry-plugin-export

Options #

• --dry-run: Outputs the operations but will not execute anything (implicitly enables –verbose).

self install #

The self install command ensures all additional packages specified are installed in the current runtime environment.

poetry self install --sync

Options #

• --sync: Synchronize the environment with the locked packages and the specified groups.
• --dry-run: Output the operations but do not execute anything (implicitly enables –verbose).