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Dependencies

doc/install/dependencies.rst

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.. redirect-from:: /devel/dependencies .. redirect-from:: /users/installing/dependencies

.. _dependencies:

Dependencies

.. _runtime_dependencies:

Runtime dependencies

Required

When installing through a package manager like pip or conda, the mandatory dependencies are automatically installed. This list is mainly for reference.

  • Python <https://www.python.org/downloads/>_ (>= 3.10)
  • contourpy <https://pypi.org/project/contourpy/>_ (>= 1.0.1)
  • cycler <https://matplotlib.org/cycler/>_ (>= 0.10.0)
  • dateutil <https://pypi.org/project/python-dateutil/>_ (>= 2.7)
  • fontTools <https://fonttools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/>_ (>= 4.22.0)
  • kiwisolver <https://github.com/nucleic/kiwi>_ (>= 1.3.1)
  • NumPy <https://numpy.org>_ (>= 1.23)
  • packaging <https://pypi.org/project/packaging/>_ (>= 20.0)
  • Pillow <https://pillow.readthedocs.io/en/latest/>_ (>= 8.0)
  • pyparsing <https://pypi.org/project/pyparsing/>_ (>= 3)

.. _optional_dependencies:

Optional

The following packages and tools are not required but extend the capabilities of Matplotlib.

.. _backend_dependencies:

Backends ^^^^^^^^

Matplotlib figures can be rendered to various user interfaces. See :ref:what-is-a-backend for more details on the optional Matplotlib backends and the capabilities they provide.

  • Tk_ (>= 8.5, != 8.6.0 or 8.6.1): for the Tk-based backends. Tk is part of most standard Python installations, but it's not part of Python itself and thus may not be present in rare cases.
  • PyQt6_ (>= 6.1), PySide6_, PyQt5_ (>= 5.12), or PySide2_: for the Qt-based backends.
  • PyGObject_ and pycairo_ (>= 1.14.0): for the GTK-based backends. If using pip (but not conda or system package manager) PyGObject must be built from source; see pygobject documentation <https://pygobject.readthedocs.io/en/latest/devguide/dev_environ.html>_.
  • pycairo_ (>= 1.14.0) or cairocffi_ (>= 0.8): for cairo-based backends.
  • wxPython_ (>= 4): for the wx-based backends. If using pip (but not conda or system package manager) on Linux wxPython wheels must be manually downloaded from https://wxpython.org/pages/downloads/.
  • Tornado_ (>= 5): for the WebAgg backend.
  • ipykernel_: for the nbagg backend.
  • macOS (>= 10.12): for the macosx backend.

.. _Tk: https://docs.python.org/3/library/tk.html .. _PyQt5: https://pypi.org/project/PyQt5/ .. _PySide2: https://pypi.org/project/PySide2/ .. _PyQt6: https://pypi.org/project/PyQt6/ .. _PySide6: https://pypi.org/project/PySide6/ .. _PyGObject: https://pygobject.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ .. _wxPython: https://www.wxpython.org/ .. _pycairo: https://pycairo.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ .. _cairocffi: https://doc.courtbouillon.org/cairocffi/stable/ .. _Tornado: https://pypi.org/project/tornado/ .. _ipykernel: https://pypi.org/project/ipykernel/

Animations ^^^^^^^^^^

  • ffmpeg <https://www.ffmpeg.org/>_: for saving movies.
  • ImageMagick <https://www.imagemagick.org/script/index.php>_: for saving animated gifs.

Font handling and rendering ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  • LaTeX <https://www.latex-project.org/>_ (with cm-super <https://ctan.org/pkg/cm-super>__ and underscore <https://ctan.org/pkg/underscore>__) and GhostScript (>= 9.0) <https://ghostscript.com/releases/>_: for rendering text with LaTeX.
  • fontconfig <https://www.fontconfig.org>_ (>= 2.7): for detection of system fonts on Linux.

C libraries

Matplotlib brings its own copies of the following libraries:

  • Agg: the Anti-Grain Geometry C++ rendering engine
  • ttconv: a TrueType font utility

Additionally, Matplotlib depends on:

  • FreeType_ (>= 2.3): a font rendering library
  • QHull_ (>= 8.0.2): a library for computing triangulations (note that this version is also known as 2020.2)

.. _FreeType: https://www.freetype.org/ .. _Qhull: http://www.qhull.org/

Download during install ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

By default, Matplotlib downloads and builds its own copies of Qhull and FreeType. The vendored version of FreeType is necessary to run the test suite, because different versions of FreeType rasterize characters differently.

Use system libraries ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

To force Matplotlib to use a copy of FreeType or Qhull already installed in your system, you must pass configuration settings to Meson via meson-python <https://meson-python.readthedocs.io/en/stable/how-to-guides/config-settings.html>_:

.. code-block:: sh

python -m pip install
--config-settings=setup-args="-Dsystem-freetype=true"
--config-settings=setup-args="-Dsystem-qhull=true"
.

In this case, you need to install the FreeType and Qhull library and headers. This can be achieved using a package manager, e.g. for FreeType:

.. code-block:: sh

Pick ONE of the following:

sudo apt install libfreetype6-dev # Debian/Ubuntu sudo dnf install freetype-devel # Fedora brew install freetype # macOS with Homebrew conda install freetype # conda, any OS

(adapt accordingly for Qhull).

On Linux and macOS, it is also recommended to install pkg-config_, a helper tool for locating FreeType:

.. code-block:: sh

Pick ONE of the following:

sudo apt install pkg-config # Debian/Ubuntu sudo dnf install pkgconf # Fedora brew install pkg-config # macOS with Homebrew conda install pkg-config # conda

Or point the PKG_CONFIG environment variable to the path to pkg-config:

export PKG_CONFIG=...

.. _pkg-config: https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/pkg-config/

If not using pkg-config (in particular on Windows), you may need to set the include path (to the library headers) and link path (to the libraries) explicitly, if they are not in standard locations. This can be done using standard environment variables -- on Linux and macOS:

.. code-block:: sh

export CFLAGS='-I/directory/containing/ft2build.h' export LDFLAGS='-L/directory/containing/libfreetype.so'

and on Windows:

.. code-block:: bat

set CL=/IC:\directory\containing\ft2build.h set LINK=/LIBPATH:C:\directory\containing\freetype.lib

If you go this route but need to reset and rebuild to change your settings, remember to clear your artifacts before re-building::

git clean -xfd

From source files ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

If the automatic download does not work (for example, on air-gapped systems) it is preferable to instead use system libraries. However you can manually download the tarballs into :file:subprojects/packagecache at the top level of the checkout repository. The expected SHA256 hashes of the downloaded tarballs are in :file:subprojects/*.wrap if you wish to verify them, but they will also be checked by the build system before unpacking.

Minimum pip / manylinux support (linux)

Matplotlib publishes manylinux wheels <https://github.com/pypa/manylinux>_ which have a minimum version of pip which will recognize the wheels

  • Python 3.9+: manylinux2014 / pip >= 19.3

In all cases the required version of pip is embedded in the CPython source.

.. _development-dependencies:

Build dependencies

.. _setup-dependencies:

Python

pip normally builds packages using :external+pip:doc:build isolation <reference/build-system>, which means that pip installs the dependencies listed here for the duration of the build process. However, build isolation is disabled via the the :external+pip:ref:--no-build-isolation <install_--no-build-isolation> flag when :ref:installing Matplotlib for development <development-install>, which means that the dependencies must be explicitly installed, either by :ref:creating a virtual environment <dev-environment> (recommended) or by manually installing the following packages:

  • meson-python <https://meson-python.readthedocs.io/>_ (>= 0.13.1).
  • ninja <https://ninja-build.org/>_ (>= 1.8.2). This may be available in your package manager or bundled with Meson, but may be installed via pip if otherwise not available.
  • PyBind11 <https://pypi.org/project/pybind11/>_ (>= 2.13.2). Used to connect C/C++ code with Python.
  • setuptools_scm <https://pypi.org/project/setuptools-scm/>_ (>= 7). Used to update the reported mpl.__version__ based on the current git commit. Also a runtime dependency for editable installs.
  • NumPy <https://numpy.org>_ (>= 1.22). Also a runtime dependency.

.. _compile-dependencies:

Compiled extensions

Matplotlib requires a C++ compiler that supports C++17, and each platform has a development environment that must be installed before a compiler can be installed. You may also need to install headers for various libraries used in the compiled extension source files.

.. _dev-compiler: .. tab-set::

.. tab-item:: Linux

  On some Linux systems, you can install a meta-build package. For example,
  on  Ubuntu ``apt install build-essential`` with elevated privileges.

  Otherwise, use the system distribution's package manager to install
  :ref:`gcc <compiler-table>`.

.. tab-item:: macOS

  Install `Xcode <https://developer.apple.com/xcode/>`_ for Apple platform development.

.. tab-item:: Windows

  Install `Visual Studio Build Tools <https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/?q=build+tools>`_

  Make sure "Desktop development with C++" is selected, and that the latest MSVC,
  "C++ CMake tools for Windows," and a Windows SDK compatible with your version
  of Windows are selected and installed. They should be selected by default under
  the "Optional" subheading, but are required to build Matplotlib from source.

  Alternatively, you can install a Linux-like environment such as `CygWin <https://www.cygwin.com/>`_
  or `Windows Subsystem for Linux <https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install>`_.
  If using `MinGW-64 <https://www.mingw-w64.org/>`_, we require **v6** of the
  ```Mingw-w64-x86_64-headers``.

We highly recommend that you install a compiler using your platform tool, i.e., Xcode, VS Code or Linux package manager. Choose one compiler from this list:

.. _compiler-table:

.. list-table:: :widths: 20 20 20 40 :header-rows: 1

    • compiler
    • minimum version
    • platforms
    • notes
    • GCC
    • 7.2
    • Linux, macOS, Windows
    • gcc 7.2 <https://gcc.gnu.org/projects/cxx-status.html#cxx17>, GCC: Binaries <https://gcc.gnu.org/install/binaries.html>,
    • Clang (LLVM)
    • 5
    • Linux, macOS
    • clang 5 <https://clang.llvm.org/cxx_status.html>, LLVM <https://releases.llvm.org/download.html>
    • MSVC++
    • 16.0
    • Windows
    • Visual Studio 2019 C++ <https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/overview/visual-cpp-language-conformance?view=msvc-160>_

.. _test-dependencies:

Test dependencies

This section lists the additional software required for :ref:running the tests <testing>.

Required

  • pytest_ (>= 7.0.0)

Optional

In addition to all of the optional dependencies on the main library, for testing the following will be used if they are installed.

Python ^^^^^^ These packages are installed when :ref:creating a virtual environment <dev-environment>, otherwise they must be installed manually:

  • nbformat_ and nbconvert_ used to test the notebook backend
  • pandas_ used to test compatibility with Pandas
  • pikepdf_ used in some tests for the pgf and pdf backends
  • psutil_ used in testing the interactive backends
  • pytest-cov_ (>= 2.3.1) to collect coverage information
  • pytest-flake8_ to test coding standards using flake8_
  • pytest-timeout_ to limit runtime in case of stuck tests
  • pytest-xdist_ to run tests in parallel
  • pytest-xvfb_ to run tests without windows popping up (Linux)
  • pytz_ used to test pytz int
  • sphinx_ used to test our sphinx extensions
  • xarray_ used to test compatibility with xarray

External tools ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  • Ghostscript_ (>= 9.0, to render PDF files)
  • Inkscape_ (to render SVG files)
  • WenQuanYi Zen Hei_ and Noto Sans CJK_ fonts for testing font fallback and non-Western fonts

If any of these dependencies are not discovered, then the tests that rely on them will be skipped by pytest.

.. note::

When installing Inkscape on Windows, make sure that you select “Add Inkscape to system PATH”, either for all users or current user, or the tests will not find it.

.. _Ghostscript: https://ghostscript.com/ .. _Inkscape: https://inkscape.org .. _WenQuanYi Zen Hei: http://wenq.org/en/ .. _flake8: https://pypi.org/project/flake8/ .. _nbconvert: https://pypi.org/project/nbconvert/ .. _nbformat: https://pypi.org/project/nbformat/ .. _pandas: https://pypi.org/project/pandas/ .. _pikepdf: https://pypi.org/project/pikepdf/ .. _psutil: https://pypi.org/project/psutil/ .. _pytz: https://pypi.org/project/pytz/ .. _pytest-cov: https://pytest-cov.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ .. _pytest-flake8: https://pypi.org/project/pytest-flake8/ .. _pytest-timeout: https://pypi.org/project/pytest-timeout/ .. _pytest-xdist: https://pypi.org/project/pytest-xdist/ .. _pytest-xvfb: https://pypi.org/project/pytest-xvfb/ .. _pytest: http://doc.pytest.org/en/latest/ .. _sphinx: https://pypi.org/project/Sphinx/ .. _Noto Sans CJK: https://fonts.google.com/noto/use .. _xarray: https://pypi.org/project/xarray/

.. _doc-dependencies:

Documentation dependencies

Python

The additional Python packages required to build the :ref:documentation <documenting-matplotlib> are listed in :file:doc-requirements.txt and can be installed using ::

pip install -r requirements/doc/doc-requirements.txt

The content of :file:doc-requirements.txt is also shown below:

.. include:: ../../requirements/doc/doc-requirements.txt :literal:

.. _doc-dependencies-external:

External tools

Required ^^^^^^^^ The documentation requires LaTeX and Graphviz. These are not Python packages and must be installed separately.

  • Graphviz <http://www.graphviz.org/download>_
  • a minimal working LaTeX distribution, e.g. TeX Live <https://www.tug.org/texlive/>_ or MikTeX <https://miktex.org/>_

The following LaTeX packages:

  • dvipng <https://ctan.org/pkg/dvipng>_
  • underscore <https://ctan.org/pkg/underscore>_
  • cm-super <https://ctan.org/pkg/cm-super>_
  • collection-fontsrecommended

The complete version of many LaTex distribution installers, e.g. "texlive-full" or "texlive-all", will often automatically include these packages.

Optional ^^^^^^^^

The documentation can be built without Inkscape and optipng, but the build process will raise various warnings.

  • Inkscape <https://inkscape.org>_
  • optipng <http://optipng.sourceforge.net>_
  • the font xkcd script <https://github.com/ipython/xkcd-font/>_ or Comic Neue <https://github.com/crozynski/comicneue>_
  • the font "Times New Roman"