Pipfile: the replacement for requirements.txt

Pipfile and its sister Pipfile.lock are a replacement for the existing standard pip_'s requirements.txt file.

WARNING: This project is under active design and development. Nothing is set in stone at this point in time.

This repository contains the design specification of the Pipfile format, as well as (soon) an implementation of a parser for the specification which can be used by pip_ and any other consumer (e.g. Pipenv_), once the design (including the form of a Pipfile itself) has been built out and finalized.

.. _pip: https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/
.. _pipenv: http://pipenv.org

To use Pipfile today, try out Pipenv <http://pipenv.org>_. It contains the current reference implementation.

The Concept

Pipfile will be superior to requirements.txt file in a number of ways:

• TOML <https://github.com/toml-lang/toml>_ syntax for declaring all types of Python dependencies.

• One Pipfile (as opposed to multiple requirements.txt files).

• A Pipfile is inherently ordered.

• Existing requirements files tend to proliferate into multiple files - e.g. dev-requirements.txt, test-requirements.txt, etc. - but a Pipfile will allow seamlessly specifying groups of dependencies in one place.

  • This will be surfaced as only two built-in groups (default & development). (see note below)

• Fully specified (and deterministic) environments in the form of Pipfile.lock.
  A deployed application can then be completely redeployed with the same exact versions of all recursive dependencies, by referencing the Pipfile.lock file.

The concrete requirements for a Python Application would come from Pipfile. This would include where the packages should be fetched from and their loose version constraints.

The details of the environment (all installed packages with pinned versions and other details) would be stored in Pipfile.lock, for reproducibility. This file will be automatically generated and should not be modified by the user.

.. note:: Custom groups may be added in the future. Remember, it is easier to add features in the future than it is to remove them. The Composer community has been successful with only default and development as group options for many years. This model is being followed.

Examples (spec v6)

Here is a complex, comprehensive example Pipfile and the resulting Pipfile.lock, generated with Pipenv <http://pipenv.org>_, and this library:

Pipfile
+++++++++++

.. code-block:: toml

url = 'https://pypi.python.org/simple'
verify_ssl = true
name = 'pypi'

[requires]
python_version = '2.7'

[packages]
requests = { extras = ['socks'] }
records = '>0.5.0'
django = { git = 'https://github.com/django/django.git', ref = '1.11.4', editable = true }
"e682b37" = {file = "https://github.com/divio/django-cms/archive/release/3.4.x.zip"}
"e1839a8" = {path = ".", editable = true}
pywinusb = { version = "*", os_name = "=='nt'", index="pypi"}

[dev-packages]
nose = '*'
unittest2 = {version = ">=1.0,<3.0", markers="python_version < '2.7.9' or (python_version >= '3.0' and python_version < '3.4')"}

Notes:

• There will be a default source.

PEP 508 Support
+++++++++++++++++++

.. code-block:: toml

# Support for all PEP 508 markers
[requires]

python_full_version = '3.6.0b1'
platform = 'windows'

requires utilizes PEP 508_ marker = 'specifier' markers. This functionality may not be readily used, as it is only to assert (and therefore abort, if appropriate) installation on certain platforms (e.g. python version, platform version).

This functionality can currently be tested with $ pipenv check.

.. _PEP 508: https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0508/#environment-markers

Pipfile.lock
++++++++++++++++

.. code-block:: json

{
    "_meta": {
        "hash": {
            "sha256": "09da36fcc93fa9b94fbea5282d8206a9d2e13fcec27229ec62c16c134e3e760a"
        },
        "host-environment-markers": {
            "implementation_name": "cpython",
            "implementation_version": "0",
            "os_name": "posix",
            "platform_machine": "x86_64",
            "platform_python_implementation": "CPython",
            "platform_release": "17.0.0",
            "platform_system": "Darwin",
            "platform_version": "Darwin Kernel Version 17.0.0: Thu Aug 24 21:48:19 PDT 2017; root:xnu-4570.1.46~2/RELEASE_X86_64",
            "python_full_version": "2.7.14",
            "python_version": "2.7",
            "sys_platform": "darwin"
        },
        "pipfile-spec": 6,
        "requires": {
            "python_version": "2.7"
        },
        "sources": [
            {
                "name": "pypi",
                "url": "https://pypi.python.org/simple",
                "verify_ssl": true
            }
        ]
    },
    "default": {
        "certifi": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:54a07c09c586b0e4c619f02a5e94e36619da8e2b053e20f594348c0611803704",
                "sha256:40523d2efb60523e113b44602298f0960e900388cf3bb6043f645cf57ea9e3f5"
            ],
            "version": "==2017.7.27.1"
        },
        "chardet": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:fc323ffcaeaed0e0a02bf4d117757b98aed530d9ed4531e3e15460124c106691",
                "sha256:84ab92ed1c4d4f16916e05906b6b75a6c0fb5db821cc65e70cbd64a3e2a5eaae"
            ],
            "version": "==3.0.4"
        },
        "django": {
            "editable": true,
            "git": "https://github.com/django/django.git",
            "ref": "1.11.4"
        },
        "docopt": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:49b3a825280bd66b3aa83585ef59c4a8c82f2c8a522dbe754a8bc8d08c85c491"
            ],
            "version": "==0.6.2"
        },
        "e1839a8": {
            "editable": true,
            "path": "."
        },
        "e682b37": {
            "file": "https://github.com/divio/django-cms/archive/release/3.4.x.zip"
        },
        "et-xmlfile": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:614d9722d572f6246302c4491846d2c393c199cfa4edc9af593437691683335b"
            ],
            "version": "==1.0.1"
        },
        "idna": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:8c7309c718f94b3a625cb648ace320157ad16ff131ae0af362c9f21b80ef6ec4",
                "sha256:2c6a5de3089009e3da7c5dde64a141dbc8551d5b7f6cf4ed7c2568d0cc520a8f"
            ],
            "version": "==2.6"
        },
        "jdcal": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:b760160f8dc8cc51d17875c6b663fafe64be699e10ce34b6a95184b5aa0fdc9e"
            ],
            "version": "==1.3"
        },
        "lxml": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:3593f49858fc6229cd93326be06b099ae477fd65d8f4a981320a6d0bb7fc7a5a",
                "sha256:8996df6b0f205b00b89bbd04d88f1fa1e04139a025fd291aa4ddd05dc86836f4",
                "sha256:9f399c37b8e61c3989ef12ecf0abd9c10a5075f0fc9ad1ecd67ce6f9c72a7211",
                "sha256:550a51dee73c14e5863bdbbbe5836b2b8092a3f92631b5a908b9c41e72f123a5",
                "sha256:e37eda3d05519918403084b43eb7324df21a0daf45c8ae8172a860710dd0fa78",
                "sha256:48ab0e79175fd16f9478edc679ee14c79524c64b26f665f92cbecff81312d04d",
                "sha256:52e18dd86f153c4383bb4c4ef62f81f9b7e44809d068848a5a183b2285496faf",
                "sha256:0b8f3d6e669ea26849a6184f04c7802dbef6fd418a8b90e6c026e237db07af31",
                "sha256:567b76f291a8d02aa8b4d3f8295ae749ac4d532570d8a8c7176f0556c7d95891",
                "sha256:61825daaf2d80dc3da7635ee108720b0739962db008343822753bbf343cbfd14",
                "sha256:b7f6ef610680709be11cb7662e46e254bc561dafe0de3b4848be2cf3924bd300",
                "sha256:824664493a012f5b70396e841a4b4049bdaf445a70307e60f82fe35619f72cc7",
                "sha256:e908d685800626f10cd6ae01a013fc42094be167fb2a683eb920dfddfaa0ee76",
                "sha256:10c86b2248043f4428be33ed10202764b02b281eaa4550f16f0fbbc6ccaae9ac",
                "sha256:d9ec728caddb161405e7c33ed9d176e96309893481370163bbf4b00e43008795",
                "sha256:b2ecb3fd5470b740dfc21b064bbc1337be4b7b805994a868488145d36f35f517",
                "sha256:a211288459c9115ddb255ff88e8ac12dc2063e70bddc15e3c65136477a358bb5",
                "sha256:1f81074e77c25f9b787fa3854f400ca924d3d798cb7ae910c0e7920be7138c90",
                "sha256:99b7eabfb46663ed5918eca4ed12420613ba24196964a741ccd962d09296c0b2",
                "sha256:a8ad0adeedbbb7b85916214fcd4f5d02829d0e7b3c32abc298789218b6c3d699",
                "sha256:88d137e440b5de35df2e0616da8e28a88d0119abdaa84520ad1ba815ee9da732",
                "sha256:c4e02657e629f02ab8712471d77d6896c2cf6f09f8ffa6a0f23b1b1ef0318474",
                "sha256:9581b438e5d0d0a6fa3937fac2abffd95380bd513bcd39f6952bfcf20cf0b9a7",
                "sha256:c446fde3284c363cd2085ad1ce5a07c18f15f6766d72684622bc14b0a9ddfd29",
                "sha256:d4507916c408feec2ea8cee3f0d1380e49ea431f6e07b0dd927388bd6e92d6eb",
                "sha256:7030f44b758e930fd09ade87d770f5a231a19a8c561a3acc54e5122b5ec09e29",
                "sha256:d78c0a114cf127a41a526aef99aef539c0b2537e57f04a2cc7a49e2c94a44ab8",
                "sha256:f7bc9f702500e205b1560d620f14015fec76dcd6f9e889a946a2ddcc3c344fd0"
            ],
            "version": "==4.0.0"
        },
        "odfpy": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:6db9bb1c9ea2d55d60e508a1318fd285442a8342b785704ea08598a260875a83",
                "sha256:6f8163f8464868cff9421a058f25566e41d73c8f7e849c021b86630941b44366"
            ],
            "version": "==1.3.5"
        },
        "openpyxl": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:ee7551efb70648fa8ee569c2b6a6dbbeff390cc94b321da5d508a573b90a4f17"
            ],
            "version": "==2.4.8"
        },
        "pysocks": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:18842328a4e6061f084cfba70f6950d9140ecf7418b3df7cef558ebb217bac8d",
                "sha256:d00329f27efa157db7efe3ca26fcd69033cd61f83822461ee3f8a353b48e33cf"
            ],
            "version": "==1.6.7"
        },
        "pytz": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:c883c2d6670042c7bc1688645cac73dd2b03193d1f7a6847b6154e96890be06d",
                "sha256:03c9962afe00e503e2d96abab4e8998a0f84d4230fa57afe1e0528473698cdd9",
                "sha256:487e7d50710661116325747a9cd1744d3323f8e49748e287bc9e659060ec6bf9",
                "sha256:43f52d4c6a0be301d53ebd867de05e2926c35728b3260157d274635a0a947f1c",
                "sha256:d1d6729c85acea5423671382868627129432fba9a89ecbb248d8d1c7a9f01c67",
                "sha256:54a935085f7bf101f86b2aff75bd9672b435f51c3339db2ff616e66845f2b8f9",
                "sha256:39504670abb5dae77f56f8eb63823937ce727d7cdd0088e6909e6dcac0f89043",
                "sha256:ddc93b6d41cfb81266a27d23a79e13805d4a5521032b512643af8729041a81b4",
                "sha256:f5c056e8f62d45ba8215e5cb8f50dfccb198b4b9fbea8500674f3443e4689589"
            ],
            "version": "==2017.2"
        },
        "pywinusb": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:e2f5e89f7b74239ca4843721a9bda0fc99014750630c189a176ec0e1b35e86df"
            ],
            "index": "pypi",
            "markers": "os_name == 'nt'",
            "version": "==0.4.2"
        },
        "pyyaml": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:3262c96a1ca437e7e4763e2843746588a965426550f3797a79fca9c6199c431f",
                "sha256:16b20e970597e051997d90dc2cddc713a2876c47e3d92d59ee198700c5427736",
                "sha256:e863072cdf4c72eebf179342c94e6989c67185842d9997960b3e69290b2fa269",
                "sha256:bc6bced57f826ca7cb5125a10b23fd0f2fff3b7c4701d64c439a300ce665fff8",
                "sha256:c01b880ec30b5a6e6aa67b09a2fe3fb30473008c85cd6a67359a1b15ed6d83a4",
                "sha256:827dc04b8fa7d07c44de11fabbc888e627fa8293b695e0f99cb544fdfa1bf0d1",
                "sha256:592766c6303207a20efc445587778322d7f73b161bd994f227adaa341ba212ab",
                "sha256:5f84523c076ad14ff5e6c037fe1c89a7f73a3e04cf0377cb4d017014976433f3",
                "sha256:0c507b7f74b3d2dd4d1322ec8a94794927305ab4cebbe89cc47fe5e81541e6e8",
                "sha256:b4c423ab23291d3945ac61346feeb9a0dc4184999ede5e7c43e1ffb975130ae6",
                "sha256:ca233c64c6e40eaa6c66ef97058cdc80e8d0157a443655baa1b2966e812807ca",
                "sha256:4474f8ea030b5127225b8894d626bb66c01cda098d47a2b0d3429b6700af9fd8",
                "sha256:326420cbb492172dec84b0f65c80942de6cedb5233c413dd824483989c000608",
                "sha256:5ac82e411044fb129bae5cfbeb3ba626acb2af31a8d17d175004b70862a741a7"
            ],
            "version": "==3.12"
        },
        "records": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:6d060a2b44ecc198d4e86efd5dab8558a2581b4019970bd8839e1604a243f57e",
                "sha256:238cba35e8efbb724493bbb195bd027d9e78db4a978597969a7af0f722ac3686"
            ],
            "version": "==0.5.2"
        },
        "requests": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:6a1b267aa90cac58ac3a765d067950e7dbbf75b1da07e895d1f594193a40a38b",
                "sha256:9c443e7324ba5b85070c4a818ade28bfabedf16ea10206da1132edaa6dda237e"
            ],
            "version": "==2.18.4"
        },
        "sqlalchemy": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:f1191e29e35b6fe1aef7175a09b1707ebb7bd08d0b17cb0feada76c49e5a2d1e"
            ],
            "version": "==1.1.14"
        },
        "tablib": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:b8cf50a61d66655229993f2ee29220553fb2c80403479f8e6de77c0c24649d87"
            ],
            "version": "==0.12.1"
        },
        "unicodecsv": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:018c08037d48649a0412063ff4eda26eaa81eff1546dbffa51fa5293276ff7fc"
            ],
            "version": "==0.14.1"
        },
        "urllib3": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:06330f386d6e4b195fbfc736b297f58c5a892e4440e54d294d7004e3a9bbea1b",
                "sha256:cc44da8e1145637334317feebd728bd869a35285b93cbb4cca2577da7e62db4f"
            ],
            "version": "==1.22"
        },
        "xlrd": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:83a1d2f1091078fb3f65876753b5302c5cfb6a41de64b9587b74cefa75157148",
                "sha256:8a21885513e6d915fe33a8ee5fdfa675433b61405ba13e2a69e62ee36828d7e2"
            ],
            "version": "==1.1.0"
        },
        "xlwt": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:a082260524678ba48a297d922cc385f58278b8aa68741596a87de01a9c628b2e",
                "sha256:c59912717a9b28f1a3c2a98fd60741014b06b043936dcecbc113eaaada156c88"
            ],
            "version": "==1.3.0"
        }
    },
    "develop": {
        "argparse": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:c31647edb69fd3d465a847ea3157d37bed1f95f19760b11a47aa91c04b666314",
                "sha256:62b089a55be1d8949cd2bc7e0df0bddb9e028faefc8c32038cc84862aefdd6e4"
            ],
            "version": "==1.4.0"
        },
        "linecache2": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:e78be9c0a0dfcbac712fe04fbf92b96cddae80b1b842f24248214c8496f006ef",
                "sha256:4b26ff4e7110db76eeb6f5a7b64a82623839d595c2038eeda662f2a2db78e97c"
            ],
            "version": "==1.0.0"
        },
        "nose": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:dadcddc0aefbf99eea214e0f1232b94f2fa9bd98fa8353711dacb112bfcbbb2a",
                "sha256:9ff7c6cc443f8c51994b34a667bbcf45afd6d945be7477b52e97516fd17c53ac",
                "sha256:f1bffef9cbc82628f6e7d7b40d7e255aefaa1adb6a1b1d26c69a8b79e6208a98"
            ],
            "version": "==1.3.7"
        },
        "six": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:832dc0e10feb1aa2c68dcc57dbb658f1c7e65b9b61af69048abc87a2db00a0eb",
                "sha256:70e8a77beed4562e7f14fe23a786b54f6296e34344c23bc42f07b15018ff98e9"
            ],
            "version": "==1.11.0"
        },
        "traceback2": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:8253cebec4b19094d67cc5ed5af99bf1dba1285292226e98a31929f87a5d6b23",
                "sha256:05acc67a09980c2ecfedd3423f7ae0104839eccb55fc645773e1caa0951c3030"
            ],
            "version": "==1.4.0"
        },
        "unittest2": {
            "hashes": [
                "sha256:13f77d0875db6d9b435e1d4f41e74ad4cc2eb6e1d5c824996092b3430f088bb8",
                "sha256:22882a0e418c284e1f718a822b3b022944d53d2d908e1690b319a9d3eb2c0579"
            ],
            "markers": "python_version < '2.7.9' or (python_version >= '3.0' and python_version < '3.4')",
            "version": "==1.1.0"
        }
    }
}

This example <https://github.com/pypa/pipfile/tree/master/examples>_ was generated with $ pipenv lock.

Pipfile.lock is always to be generated and is not to be modified or constructed by a user.

Do note how the versions of each dependency are recursively frozen and a hash gets computed so that you can take advantage of new pip security features_.

Hashes are optional, because they can cause problems when using the same lockfile across different Python versions (e.g. a package will have different hashes according to different Pythons).

.. _new pip security features: https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/reference/pip_install/#hash-checking-mode

Pip Integration (eventual)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++

pip_ will grow a new command line option, -p / --pipfile to install the versions as specified in a Pipfile, similar to its existing -r / --requirement argument for installing requirements.txt files.

Install packages from Pipfile::

$ pip install -p
! Warning: Pipfile.lock (48d35f) is out of date. Updating to (73d81f).
Installing packages from requirements.piplock...
[installation output]

To manually update the Pipfile.lock::

$ pip freeze -p different_pipfile
different_pipfile.lock (73d81f) written to disk.

Notes::

# -p accepts a path argument, which defaults to 'Pipfile'.
# Pipfile.lock will be written automatically during `install -p` if it does not exist.

Ideas::

• Recursively look for Pipfile in parent directories (limit 3/4?) when -p is bare.

Useful Links

• Pipenv_: Current reference implementation
• pypa/pip#1795_: Requirements 2.0
• Basic Concept Gist_ (fork of @dstufft's)

.. _Pipenv: http://pipenv.org
.. _Basic Concept Gist: https://gist.github.com/kennethreitz/4745d35e57108f5b766b8f6ff396de85
.. _pypa/pip#1795: https://github.com/pypa/pip/issues/1795

Inspirations
++++++++++++

• nvie/pip-tools_: A set of tools to keep your pinned Python dependencies fresh.
• A Better Pip Workflow_ by Kenneth Reitz
• Lessons learned from Composer, Cargo, Yarn, NPM, Bundler and all Languages Owners at Heroku.

.. _nvie/pip-tools: https://github.com/nvie/pip-tools
.. _A Better Pip Workflow: https://www.kennethreitz.org/essays/a-better-pip-workflow

Documentation

The documentation_ for this project will, eventually, reside at pypi.org.

.. _documentation: https://pipfile.pypa.io/

Discussion

If you run into bugs, you can file them in our issue tracker_. You can also join #pypa on Freenode to ask questions or get involved.

.. _issue tracker: https://github.com/pypa/pipfile/issues

Code of Conduct

Everyone interacting in the pipfile project's codebases, issue trackers, chat rooms and mailing lists is expected to follow the PyPA Code of Conduct_.

.. _PyPA Code of Conduct: https://www.pypa.io/en/latest/code-of-conduct/