pip-chill

1.0.5 · active · verified Thu Apr 16

pip-chill is a command-line utility that extends `pip freeze` by listing only the Python packages that were directly installed by the user, excluding their transitive dependencies. This helps create cleaner `requirements.txt` files. The current version is 1.0.5, and it has a moderate release cadence with improvements and bug fixes.

Common errors

```
pip-chill: command not found
```
cause `pip-chill` is not installed in your current environment or its installation directory is not in your system's PATH.

fix Ensure `pip-chill` is installed in your active Python environment by running `pip install pip-chill`.
```
ERROR: pip-chill requires Python >=3.10, but you have Python 3.9.12.
```
cause The Python interpreter being used is older than the minimum requirement (Python 3.10) for the latest `pip-chill` version.

fix Upgrade your Python environment to version 3.10 or newer. If upgrading Python is not an option, install an older version of `pip-chill` that supports your Python version, for example: `pip install 'pip-chill<1.0.5'`.
```
My package 'requests' is installed, but `pip-chill` doesn't list it directly!
```
cause `requests` is likely a dependency of another package you installed directly. By default, `pip-chill` filters out transitive dependencies.

fix To list all installed packages, including both direct and transitive dependencies, use `pip-chill --no-chill` or `pip-chill --all`.

Warnings

breaking Starting with version 1.0.5, `pip-chill` explicitly requires Python 3.10 or newer. If you are on an older Python version (e.g., 3.9 or earlier), you will encounter installation errors or runtime issues.
Fix: Upgrade your Python environment to 3.10 or newer. Alternatively, to use `pip-chill` with older Python versions (3.7-3.9), install an earlier compatible version, e.g., `pip install 'pip-chill<1.0.5'`.
gotcha `pip-chill` is designed as a command-line interface (CLI) tool and does not expose a public Python API for programmatic `import`. Attempts to `import pip_chill` will not work as expected or will lead to `ModuleNotFoundError`.
Fix: If programmatic execution is required, use `subprocess.run(['pip-chill', '...',])` to invoke the CLI tool from within your Python script.
gotcha By default, `pip-chill` lists only the packages you explicitly installed, filtering out their transitive dependencies. This differs from `pip freeze` which lists all installed packages. Users often misunderstand why some installed packages are 'missing' from `pip-chill`'s default output.
Fix: To view all installed packages, including transitive dependencies, use `pip-chill --no-chill` (which behaves like `pip freeze`) or `pip-chill --all`.

Install

pip install pip-chill Install latest version

Quickstart

To use pip-chill, simply run it from your terminal within a Python environment. The default output lists only top-level, directly installed packages. Options like `--no-chill` or `--all` can be used to display all installed packages, similar to `pip freeze`.

# List directly installed packages (excluding dependencies):
pip-chill

# List all installed packages (like pip freeze):
pip-chill --no-chill

# List all installed packages, including direct and indirect ones:
pip-chill --all

# Include editable packages:
pip-chill --editable

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