Specify where to install 'tests_require' dependencies of a distribute/setuptools package

Question

When I run python setup.py test the dependencies listed in tests_require in setup.py are downloaded to the current directory. When I run python setup.py install, the dependencies listed in requires are instead installed to site-packages.

How can I have those tests_require dependencies instead installed in site-packages?

setuptools `tests_require` is [deprecated since 41.5.0](https://setuptools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/setuptools.html) (October 2019). We are now at 50.3.0. — Martin Thoma, Sep 18 '20 at 08:24
Hello @MartinThoma is there an alternative to specify requirements needed for dev/test but not plain usage? — Danny Staple, Feb 01 '21 at 13:57
That would be something like `extras_require={'test': ['pytest']}` in setup.py I think. — Danny Staple, Feb 01 '21 at 14:04

score 54 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 05 '19 at 02:35

54

You cannot specify where the test requirements are installed. The whole point of the tests_require parameter is to specify dependencies that are not required for the installation of the package but only for running the tests (as you can imagine many consumers might want to install the package but not run the tests). If you want the test requirements to be included during installation, I would include them in the install_requires parameter. For example:

test_requirements = ['pytest>=2.1', 'dingus']
setup(
    # ...
    tests_require = test_requirements,
    install_requires = [
        # ... (your usual install requirements)
    ] + test_requirements,
)

As far as I know, there's no parameter you can pass to force this behavior without changing the setup script.

edited Oct 05 '19 at 02:35

bignose

30,281
14
77
110

answered Oct 12 '11 at 22:01

Jason R. Coombs

41,115
10
83
93

3

I found [this article](http://reinout.vanrees.org/weblog/2009/12/17/managing-dependencies.html) which describes using 'extras' for a similar purpose. – Jason R. Coombs Oct 12 '11 at 22:03
4

I no longer recommend this technique. If tests are required for installation (whether or not they're required for tests), just put them in `install_requires`, and don't bother adding them to `tests_require`. – Jason R. Coombs Oct 06 '19 at 15:32

Tiberiu Ichim · Answer 2 · 2017-08-07T05:01:35.480

28

You can use a virtualenv to avoid this and install the extra packages to their default locations, inside lib/pythonX/site-packages. First, you should define your testing requirements as extras, in setup.py:

setup(
    # ...
    install_requires=[
        # ... (your usual install requirements)
    ],
    extras_require={
        'testing': [
            # ... (your test requirements)
        ]
    },
)

Then install your package with test requirements like this:

pip install -e ".[testing]"

edited Aug 07 '17 at 05:01

answered Dec 03 '14 at 12:07

Tiberiu Ichim

641
7
7

@Flimm It does not. But you could pull the test packages into a list and reference the same list from `extras_require['test']` and `tests_require` like this answer does. https://stackoverflow.com/a/41398850/149428 – Taylor D. Edmiston Mar 13 '18 at 22:55

score 17 · Answer 3 · edited Oct 12 '16 at 12:58

17

I am using pip to achieve something like that. Instead of adding tests_requires or extras to my setup.py I have created a pip requirements file.

Example my dev_requirements.txt file:

pytest
webtest

Then to install it run:

$ pip install -r dev_requirements.txt

edited Oct 12 '16 at 12:58

Flimm

136,138
45
251
267

answered Jan 17 '12 at 18:22

schettino72

2,990
1
28
27

2

I believe `requirements-dev.txt` and `requirements-test.txt` are the more commonly used names for these files. – phoenix Feb 11 '18 at 20:48
@phoenix the same can be said about `requirements/test.txt` and `requirements/prod.txt` – Eugene K Oct 08 '20 at 06:50

Specify where to install 'tests_require' dependencies of a distribute/setuptools package

3 Answers3