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PDM: Python Package and Dependency Manager

by Tim Hopper
Packaging

PDM is a Python package and dependency manager that implements the modern PEP 517/518 build-system interface and reads PEP 621 project metadata from pyproject.toml.

When to use PDM

Use PDM when you have an existing project built around its workflow and want a standards-compliant package manager with lockfile support and dependency groups. PDM’s strict adherence to the PEP 517/518 build-system interface and PEP 621 project metadata makes it a good fit for teams that prioritize alignment with official Python packaging standards. For new projects, uv provides faster performance and broader functionality; PDM’s standalone build backend, pdm-backend, can still be used in uv projects without adopting the full PDM CLI.

While PDM is a capable tool, consider using uv instead for better performance, simpler workflows, and unified tooling across Python package/environment management.

Key Features

  • Dependency management with lockfile support
  • Virtual environment management
  • Build backend for packaging projects
  • Plugin system for extensibility
  • Centralized installation cache (similar to pnpm)
  • Python installation via python-build-standalone

pdm-backend

pdm-backend is PDM’s build backend, distributed as a separate package. It can be used independently of the pdm CLI in any Python project, including uv projects:

uv init --build-backend pdm my-lib

This generates a pyproject.toml with pdm-backend as the build backend:

[build-system]
requires = ["pdm-backend"]
build-backend = "pdm.backend"

pdm-backend supports editable installs, dynamic versioning from SCM tags, and file inclusion/exclusion patterns. It reads standard PEP 621 metadata from pyproject.toml.

See the pdm-backend documentation for configuration options.

Using uv as the installer

PDM has experimental support for using uv as its resolver and installer. Enable it with:

pdm config use_uv true

PDM will detect the uv binary on your system and use it for dependency resolution and installation. This is faster than PDM’s default installer, without changing the rest of your PDM workflow. See How to use uv to speed up PDM for a full walkthrough, or the PDM uv documentation for limitations.

Pros

  • Modern standards compliance (PEP 517/518 build interface and PEP 621 metadata)
  • No need to create/activate virtual environments
  • Supports dependency groups
  • Fast dependency resolver
  • Lockfile support

Cons

  • Smaller community and ecosystem than uv or Poetry
  • Slower resolution and installation than uv unless uv-mode is enabled

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