PIP-LOCK(1)

💅 PIP-LOCK(1) — the pip lock glow-up

ok so like, hi bestie ✨ welcome to the pip-lock(1) page — it's part of the <pink>pip</pink> manual, and we're about to have a whole moment with it. this is the pip lock command, and she's got main character energy but also a little "handle with care" sticker on her, iykyk 🎀

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🌸 NAME 🌸

pip-lock — okay so this is the description of the pip lock command. that's it, that's the name section. short and iconic 💅

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

⚠️ EXPERIMENTAL — like, for real, she's still in beta. treat her accordingly, no cap.

So pip lock locks packages and their dependencies from all of these places, lowkey a whole buffet:

• PyPI (and other indexes) using requirement specifiers 💖
• VCS project urls 🌈
• Local project directories 🍓
• Local or remote source archives 🧚

pip also supports locking from "requirements files", which is literally the easiest way to specify a whole environment to be installed. obsessed, honestly.

💀 Real talk: the generated lock file is only guaranteed to be valid for the current python version and platform. so like, don't go shipping it to your friend on a different OS and expect it to slay. it won't. #iykyk

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✨ USAGE ✨

here's the whole vibe check, all the ways to call her:

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

pick your fighter 💅

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🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

okay bestie, this is the long part — but every single one matters, so buckle up 🫶

• -o, --output <path> — the lock file name, default is pylock.toml. pass - and it goes to stdout. (( environment variable: PIP_OUTPUT )) 💖
• -r, --requirement <file> — install from the given requirements file. you can use this option more than once, like, stack 'em. (( environment variable: PIP_REQUIREMENT ))
• -c, --constraint <file> — constrain versions using the given constraints file. yes, this one can be used multiple times too. (( environment variable: PIP_CONSTRAINT ))
• --no-deps — don't install package dependencies. no thoughts, no deps, head empty 🫧 (( environment variable: PIP_NO_DEPS, PIP_NO_DEPENDENCIES ))
• --pre — include pre-release and development versions. by default, pip only finds stable versions, so this is your "i want the chaotic version" pass. 🔥 (( environment variable: PIP_PRE ))
• -e, --editable <path/url> — install a project in editable mode (i.e. setuptools "develop mode") from a local project path or a VCS url. (( environment variable: PIP_EDITABLE ))
• --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. (( environment variable: PIP_SRC, PIP_SOURCE, PIP_SOURCE_DIR, PIP_SOURCE_DIRECTORY ))
• --ignore-requires-python — ignore the Requires-Python information. yes, she's ignoring the vibes on purpose 😭 (( environment variable: PIP_IGNORE_REQUIRES_PYTHON ))
• --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. so, like, do your homework first. (( environment variable: PIP_NO_BUILD_ISOLATION ))
• --use-pep517 — use PEP 517 for building source distributions (use --no-use-pep517 to force legacy behaviour). retro era, but make it optional. (( environment variable: PIP_USE_PEP517 ))
• --check-build-dependencies — check the build dependencies when PEP517 is used. (( environment variable: PIP_CHECK_BUILD_DEPENDENCIES ))
• -C, --config-settings <settings> — configuration settings to be passed to the PEP 517 build backend. settings take the form KEY=VALUE. use multiple --config-settings options to pass multiple keys to the backend. 💅 (( environment variable: PIP_CONFIG_SETTINGS ))
• --no-binary <format_control> — do not use binary packages. can be supplied multiple times, and each time adds to the existing value. accepts either :all: to disable all binary packages, :none: to empty the set (notice the colons 👀), or one or more package names with commas between them (no colons). ⚠️ note that some packages are tricky to compile and may fail to install when this option is used on them. (( environment variable: PIP_NO_BINARY ))
• --only-binary <format_control> — do not use source packages. can be supplied multiple times, and each time 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. (( environment variable: PIP_ONLY_BINARY ))
• --prefer-binary — prefer binary packages over source packages, even if the source packages are newer. loyalty to binaries, periodt. (( environment variable: PIP_PREFER_BINARY ))
• --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. 🔒 (( environment variable: PIP_REQUIRE_HASHES ))
• --progress-bar <progress_bar> — specify whether the progress bar should be used [on, off, raw] (default: on). we love a little progress moment. ⭐ (( environment variable: PIP_PROGRESS_BAR ))
• --group <[path:]group> — install a named dependency-group from a pyproject.toml file. if a path is given, the name of the file must be pyproject.toml. defaults to using pyproject.toml in the current directory. 🎀 (( environment variable: PIP_GROUP ))
• --no-clean — don't clean up build directories. leaving the mess behind, honestly relatable 🙈 (( environment variable: PIP_NO_CLEAN ))

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

pip developers 💜

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🌈 COPYRIGHT 🌈

The pip developers

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and that's the whole page, bestie — you ate that 🫶💖 she's version <pink>25.1</pink>, dated <lavender>Jun 26, 2025</lavender>, and that's the cute little footer sign-off. now go lock some packages, you gorgeous genius ✨🎀💅