Poetry's Move Toward Python Standards

While modern Python build tools like uv, Hatch, PDM, and Flit embraced PEP 621’s standardized project metadata from their inception, Poetry - one of the most widely used packaging tools - maintained its own configuration format in tool.poetry until version 2.0. This delay reflected both Poetry’s established user base and its richer feature set beyond standard packaging needs.

Poetry 2.0’s adoption of the project section for pyproject.toml files represents a significant step toward ecosystem-wide standardization. This change brings Poetry into alignment with the broader Python packaging ecosystem while maintaining backwards compatibility through careful deprecation.

The adoption of these standards delivers several key benefits:

• Improved Interoperability: Projects can move between different build tools more easily
• Future Compatibility: Better alignment with emerging Python packaging standards

Learn More:

• Poetry 2.0 Release Blog Post
• PEP 621 Specification
• Python Packaging User Guide
• Poetry Documentation