The `python-version` input is optional. If not supplied, the action will try to resolve version from the default `.python-version` file. If `.python-version` file doesn't exist Python/PyPy version from the PATH will be used. The default version of Python/PyPy in PATH vary between runners and can be changed unexpectedly so we recommend always use `setup-python`.
The action will first check the local [tool cache](docs/advanced-usage.md#hosted-tool-cache) for a [semver](https://github.com/npm/node-semver#versions) match. If unable to find a specific version in the tool cache, the action will attempt to download a version of Python from [GitHub Releases](https://github.com/actions/python-versions/releases) and for PyPy from the official [PyPy's dist](https://downloads.python.org/pypy/).
For information regarding locally cached versions of Python/PyPy on GitHub hosted runners, check out [GitHub Actions Virtual Environments](https://github.com/actions/virtual-environments).
The `python-version` input supports the [Semantic Versioning Specification](https://semver.org/) and some special version notations (e.g. `semver ranges`, `x.y-dev syntax`, etc.), for detailed examples please refer to the section: [Using python-version input](docs/advanced-usage.md#using-python-version-input) of the [Advanced usage](docs/advanced-usage.md) guide.
Using `architecture` input it is possible to specify required Python/PyPy interpreter architecture: `x86` or `x64`. If input is not specified the architecture defaults to `x64`.
More details on PyPy syntax and examples of using preview / nightly versions of PyPy can be found in the [Available versions of PyPy](#available-versions-of-pypy) section.
>The environment variable `pythonLocation` also becomes available after Python or PyPy installation. It contains the absolute path to the folder where the desired version of Python or PyPy is installed.
Check out our detailed guide on using [Python with GitHub Actions](https://help.github.com/en/actions/automating-your-workflow-with-github-actions/using-python-with-github-actions).
- For detailed information regarding the available versions of Python that are installed, see [Supported software](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/reference/specifications-for-github-hosted-runners#supported-software).
- For every minor version of Python, expect only the latest patch to be preinstalled.
- If `3.8.1` is installed for example, and `3.8.2` is released, expect `3.8.1` to be removed and replaced by `3.8.2` in the tools cache.
- If the exact patch version doesn't matter to you, specifying just the major and minor version will get you the latest preinstalled patch version. In the previous example, the version spec `3.8` will use the `3.8.2` Python version found in the cache.
- Use `-dev` instead of a patch number (e.g., `3.11-dev`) to install the latest patch version release for a given minor version, *alpha and beta releases included*.
**Note:** Python versions used in this action are generated in the [python-versions](https://github.com/actions/python-versions) repository. For macOS and Ubuntu images python versions are built from the source code. For Windows the python-versions repository uses installation executable. For more information please refer to the [python-versions](https://github.com/actions/python-versions) repository.
- For detailed information regarding the available versions of PyPy that are installed, see [Supported software](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/reference/specifications-for-github-hosted-runners#supported-software).
- Cache is updated with a 1-2 week delay. If you specify the PyPy version as `pypy3.7` or `pypy-3.7`, the cached version will be used although a newer version is available. If you need to start using the recently released version right after release, you should specify the exact PyPy version using `pypy3.7-v7.3.3` or `pypy-3.7-v7.3.3`.
GitHub hosted runners have a tools cache that comes with a few versions of Python + PyPy already installed. This tools cache helps speed up runs and tool setup by not requiring any new downloads. There is an environment variable called `RUNNER_TOOL_CACHE` on each runner that describes the location of this tools cache and there is where you will find Python and PyPy installed. `setup-python` works by taking a specific version of Python or PyPy in this tools cache and adding it to PATH.
GitHub virtual environments are setup in [actions/virtual-environments](https://github.com/actions/virtual-environments). During the setup, the available versions of Python and PyPy are automatically downloaded, setup and documented.
If there is a specific version of Python that you need and you don't want to worry about any potential breaking changes due to patch updates (going from `3.7.5` to `3.7.6` for example), you should specify the exact major, minor, and patch version (such as `3.7.5`)
- The only downside to this is that set up will take a little longer since the exact version will have to be downloaded if the exact version is not already installed on the runner due to more recent versions.
- MSI installers are used on Windows for this, so runs will take a little longer to set up vs Mac and Linux.
You should specify only a major and minor version if you are okay with the most recent patch version being used.
- There will be a single patch version already installed on each runner for every minor version of Python that is supported.
- The patch version that will be preinstalled, will generally be the latest and every time there is a new patch released, the older version that is preinstalled will be replaced.
- Using the most recent patch version will result in a very quick setup since no downloads will be required since a locally installed version Python on the runner will be used.
The `check-latest` flag defaults to `false`. Use the default or set `check-latest` to `false` if you prefer stability and if you want to ensure a specific `Python/PyPy` version is always used.
If `check-latest` is set to `true`, the action first checks if the cached version is the latest one. If the locally cached version is not the most up-to-date, a `Python/PyPy` version will then be downloaded. Set `check-latest` to `true` if you want the most up-to-date `Python/PyPy` version to always be used.
> Setting `check-latest` to `true` has performance implications as downloading `Python/PyPy` versions is slower than using cached versions.
The action has built-in functionality for caching and restoring dependencies. It uses [actions/cache](https://github.com/actions/toolkit/tree/main/packages/cache) under the hood for caching dependencies but requires less configuration settings. Supported package managers are `pip`, `pipenv` and `poetry`. The `cache` input is optional, and caching is turned off by default.
The action defaults to searching for a dependency file (`requirements.txt` for pip, `Pipfile.lock` for pipenv or `poetry.lock` for poetry) in the repository, and uses its hash as a part of the cache key. Input `cache-dependency-path` is used for cases when multiple dependency files are used, they are located in different subdirectories or different files for the hash want to be used.
>**Note:** Restored cache will not be used if the requirements.txt file is not updated for a long time and a newer version of the dependency is available that can lead to an increase in total build time.
>The requirements file format allows to specify dependency versions using logical operators (for example chardet>=3.0.4) or specify dependencies without any versions. In this case the pip install -r requirements.txt command will always try to install the latest available package version. To be sure that the cache will be used, please stick to a specific dependency version and update it manually if necessary.
See examples of using `cache` and `cache-dependency-path` for `pipenv` and `poetry` in the section: [Caching packages data](docs/advanced-usage.md#caching-packages-data) of the [Advanced usage](docs/advanced-usage.md) guide.
