uv/docs/concepts/dependencies.md

Specifying dependencies

In uv, project dependencies are declared across two pyproject.toml tables: project.dependencies and tool.uv.sources.

project.dependencies defines the standards-compliant dependency metadata, propagated when uploading to PyPI or building a wheel.

tool.uv.sources enriches the dependency metadata with additional sources, incorporated during development. A dependency source can be a Git repository, a URL, a local path, or an alternative registry.

tool.uv.sources enables uv to support common patterns like editable installations and relative paths that are not supported by the project.dependencies standard. For example:

[project]
name = "albatross"
version = "0.1.0"
dependencies = [
  "bird-feeder",
]

[tool.uv.sources]
bird-feeder = { path = "./packages/bird-feeder" }

Project dependencies

The project.dependencies table represents the dependencies that are used when uploading to PyPI or building a wheel. Individual dependencies are specified using dependency specifiers syntax, and the table follows the PEP 621 standard.

project.dependencies defines the list of packages that are required for the project, along with the version constraints that should be used when installing them. Each entry includes a dependency name and version. An entry may include extras or environment markers for platform-specific packages. For example:

[project]
name = "albatross"
version = "0.1.0"
dependencies = [
  # Any version in this range
  "tqdm >=4.66.2,<5",
  # Exactly this version of torch
  "torch ==2.2.2",
  # Install transformers with the torch extra
  "transformers[torch] >=4.39.3,<5",
  # Only install this package on older python versions
  # See "Environment Markers" for more information
  "importlib_metadata >=7.1.0,<8; python_version < '3.10'",
  "mollymawk ==0.1.0"
]

If the project only requires packages from standard package indexes, then project.dependencies is sufficient. If the project depends on packages from Git, remote URLs, or local sources, tool.uv.sources can be used to enrich the dependency metadata without ejecting from the standards-compliant project.dependencies table.

!!! tip

See the [projects](./projects.md#managing-dependencies) documentation to add, remove, or update
dependencies from the `pyproject.toml` from the CLI.

Dependency sources

During development, a project may rely on a package that isn't available on PyPI. The following additional sources are supported by uv:

• Index: A package resolved from a specific package index.
• Git: A Git repository.
• URL: A remote wheel or source distribution.
• Path: A local wheel, source distribution, or project directory.
• Workspace: A member of the current workspace.

Note that if a non-uv project uses a project with sources as a Git- or path-dependency, only project.dependencies and project.optional-dependencies are respected. Any information provided in the source table will need to be re-specified in a format specific to the other package manager.

To instruct uv to ignore the tool.uv.sources table (e.g., to simulate resolving with the package's published metadata), use the --no-sources flag:

$ uv lock --no-sources

The use of --no-sources will also prevent uv from discovering any workspace members that could satisfy a given dependency.

Index

To pin a Python package to a specific index, add a named index to the pyproject.toml:

[project]
dependencies = [
  "torch",
]

[tool.uv.sources]
torch = { index = "pytorch" }

[[tool.uv.index]]
name = "pytorch"
url = "https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu"
explicit = true

The explicit flag is optional and indicates that the index should only be used for packages that explicitly specify it in tool.uv.sources. If explicit is not set, other packages may be resolved from the index, if not found elsewhere.

Git

To add a Git dependency source, prefix a Git-compatible URL to clone with git+.

For example:

$ uv add git+https://github.com/encode/httpx

Will result in a pyproject.toml with:

[project]
dependencies = [
    "httpx",
]

[tool.uv.sources]
httpx = { git = "https://github.com/encode/httpx" }

A revision (i.e., commit), tag, or branch may also be included:

$ uv add git+https://github.com/encode/httpx --tag 0.27.0
$ uv add git+https://github.com/encode/httpx --branch master
$ uv add git+https://github.com/encode/httpx --rev 326b9431c761e1ef1e00b9f760d1f654c8db48c6

Git dependencies can also be manually added or edited in the pyproject.toml with the { git = <url> } syntax. A target revision may be specified with one of: rev (i.e., commit), tag, or branch.

=== "tag"

```toml title="pyproject.toml"
[project]
dependencies = [
    "httpx",
]

[tool.uv.sources]
httpx = { git = "https://github.com/encode/httpx", tag = "0.27.0" }
```

=== "branch"

```toml title="pyproject.toml"
[project]
dependencies = [
    "httpx",
]

[tool.uv.sources]
httpx = { git = "https://github.com/encode/httpx", branch = "main" }
```

=== "rev"

```toml title="pyproject.toml"
[project]
dependencies = [
    "httpx",
]

[tool.uv.sources]
httpx = { git = "https://github.com/encode/httpx", rev = "326b9431c761e1ef1e00b9f760d1f654c8db48c6" }
```

A subdirectory may be specified if the package isn't in the repository root.

URL

To add a URL source, provide a https:// URL to either a wheel (ending in .whl) or a source distribution (typically ending in .tar.gz or .zip; see here for all supported formats).

For example:

$ uv add "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/5c/2d/3da5bdf4408b8b2800061c339f240c1802f2e82d55e50bd39c5a881f47f0/httpx-0.27.0.tar.gz"

Will result in a pyproject.toml with:

[project]
dependencies = [
    "httpx",
]

[tool.uv.sources]
httpx = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/5c/2d/3da5bdf4408b8b2800061c339f240c1802f2e82d55e50bd39c5a881f47f0/httpx-0.27.0.tar.gz" }

URL dependencies can also be manually added or edited in the pyproject.toml with the { url = <url> } syntax. A subdirectory may be specified if the source distribution isn't in the archive root.

Path

To add a path source, provide the path of a wheel (ending in .whl), a source distribution (typically ending in .tar.gz or .zip; see here for all supported formats), or a directory containing a pyproject.toml.

For example:

$ uv add /example/foo-0.1.0-py3-none-any.whl

Will result in a pyproject.toml with:

[project]
dependencies = [
    "foo",
]

[tool.uv.sources]
foo = { path = "/example/foo-0.1.0-py3-none-any.whl" }

The path may also be a relative path:

$ uv add ./foo-0.1.0-py3-none-any.whl

Or, a path to a project directory:

$ uv add ~/projects/bar/

!!! important

An [editable installation](#editable-dependencies) is not used for path dependencies by
default. An editable installation may be requested for project directories:

```console
$ uv add --editable ~/projects/bar/
```

For multiple packages in the same repository, [_workspaces_](./workspaces.md) may be a better
fit.

Workspace member

To declare a dependency on a workspace member, add the member name with { workspace = true }. All workspace members must be explicitly stated. Workspace members are always editable . See the workspace documentation for more details on workspaces.

[project]
dependencies = [
  "mollymawk ==0.1.0"
]

[tool.uv.sources]
mollymawk = { workspace = true }

[tool.uv.workspace]
members = [
  "packages/mollymawk"
]

Platform-specific sources

You can limit a source to a given platform or Python version by providing dependency specifiers-compatible environment markers for the source.

For example, to pull httpx from GitHub, but only on macOS, use the following:

[project]
dependencies = [
  "httpx",
]

[tool.uv.sources]
httpx = { git = "https://github.com/encode/httpx", tag = "0.27.2", marker = "sys_platform == 'darwin'" }

By specifying the marker on the source, uv will still include httpx on all platforms, but will download the source from GitHub on macOS, and fall back to PyPI on all other platforms.

Multiple sources

You can specify multiple sources for a single dependency by providing a list of sources, disambiguated by PEP 508-compatible environment markers.

For example, to pull in different httpx commits on macOS vs. Linux:

[project]
dependencies = [
  "httpx",
]

[tool.uv.sources]
httpx = [
  { git = "https://github.com/encode/httpx", tag = "0.27.2", marker = "sys_platform == 'darwin'" },
  { git = "https://github.com/encode/httpx", tag = "0.24.1", marker = "sys_platform == 'linux'" },
]

This strategy even extends to pulling packages from different indexes based on environment markers. For example, to pull torch from different PyTorch indexes based on the platform:

[project]
dependencies = ["torch"]

[tool.uv.sources]
torch = [
  { index = "torch-cu118", marker = "sys_platform == 'darwin'"},
  { index = "torch-cu124", marker = "sys_platform != 'darwin'"},
]

[[tool.uv.index]]
name = "torch-cu118"
url = "https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cu118"

[[tool.uv.index]]
name = "torch-cu124"
url = "https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cu124"

Optional dependencies

It is common for projects that are published as libraries to make some features optional to reduce the default dependency tree. For example, Pandas has an excel extra and a plot extra to avoid installation of Excel parsers and matplotlib unless someone explicitly requires them. Extras are requested with the package[<extra>] syntax, e.g., pandas[plot, excel].

Optional dependencies are specified in [project.optional-dependencies], a TOML table that maps from extra name to its dependencies, following dependency specifiers syntax.

Optional dependencies can have entries in tool.uv.sources the same as normal dependencies.

[project]
name = "pandas"
version = "1.0.0"

[project.optional-dependencies]
plot = [
  "matplotlib>=3.6.3"
]
excel = [
  "odfpy>=1.4.1",
  "openpyxl>=3.1.0",
  "python-calamine>=0.1.7",
  "pyxlsb>=1.0.10",
  "xlrd>=2.0.1",
  "xlsxwriter>=3.0.5"
]

To add an optional dependency, use the --optional <extra> option:

$ uv add httpx --optional network

Development dependencies

Unlike optional dependencies, development dependencies are local-only and will not be included in the project requirements when published to PyPI or other indexes. As such, development dependencies are not included in the [project] table.

Development dependencies can have entries in tool.uv.sources the same as normal dependencies.

To add a development dependency, use the --dev flag:

$ uv add --dev pytest

uv uses the [dependency-groups] table (as defined in PEP 735) for declaration of development dependencies. The above command will create a dev group:

[dependency-groups]
dev = [
  "pytest >=8.1.1,<9"
]

The dev group is special-cased; there are --dev, --only-dev, and --no-dev flags to toggle inclusion or exclusion of its dependencies. Additionally, the dev group is synced by default.

Dependency groups

Development dependencies can be divided into multiple groups, using the --group flag.

For example, to add a development dependency in the lint group:

$ uv add --group lint ruff

Which results in the following [dependency-groups] definition:

[dependency-groups]
dev = [
  "pytest"
]
lint = [
  "ruff"
]

Once groups are defined, the --group, --only-group, and --no-group options can be used to include or exclude their dependencies.

!!! tip

The `--dev`, `--only-dev`, and `--no-dev` flags are equivalent to `--group dev`,
`--only-group dev`, and `--no-group dev` respectively.

uv requires that all dependency groups are compatible with each other and resolves all groups together when creating the lockfile.

If dependencies declared in one group are not compatible with those in another group, uv will fail to resolve the requirements of the project with an error.

!!! note

There is currently no way to declare conflicting dependency groups. See
[astral.sh/uv#6981](https://github.com/astral-sh/uv/issues/6981) to track support.

Default groups

By default, uv includes the dev dependency group in the environment (e.g., during uv run or uv sync). The default groups to include can be changed using the tool.uv.default-groups setting.

[tool.uv]
default-groups = ["dev", "foo"]

!!! tip

To exclude a default group during `uv run` or `uv sync`, use `--no-group <name>`.

Legacy dev-dependencies

Before [dependency-groups] was standardized, uv used the tool.uv.dev-dependencies field to specify development dependencies, e.g.:

[tool.uv]
dev-dependencies = [
  "pytest"
]

Dependencies declared in this section will be combined with the contents in the dependency-groups.dev. Eventually, the dev-dependencies field will be deprecated and removed.

!!! note

If a `tool.uv.dev-dependencies` field exists, `uv add --dev` will use the existing section
instead of adding a new `dependency-groups.dev` section.

Build dependencies

If a project is structured as Python package, it may declare dependencies that are required to build the project, but not required to run it. These dependencies are specified in the [build-system] table under build-system.requires, following PEP 518.

For example, if a project uses setuptools as its build backend, it should declare setuptools as a build dependency:

[project]
name = "pandas"
version = "0.1.0"

[build-system]
requires = ["setuptools>=42"]
build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"

By default, uv will respect tool.uv.sources when resolving build dependencies. For example, to use a local version of setuptools for building, add the source to tool.uv.sources:

[project]
name = "pandas"
version = "0.1.0"

[build-system]
requires = ["setuptools>=42"]
build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"

[tool.uv.sources]
setuptools = { path = "./packages/setuptools" }

When publishing a package, we recommend running uv build --no-sources to ensure that the package builds correctly when tool.uv.sources is disabled, as is the case when using other build tools, like pypa/build.

Editable dependencies

A regular installation of a directory with a Python package first builds a wheel and then installs that wheel into your virtual environment, copying all source files. When the package source files are edited, the virtual environment will contain outdated versions.

Editable installations solve this problem by adding a link to the project within the virtual environment (a .pth file), which instructs the interpreter to include the source files directly.

There are some limitations to editables (mainly: the build backend needs to support them, and native modules aren't recompiled before import), but they are useful for development, as the virtual environment will always use the latest changes to the package.

uv uses editable installation for workspace packages by default.

To add an editable dependency, use the --editable flag:

$ uv add --editable ./path/foo

Or, to opt-out of using an editable dependency in a workspace:

$ uv add --no-editable ./path/foo

Dependency specifiers (PEP 508)

uv uses dependency specifiers, previously known as PEP 508. A dependency specifier is composed of, in order:

• The dependency name
• The extras you want (optional)
• The version specifier
• An environment marker (optional)

The version specifiers are comma separated and added together, e.g., foo >=1.2.3,<2,!=1.4.0 is interpreted as "a version of foo that's at least 1.2.3, but less than 2, and not 1.4.0".

Specifiers are padded with trailing zeros if required, so foo ==2 matches foo 2.0.0, too.

A star can be used for the last digit with equals, e.g. foo ==2.1.* will accept any release from the 2.1 series. Similarly, ~= matches where the last digit is equal or higher, e.g., foo ~=1.2 is equal to foo >=1.2,<2, and foo ~=1.2.3 is equal to foo >=1.2.3,<1.3.

Extras are comma-separated in square bracket between name and version, e.g., pandas[excel,plot] ==2.2. Whitespace between extra names is ignored.

Some dependencies are only required in specific environments, e.g., a specific Python version or operating system. For example to install the importlib-metadata backport for the importlib.metadata module, use importlib-metadata >=7.1.0,<8; python_version < '3.10'. To install colorama on Windows (but omit it on other platforms), use colorama >=0.4.6,<5; platform_system == "Windows".

Markers are combined with and, or, and parentheses, e.g., aiohttp >=3.7.4,<4; (sys_platform != 'win32' or implementation_name != 'pypy') and python_version >= '3.10'. Note that versions within markers must be quoted, while versions outside of markers must not be quoted.