pip-search

Search for packages using a custom package index

$ pip search [[-i|--index]] [example.com] [query]

pip-search query

query
    The keyword or phrase to search for on PyPI. The command returns packages whose names or summaries contain this string.

The pip-search command, historically an alias or wrapper for pip search, was used to query the Python Package Index (PyPI) for available packages. Users could provide a keyword or a phrase as a search query, and the command would return a list of packages whose names or summaries matched the input.

The output typically included the package name, its latest version, and a brief description, making it a convenient tool for discovering new Python libraries or verifying the exact name of a package before installation. It was particularly useful for command-line users who preferred to stay within the terminal environment rather than navigating the PyPI website. However, this functionality relied on the PyPI XML-RPC API, which has since been deprecated and removed.

The pip-search command, mirroring pip search, is effectively deprecated and has been removed from recent versions of pip (specifically pip 21.0 and later). This is due to the deprecation and eventual shutdown of the XML-RPC search API on PyPI that it relied upon. Users attempting to use pip search on modern pip versions will encounter an error indicating its removal.

For current package discovery, it is recommended to use the official pypi.org website or alternative tools designed for PyPI exploration.

Given the removal of pip-search, users can effectively search for Python packages directly on the pypi.org website using its search bar. Other tools like pip-tools (specifically pip-compile --dry-run) or integrated development environments (IDEs) often provide their own mechanisms for browsing and discovering packages.

The pip search functionality, which pip-search mirrored, was an integral part of pip for many years, providing direct command-line access to PyPI's package catalog. It was introduced early in pip's lifecycle to enhance user experience by allowing quick package discovery. However, with the evolution of PyPI's infrastructure and the deprecation of its XML-RPC API, the underlying mechanism for pip search became unsupported. Pip 10.0 (released in 2018) marked the deprecation of the search command, and it was officially removed in pip 21.0 (released in 2021), urging users to transition to web-based search on pypi.org or other external tools.

pip(1), pip install(1), pip show(1)