`python-discovery`

What is python-discovery?

python-discovery is a library for discovering Python interpreters installed on your machine. You may have multiple Python versions from system packages, pyenv, mise, asdf, uv, or the Windows registry (PEP 514). This library finds the right one for you.

Give it a requirement like python3.12 or >=3.11,<3.13, and it searches all known locations, verifies each candidate, and returns detailed metadata about the match. Results are cached to disk so repeated lookups are fast.

The library runs on Python 3.8+ and discovers interpreters as old as Python 3.6; anything older is skipped with a warning naming the version it found.

Usage

from pathlib import Path

from python_discovery import DiskCache, get_interpreter

cache = DiskCache(root=Path("~/.cache/python-discovery").expanduser())
result = get_interpreter("python3.12", cache=cache)
if result is not None:
    print(result.executable)  # /usr/bin/python3.12
    print(result.implementation)  # CPython
    print(result.version_info[:3])  # (3, 12, 1)

The get_interpreter() function accepts various specification formats:

Absolute path: /usr/bin/python3.12
Version: 3.12
Implementation prefix: cpython3.12
Version specifier: >=3.10, >=3.11,<3.13

Documentation

Full documentation is available at python-discovery.readthedocs.io

Download files

Download the file for your platform. If you're not sure which to choose, learn more about installing packages.

Source Distribution

python_discovery-1.5.2.tar.gz (82.3 kB view details)

Uploaded Aug 12, 2026 Source

Built Distribution

If you're not sure about the file name format, learn more about wheel file names.

The dropdown lists show the available interpreters, ABIs, and platforms. Enable javascript to be able to filter the list of wheel files.

python_discovery-1.5.2-py3-none-any.whl (38.4 kB view details)

Uploaded Aug 12, 2026 Python 3

File details

Details for the file python_discovery-1.5.2.tar.gz.

File metadata

Download URL: python_discovery-1.5.2.tar.gz
Upload date: Aug 12, 2026
Size: 82.3 kB
Tags: Source
Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? Yes
Uploaded via: twine/7.0.0 CPython/3.13.14

File hashes

Hashes for python_discovery-1.5.2.tar.gz
Algorithm	Hash digest
SHA256	`45fd4f20a4e3f9b7bf2e0817870bc8e3b320a19658da177af800768c82dbf354`
MD5	`e97e8c55611027077fee072458422923`
BLAKE2b-256	`38b7ac44da2cf0e53ada0e419033c2d058219c95dc1403126f163304c9e814b1`

See more details on using hashes here.

Provenance

The following attestation bundles were made for python_discovery-1.5.2.tar.gz:

Publisher: release.yaml on tox-dev/python-discovery

Attestations: Values shown here reflect the state when the release was signed and may no longer be current.

Statement:
- Statement type: https://in-toto.io/Statement/v1
- Predicate type: https://docs.pypi.org/attestations/publish/v1
- Subject name: python_discovery-1.5.2.tar.gz
- Subject digest: 45fd4f20a4e3f9b7bf2e0817870bc8e3b320a19658da177af800768c82dbf354
- Sigstore transparency entry: 2437375281
- Sigstore integration time: Aug 12, 2026
Source repository:
- Permalink: tox-dev/python-discovery@098662762290e5b9a7d48a7ff43cbd1b0a3dbef8
- Branch / Tag: refs/tags/1.5.2
- Owner: https://github.com/tox-dev
- Access: public
Publication detail:
- Token Issuer: https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com
- Runner Environment: github-hosted
- Publication workflow: release.yaml@098662762290e5b9a7d48a7ff43cbd1b0a3dbef8
- Trigger Event: push