PIP-DOWNLOAD(1)

📦 version 23.2.1, in centos-stream 9

💅 pip-download — the manual, but make it a group chat ✨

okay bestie, so this is pip-download(1), straight out of the pip manual fam — and it's literally the page that tells you how to grab packages without installing them. No cap. Let me walk you through it 🫶

🎀 NAME

pip-download — the description of the pip download command. That's it, that's the name, she's simple, she's iconic 💅

🌸 DESCRIPTION

So, like, you can download packages from all of these places:

  • PyPI (and other indexes, iykyk) using requirement specifiers ✨
  • VCS project urls 🦋
  • Local project directories 🎀
  • Local or remote source archives 🍓

And here's the slay part: pip also supports downloading from "requirements files", which are genuinely the easiest way to spec out a whole entire environment to be downloaded. Like, the whole vibe, in one file. Obsessed 😭

🌈 USAGE

here's the receipts, verbatim, don't @ me:

python -m pip download [options] <requirement specifier> [package-index-options] ...
python -m pip download [options] -r <requirements file> [package-index-options] ...
python -m pip download [options] <vcs project url> ...
python -m pip download [options] <local project path> ...
python -m pip download [options] <archive url/path> ...

five whole ways to run her, she's versatile like that 💜

✨ OPTIONS ✨

this is the part where you grab a snack, because there are a LOT and we're doing ALL of them. no skipping, bestie, we don't do that here 💀

  • -c, --constraint <file> — constrain versions using the given constraints file. and yes, you can use this option multiple times, she stacks 🎀
  • -r, --requirement <file> — install from the given requirements file. this one can also be used multiple times, so go off 🦋
  • --no-deps — don't install package dependencies. just the package, nothing else, main character energy only 👑
  • --global-option <options> — extra global options to be supplied to the setup.py call before the install or bdist_wheel command. fancy little extras 🎀
  • --no-binary <format_control> — do not use binary packages. can be supplied multiple times, and each time it adds to the existing value. accepts either :all: to disable all binary packages, :none: to empty the set (notice the colons — yeah, important, don't forget them fr fr), or one or more package names with commas between them (no colons). ⚠️ heads up: some packages are tricky to compile and may fail to install when this option is used on them. so like, be aware 💀
  • --only-binary <format_control> — do not use source packages. can be supplied multiple times, and each time it adds to the existing value. accepts either :all: to disable all source packages, :none: to empty the set, or one or more package names with commas between them. ⚠️ packages without binary distributions will fail to install when this option is used on them. fr, they will 😭
  • --prefer-binary — prefer older binary packages over newer source packages. old but reliable, honestly a vibe 🌸
  • --src <dir> — directory to check out editable projects into. the default in a virtualenv is "<venv path>/src". the default for global installs is "<current dir>/src". iykyk where she lands 🦋
  • --pre — include pre-release and development versions. by default, pip only finds stable versions. so like, only turn this on if you're messy on purpose 🙈
  • --require-hashes — require a hash to check each requirement against, for repeatable installs. this option is implied when any package in a requirements file has a --hash option. security queen behavior 🔥
  • --progress-bar <progress_bar> — specify whether the progress bar should be used [on, off] (default: on). she's on by default, watching her go is lowkey satisfying ✨
  • --no-build-isolation — disable isolation when building a modern source distribution. build dependencies specified by PEP 518 must already be installed if this option is used. no isolation, no safety net, you gotta have your deps already there 💅
  • --use-pep517 — use PEP 517 for building source distributions (use --no-use-pep517 to force legacy behaviour). modern girlie behavior 🌈
  • --check-build-dependencies — check the build dependencies when PEP517 is used. just a little vibe check on your build deps 🫶
  • --ignore-requires-python — ignore the Requires-Python information. just straight up ignoring it, iconic honestly 💀
  • -d, --dest <dir> — download packages into <dir>. yeah, that's where they go 🎀
  • --platform <platform> — only use wheels compatible with <platform>. defaults to the platform of the running system. use this option multiple times to specify multiple platforms supported by the target interpreter. multi-platform queen 👑
  • --python-version <python_version> — the Python interpreter version to use for wheel and "Requires-Python" compatibility checks. defaults to a version derived from the running interpreter. the version can be specified using up to three dot-separated integers (e.g. "3" for 3.0.0, "3.7" for 3.7.0, or "3.7.3"). a major-minor version can also be given as a string without dots (e.g. "37" for 3.7.0). so many ways to say the same thing, she's flexible 🦋
  • --implementation <implementation> — only use wheels compatible with Python implementation <implementation>, e.g. 'pp', 'jy', 'cp', or 'ip'. if not specified, then the current interpreter implementation is used. use 'py' to force implementation-agnostic wheels. pick your fighter ⭐
  • --abi <abi> — only use wheels compatible with Python abi <abi>, e.g. 'pypy_41'. if not specified, then the current interpreter abi tag is used. use this option multiple times to specify multiple abis supported by the target interpreter. generally you will need to specify --implementation, --platform, and --python-version when using this option — like, all together, they're a package deal fr fr 💜
  • --no-clean — don't clean up build directories. leave the mess, she said 🫶

👑 AUTHOR

pip developers — the whole squad ✨

The pip developers — they own this, respectfully 🎀

and that's the whole page, bestie!! 🌈💅 this version is 23.2, and it's dated Jun 25, 2025 — so yeah, she's current, she's fresh, she ate and left no crumbs 🍓✨ go forth and download responsibly 🫶💜

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