Poetry: Python Packaging and Dependency Manager
Poetry is a Python packaging and dependency management tool that handles dependency installation, virtual environment management, package building, and publishing. It aims to provide a unified workflow for Python project management through configuration in pyproject.toml.
When to Use Poetry
Poetry fits teams that already have an established Poetry workflow and need integrated dependency management, virtual environment handling, and package publishing. Its lockfile and dependency group features suit application projects that require reproducible builds.
For new projects, uv offers faster dependency resolution and a broader feature set. For existing Poetry projects, see How to migrate from Poetry to uv.
Key Components
Dependency Management
- Handles package installation and removal
- Resolves dependencies with version constraints
- Creates and updates lock files for reproducible installations
- Manages virtual environments automatically
- Supports dependency groups for development, testing, etc.
Project Management
- Initializes new Python projects with
poetry new - Configures projects via pyproject.toml
- Supports PEP 621 project metadata
- Handles package building and publishing
- Manages project plugins and versions
Configuration Support
Projects can be configured through standard PEP 621 metadata:
[project]
name = "example"
version = "0.1.0"
description = "Project description"
requires-python = ">=3.8"
dependencies = [
"requests>=2.25.0"
]Or through Poetry-specific features:
[tool.poetry]
packages = [{include = "example"}]
requires-poetry = ">=2.0"
[tool.poetry.requires-plugins]
my-plugin = ">1.0"Core Features
- PEP 621 compliant project metadata
- Lockfile-based dependency resolution
- Virtual environment management
- Build system for distributions
- Package publishing workflow
- Plugin system for extensibility
- Group-based dependency management
- Project-specific Poetry version requirements
Limitations
- Slower dependency resolution than newer tools like uv
- Some non-standard dependency specification features
- Export functionality requires separate plugin installation
Related Handbook Pages
- How do uv and Poetry compare?
- Does Poetry Support Python Standards for Dependency Management?
- How to migrate from Poetry to uv