Skip to content

docs: add pipx/uv install instructions and externally-managed-environment troubleshooting - #1208

Merged
stevemessick merged 1 commit into
Kaggle:mainfrom
xamelllion:update-installation-docs
Oct 2, 2026
Merged

stevemessick merged 1 commit into
Kaggle:mainfrom
xamelllion:update-installation-docs

Conversation

@xamelllion

@xamelllion xamelllion commented Oct 1, 2026 •

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Problem

The Installation section of docs/README.md only suggests pip install kaggle.
On many modern systems this fails with:

error: externally-managed-environment

× This environment is externally managed
╰─> To install Python packages system-wide, try apt install
    python3-xyz, where xyz is the package you are trying to
    install.
    ...
note: If you believe this is a mistake, please contact your Python installation
or OS distribution provider. You can override this, at the risk of breaking your
Python installation or OS, by passing --break-system-packages.

This is the expected behavior on distributions that follow
PEP 668 (e.g. Debian 12+, Ubuntu 23.04+,
Fedora, Arch, Homebrew Python). I ran into it on [OS, e.g. Ubuntu 24.04] with Python 3.12.

The docs currently don't mention this, so users following the instructions
literally get stuck.

Changes

Only docs/README.md is changed (Installation section):

  • Recommend pipx install kaggle / uv tool install kaggle as the primary
    method: it works on all platforms and doesn't require users to manage
    virtual environments.
  • Keep plain pip install kaggle as an alternative.
  • Add a Troubleshooting note for externally-managed-environment, pointing
    to pipx/uv first and mentioning --break-system-packages as a last resort,
    with a warning about the risks.
  • Move the existing Command kaggle not found note into the same Troubleshooting block.

No code changes.

Notes

  • The root README.md links to this page for "Additional installation instructions",
    so I left it unchanged. Happy to update it too if you'd prefer.

@stevemessick

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

@xamelllion What does this mean? issue creation is restricted

You have to have a GitHub account to create an issue, but otherwise I'm not aware of any restrictions.

Your PR looks good so far. I'll finish my review soon.

@stevemessick

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

/gcbrun

@xamelllion

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor Author

@stevemessick

My bad. Looks like my agent saw that message while browsing the issues page without being logged in.
Updated description by myself.

@stevemessick

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

@xamelllion All good, thanks for the update!

@sridipbasu sridipbasu added the enhancement New feature or request label Oct 2, 2026

@stevemessick stevemessick left a comment

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

@rosbo Just wanted to check if you have any concerns about changing the recommended installation procedure.

@stevemessick
stevemessick merged commit 6b40b6b into Kaggle:main Oct 2, 2026
12 checks passed
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Labels

enhancement New feature or request

Projects

None yet

Development

Successfully merging this pull request may close these issues.

4 participants