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<li><a class="reference internal" href="#"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">site</span></code> — Site-specific configuration hook</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#path-extensions-pth-files">Path extensions (<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> files)</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#startup-entry-points-start-files">Startup entry points (<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.start</span></code> files)</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#startup-file-examples">Startup file examples</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#migrating-from-import-lines-in-pth-files-to-start-files">Migrating from <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span></code> lines in <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> files to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.start</span></code> files</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#module-sitecustomize"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sitecustomize</span></code></a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#module-usercustomize"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">usercustomize</span></code></a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#readline-configuration">Readline configuration</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#module-contents">Module contents</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#command-line-interface">Command-line interface</a></li>
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<section id="module-site">
<span id="site-site-specific-configuration-hook"></span><h1><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">site</span></code> — Site-specific configuration hook<a class="headerlink" href="#module-site" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h1>
<p><strong>Source code:</strong> <a class="extlink-source reference external" href="https://github.com/python/cpython/tree/3.15/Lib/site.py">Lib/site.py</a></p>
<hr class="docutils" />
<p><strong>This module is automatically imported during initialization.</strong> The automatic
import can be suppressed using the interpreter’s <a class="reference internal" href="../using/cmdline.html#cmdoption-S"><code class="xref std std-option docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-S</span></code></a> option.</p>
<p id="index-0">Importing this module normally appends site-specific paths to the module search path
and adds <a class="reference internal" href="constants.html#site-consts"><span class="std std-ref">callables</span></a>, including <a class="reference internal" href="functions.html#help" title="help"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">help()</span></code></a> to the built-in
namespace. However, Python startup option <a class="reference internal" href="../using/cmdline.html#cmdoption-S"><code class="xref std std-option docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-S</span></code></a> blocks this, and this module
can be safely imported with no automatic modifications to the module search path
or additions to the builtins. To explicitly trigger the usual site-specific
additions, call the <a class="reference internal" href="#site.main" title="site.main"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">main()</span></code></a> function.</p>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.3: </span>Importing the module used to trigger paths manipulation even when using
<a class="reference internal" href="../using/cmdline.html#cmdoption-S"><code class="xref std std-option docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-S</span></code></a>.</p>
</div>
<p id="index-1">It starts by constructing up to four directories from a head and a tail part.
For the head part, it uses <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.prefix</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.exec_prefix</span></code>; empty heads
are skipped. For the tail part, it uses the empty string and then
<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lib/site-packages</span></code> (on Windows) or
<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lib/python</span><em><span class="pre">X.Y[t]</span></em><span class="pre">/site-packages</span></code> (on Unix and macOS). (The
optional suffix “t” indicates the <a class="reference internal" href="../glossary.html#term-free-threaded-build"><span class="xref std std-term">free-threaded build</span></a>, and is
appended if <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">"t"</span></code> is present in the <a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#sys.abiflags" title="sys.abiflags"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.abiflags</span></code></a> constant.)
For each
of the distinct head-tail combinations, it sees if it refers to an existing
directory, and if so, adds it to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code> and also inspects the newly
added path for configuration files.</p>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.5: </span>Support for the “site-python” directory has been removed.</p>
</div>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.13: </span>On Unix, <a class="reference internal" href="../glossary.html#term-free-threading"><span class="xref std std-term">Free threading</span></a> Python installations are
identified by the “t” suffix in the version-specific directory name, such as
<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lib/python3.13t/</span></code>.</p>
</div>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.14: </span><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">site</span></code> is no longer responsible for updating <a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#sys.prefix" title="sys.prefix"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.prefix</span></code></a> and
<a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#sys.exec_prefix" title="sys.exec_prefix"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.exec_prefix</span></code></a> on <a class="reference internal" href="sys_path_init.html#sys-path-init-virtual-environments"><span class="std std-ref">Virtual Environments</span></a>. This is
now done during the <a class="reference internal" href="sys_path_init.html#sys-path-init"><span class="std std-ref">path initialization</span></a>. As a result,
under <a class="reference internal" href="sys_path_init.html#sys-path-init-virtual-environments"><span class="std std-ref">Virtual Environments</span></a>, <code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.prefix</span></code> and
<code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.exec_prefix</span></code> no longer depend on the <code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">site</span></code> initialization,
and are therefore unaffected by <a class="reference internal" href="../using/cmdline.html#cmdoption-S"><code class="xref std std-option docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-S</span></code></a>.</p>
</div>
<p id="site-virtual-environments-configuration">When running under a <a class="reference internal" href="sys_path_init.html#sys-path-init-virtual-environments"><span class="std std-ref">virtual environment</span></a>,
the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">pyvenv.cfg</span></code> file in <a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#sys.prefix" title="sys.prefix"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.prefix</span></code></a> is checked for site-specific
configurations. If the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">include-system-site-packages</span></code> key exists and is set to
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">true</span></code> (case-insensitive), the system-level prefixes will be searched for
site-packages, otherwise they won’t. If the system-level prefixes are not searched then
the user site prefixes are also implicitly not searched for site-packages.</p>
<p id="index-2">The <code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">site</span></code> module recognizes two startup configuration files of the form
<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><em><span class="pre">name</span></em><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> for path configurations, and <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><em><span class="pre">name</span></em><span class="pre">.start</span></code> for
pre-first-line code execution. Both files can exist in one of the four
directories mentioned above. Within each directory, these files are sorted
alphabetically by filename, then parsed in sorted order.</p>
<section id="path-extensions-pth-files">
<span id="site-pth-files"></span><h2>Path extensions (<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> files)<a class="headerlink" href="#path-extensions-pth-files" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p><code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><em><span class="pre">name</span></em><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> contains additional items (one per line) to be appended to
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code>. Items that name non-existing directories are never added to
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code>, and no check is made that the item refers to a directory rather
than a file. No item is added to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code> more than once. Blank lines
and lines beginning with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">#</span></code> are skipped.</p>
<p>For backward compatibility, lines starting with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span></code> (followed by space
or tab) are executed with <a class="reference internal" href="functions.html#exec" title="exec"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">exec()</span></code></a>.</p>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.13: </span>The <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> files are now decoded by UTF-8 at first and then by the
<a class="reference internal" href="../glossary.html#term-locale-encoding"><span class="xref std std-term">locale encoding</span></a> if it fails.</p>
</div>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.15: </span><code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> file lines starting with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span></code> are deprecated. During
the deprecation period, such lines are still executed (except in the case
below), but a diagnostic message is emitted only when the <a class="reference internal" href="../using/cmdline.html#cmdoption-v"><code class="xref std std-option docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-v</span></code></a> flag
is given.</p>
<p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span></code> lines in <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><em><span class="pre">name</span></em><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> are silently ignored when a
<a class="reference internal" href="#site-start-files"><span class="std std-ref">matching</span></a> <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><em><span class="pre">name</span></em><span class="pre">.start</span></code> file exists.</p>
<p>Errors on individual lines no longer abort processing of the rest of the
file. Each error is reported and the remaining lines continue to be
processed.</p>
</div>
<div class="deprecated-removed">
<p><span class="versionmodified deprecated">Deprecated since version 3.15, will be removed in version 3.20: </span>Decoding <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><em><span class="pre">name</span></em><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> files in any encoding other than <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">utf-8-sig</span></code>
is deprecated in Python 3.15, and support for decoding from the locale
encoding will be removed in Python 3.20.</p>
<p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span></code> lines in <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><em><span class="pre">name</span></em><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> files are deprecated and will be
silently ignored in Python 3.18 and 3.19. In Python 3.20 a warning will be
produced for <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span></code> lines in <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><em><span class="pre">name</span></em><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> files.</p>
</div>
</section>
<section id="startup-entry-points-start-files">
<span id="site-start-files"></span><h2>Startup entry points (<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.start</span></code> files)<a class="headerlink" href="#startup-entry-points-start-files" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.15.</span></p>
</div>
<p>A startup entry point file is a file whose name has the form
<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><em><span class="pre">name</span></em><span class="pre">.start</span></code> and exists in one of the site-packages directories
described above. Each file specifies entry points to be called during
interpreter startup, using the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">pkg.mod:callable</span></code> syntax understood by
<a class="reference internal" href="pkgutil.html#pkgutil.resolve_name" title="pkgutil.resolve_name"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">pkgutil.resolve_name()</span></code></a>.</p>
<p>Each non-blank line that does not begin with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">#</span></code> must contain an entry
point reference in the form <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">pkg.mod:callable</span></code>. The colon and callable
portion are mandatory. Each callable is invoked with no arguments, and
any return value is discarded.</p>
<p><code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.start</span></code> files are processed after all <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> path extensions
have been applied to <a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#sys.path" title="sys.path"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code></a>, ensuring that paths are available
before any startup code runs.</p>
<p>Unlike <a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#sys.path" title="sys.path"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code></a> extensions from <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> files, duplicate entry
points are <strong>not</strong> de-duplicated — if an entry point appears more than once,
it will be called more than once.</p>
<p>If an exception occurs during resolution or invocation of an entry point,
a traceback is printed to <a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#sys.stderr" title="sys.stderr"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.stderr</span></code></a> and processing continues with
the remaining entry points.</p>
<p><code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.start</span></code> files must be encoded in UTF-8.</p>
<p><span class="target" id="index-3"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0829/"><strong>PEP 829</strong></a> defined the original specification for these features.</p>
<div class="admonition note">
<p class="admonition-title">Note</p>
<p>If a <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><em><span class="pre">name</span></em><span class="pre">.start</span></code> file exists alongside a <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><em><span class="pre">name</span></em><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> file
with the same base name, any <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span></code> lines in the <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> file are
ignored in favor of the entry points in the <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.start</span></code> file.</p>
</div>
<div class="admonition note">
<p class="admonition-title">Note</p>
<p>Executable lines (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span></code> lines in <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><em><span class="pre">name</span></em><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> files and
<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><em><span class="pre">name</span></em><span class="pre">.start</span></code> file entry points) are always run at Python startup
(unless <a class="reference internal" href="../using/cmdline.html#cmdoption-S"><code class="xref std std-option docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-S</span></code></a> is given to disable the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">site.py</span></code> module entirely),
regardless of whether a particular module is actually going to be used.</p>
</div>
<div class="admonition note">
<p class="admonition-title">Note</p>
<p><code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><em><span class="pre">name</span></em><span class="pre">.start</span></code> files invoke <a class="reference internal" href="pkgutil.html#pkgutil.resolve_name" title="pkgutil.resolve_name"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">pkgutil.resolve_name()</span></code></a> with
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">strict=True</span></code>, which requires the full <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">pkg.mod:callable</span></code> form.</p>
</div>
</section>
<section id="startup-file-examples">
<span id="index-4"></span><h2>Startup file examples<a class="headerlink" href="#startup-file-examples" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>For example, suppose <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.prefix</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.exec_prefix</span></code> are set to
<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">/usr/local</span></code>. The Python X.Y library is then installed in
<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">/usr/local/lib/python</span><em><span class="pre">X.Y</span></em></code>. Suppose this has
a subdirectory <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">/usr/local/lib/python</span><em><span class="pre">X.Y</span></em><span class="pre">/site-packages</span></code> with three
sub-subdirectories, <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">foo</span></code>, <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">bar</span></code> and <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">spam</span></code>, and two path
configuration files, <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">foo.pth</span></code> and <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">bar.pth</span></code>. Assume
<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">foo.pth</span></code> contains the following:</p>
<div class="highlight-none notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span># foo package configuration
foo
bar
bletch
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>and <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">bar.pth</span></code> contains:</p>
<div class="highlight-none notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span># bar package configuration
bar
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Then the following version-specific directories are added to
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code>, in this order:</p>
<div class="highlight-none notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span>/usr/local/lib/pythonX.Y/site-packages/bar
/usr/local/lib/pythonX.Y/site-packages/foo
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Note that <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">bletch</span></code> is omitted because it doesn’t exist; the <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">bar</span></code>
directory precedes the <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">foo</span></code> directory because <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">bar.pth</span></code> comes
alphabetically before <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">foo.pth</span></code>; and <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">spam</span></code> is omitted because it is
not mentioned in either path configuration file.</p>
<p>Let’s say that there is also a <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">foo.start</span></code> file containing the
following:</p>
<div class="highlight-none notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span># foo package startup code
foo.submod:initialize
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Now, after <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code> has been extended as above, and before Python turns
control over to user code, the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">foo.submod</span></code> module is imported and the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">initialize()</span></code> function from that module is called.</p>
</section>
<section id="migrating-from-import-lines-in-pth-files-to-start-files">
<span id="site-migration-guide"></span><h2>Migrating from <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span></code> lines in <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> files to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.start</span></code> files<a class="headerlink" href="#migrating-from-import-lines-in-pth-files-to-start-files" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>If your package currently ships a <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><em><span class="pre">name</span></em><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> file, you can keep all
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code> extension lines unchanged. Only <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span></code> lines need to be
migrated.</p>
<p>To migrate, create a callable (taking zero arguments) within an importable
module in your package. Reference it as a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">pkg.mod:callable</span></code> entry point
in a matching <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><em><span class="pre">name</span></em><span class="pre">.start</span></code> file. Move everything on your <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span></code>
line after the first semi-colon into the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">callable()</span></code> function.</p>
<p>If your package must straddle older Pythons that do not support <span class="target" id="index-5"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0829/"><strong>PEP 829</strong></a>
and newer Pythons that do, change the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span></code> lines in your
<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><em><span class="pre">name</span></em><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> to use the following form:</p>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="kn">import</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nn">pkg.mod</span><span class="p">;</span> <span class="n">pkg</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mod</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">callable</span><span class="p">()</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Older Pythons will execute these <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span></code> lines, while newer Pythons will
ignore them in favor of the <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><em><span class="pre">name</span></em><span class="pre">.start</span></code> file. After the straddling
period, remove all <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span></code> lines from your <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> files.</p>
</section>
<section id="module-sitecustomize">
<span id="sitecustomize"></span><h2><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sitecustomize</span></code><a class="headerlink" href="#module-sitecustomize" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>After these path manipulations, an attempt is made to import a module named
<code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sitecustomize</span></code>, which can perform arbitrary site-specific customizations.
It is typically created by a system administrator in the site-packages
directory. If this import fails with an <a class="reference internal" href="exceptions.html#ImportError" title="ImportError"><code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ImportError</span></code></a> or its subclass
exception, and the exception’s <a class="reference internal" href="exceptions.html#ImportError.name" title="ImportError.name"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">name</span></code></a>
attribute equals <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'sitecustomize'</span></code>,
it is silently ignored. If Python is started without output streams available, as
with <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">pythonw.exe</span></code> on Windows (which is used by default to start IDLE),
attempted output from <code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sitecustomize</span></code> is ignored. Any other exception
causes a silent and perhaps mysterious failure of the process.</p>
</section>
<section id="module-usercustomize">
<span id="usercustomize"></span><h2><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">usercustomize</span></code><a class="headerlink" href="#module-usercustomize" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>After this, an attempt is made to import a module named <code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">usercustomize</span></code>,
which can perform arbitrary user-specific customizations, if
<a class="reference internal" href="#site.ENABLE_USER_SITE" title="site.ENABLE_USER_SITE"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ENABLE_USER_SITE</span></code></a> is true. This file is intended to be created in the
user site-packages directory (see below), which is part of <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code> unless
disabled by <a class="reference internal" href="../using/cmdline.html#cmdoption-s"><code class="xref std std-option docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-s</span></code></a>. If this import fails with an <a class="reference internal" href="exceptions.html#ImportError" title="ImportError"><code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ImportError</span></code></a> or
its subclass exception, and the exception’s <a class="reference internal" href="exceptions.html#ImportError.name" title="ImportError.name"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">name</span></code></a>
attribute equals <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'usercustomize'</span></code>, it is silently ignored.</p>
<p>Note that for some non-Unix systems, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.prefix</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.exec_prefix</span></code> are
empty, and the path manipulations are skipped; however the import of
<a class="reference internal" href="#module-sitecustomize" title="sitecustomize"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sitecustomize</span></code></a> and <code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">usercustomize</span></code> is still attempted.</p>
</section>
<section id="readline-configuration">
<span id="rlcompleter-config"></span><h2>Readline configuration<a class="headerlink" href="#readline-configuration" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>On systems that support <a class="reference internal" href="readline.html#module-readline" title="readline: GNU readline support for Python."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">readline</span></code></a>, this module will also import and
configure the <a class="reference internal" href="rlcompleter.html#module-rlcompleter" title="rlcompleter: Python identifier completion, suitable for the GNU readline library."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">rlcompleter</span></code></a> module, if Python is started in
<a class="reference internal" href="../tutorial/interpreter.html#tut-interactive"><span class="std std-ref">interactive mode</span></a> and without the <a class="reference internal" href="../using/cmdline.html#cmdoption-S"><code class="xref std std-option docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-S</span></code></a> option.
The default behavior is to enable tab completion and to use
<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">~/.python_history</span></code> as the history save file. To disable it, delete (or
override) the <a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#sys.__interactivehook__" title="sys.__interactivehook__"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.__interactivehook__</span></code></a> attribute in your
<a class="reference internal" href="#module-sitecustomize" title="sitecustomize"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sitecustomize</span></code></a> or <a class="reference internal" href="#module-usercustomize" title="usercustomize"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">usercustomize</span></code></a> module or your
<span class="target" id="index-6"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../using/cmdline.html#envvar-PYTHONSTARTUP"><code class="xref std std-envvar docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PYTHONSTARTUP</span></code></a> file.</p>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.4: </span>Activation of rlcompleter and history was made automatic.</p>
</div>
</section>
<section id="module-contents">
<h2>Module contents<a class="headerlink" href="#module-contents" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<dl class="py data">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="site.PREFIXES">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">site.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">PREFIXES</span></span><a class="headerlink" href="#site.PREFIXES" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>A list of prefixes for site-packages directories.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py data">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="site.ENABLE_USER_SITE">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">site.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">ENABLE_USER_SITE</span></span><a class="headerlink" href="#site.ENABLE_USER_SITE" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Flag showing the status of the user site-packages directory. <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">True</span></code> means
that it is enabled and was added to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code>. <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">False</span></code> means that it
was disabled by user request (with <a class="reference internal" href="../using/cmdline.html#cmdoption-s"><code class="xref std std-option docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-s</span></code></a> or
<span class="target" id="index-7"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../using/cmdline.html#envvar-PYTHONNOUSERSITE"><code class="xref std std-envvar docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PYTHONNOUSERSITE</span></code></a>). <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code> means it was disabled for security
reasons (mismatch between user or group id and effective id) or by an
administrator.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py data">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="site.USER_SITE">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">site.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">USER_SITE</span></span><a class="headerlink" href="#site.USER_SITE" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Path to the user site-packages for the running Python. Can be <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code> if
<a class="reference internal" href="#site.getusersitepackages" title="site.getusersitepackages"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">getusersitepackages()</span></code></a> hasn’t been called yet. Default value is
<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">~/.local/lib/python</span><em><span class="pre">X.Y</span></em><span class="pre">[t]/site-packages</span></code> for UNIX and non-framework
macOS builds, <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">~/Library/Python/</span><em><span class="pre">X.Y</span></em><span class="pre">/lib/python/site-packages</span></code> for macOS
framework builds, and <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><em><span class="pre">%APPDATA%</span></em><span class="pre">\Python\Python</span><em><span class="pre">XY</span></em><span class="pre">\site-packages</span></code>
on Windows. The optional “t” indicates the free-threaded build. This
directory is a site directory, which means that <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> files in it
will be processed.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py data">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="site.USER_BASE">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">site.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">USER_BASE</span></span><a class="headerlink" href="#site.USER_BASE" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Path to the base directory for the user site-packages. Can be <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code> if
<a class="reference internal" href="#site.getuserbase" title="site.getuserbase"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">getuserbase()</span></code></a> hasn’t been called yet. Default value is
<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">~/.local</span></code> for UNIX and macOS non-framework builds,
<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">~/Library/Python/</span><em><span class="pre">X.Y</span></em></code> for macOS framework builds, and
<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><em><span class="pre">%APPDATA%</span></em><span class="pre">\Python</span></code> for Windows. This value is used to
compute the installation directories for scripts, data files, Python modules,
etc. for the <a class="reference internal" href="sysconfig.html#sysconfig-user-scheme"><span class="std std-ref">user installation scheme</span></a>.
See also <span class="target" id="index-8"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../using/cmdline.html#envvar-PYTHONUSERBASE"><code class="xref std std-envvar docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PYTHONUSERBASE</span></code></a>.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="site.main">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">site.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">main</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#site.main" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Adds all the standard site-specific directories to the module search
path. This function is called automatically when this module is imported,
unless the Python interpreter was started with the <a class="reference internal" href="../using/cmdline.html#cmdoption-S"><code class="xref std std-option docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-S</span></code></a> flag.</p>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.3: </span>This function used to be called unconditionally.</p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="site.makepath">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">site.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">makepath</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><em class="sig-param"><span class="o"><span class="pre">*</span></span><span class="n"><span class="pre">paths</span></span></em><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#site.makepath" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Join <em>paths</em> with <a class="reference internal" href="os.path.html#os.path.join" title="os.path.join"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.path.join()</span></code></a>, attempt to make the result
absolute with <a class="reference internal" href="os.path.html#os.path.abspath" title="os.path.abspath"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.path.abspath()</span></code></a>, and return a 2-tuple containing
the absolute path and its case-normalized form as produced by
<a class="reference internal" href="os.path.html#os.path.normcase" title="os.path.normcase"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.path.normcase()</span></code></a>. If <code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.path.abspath()</span></code> raises
<a class="reference internal" href="exceptions.html#OSError" title="OSError"><code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">OSError</span></code></a>, the joined path is used unchanged for the
case-normalization step.</p>
<p>The second element of the returned tuple is the form used throughout the
<code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">site</span></code> module to compare paths on case-insensitive file systems, and
is what populates the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">known_paths</span></code> sets that prevent duplicate
<a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#sys.path" title="sys.path"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code></a> entries in various APIs within this module.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py class">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="site.StartupState">
<em class="property"><span class="k"><span class="pre">class</span></span><span class="w"> </span></em><span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">site.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">StartupState</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">known_paths</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#site.StartupState" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Instances of this class accumulate interpreter startup configuration data
from one or more site directories. They are the preferred interface for
batching the processing of <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> and <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.start</span></code> files across
multiple site directories, so that every <a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#sys.path" title="sys.path"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code></a> extension is
visible before any startup code runs.</p>
<p>The optional <em>known_paths</em> argument is a set of case-normalized paths
(which can be produced by <a class="reference internal" href="#site.makepath" title="site.makepath"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">makepath()</span></code></a>) used to prevent duplicate
<a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#sys.path" title="sys.path"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code></a> entries. When <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code> (the default), the set is built
from the current <code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code>. <a class="reference internal" href="#site.main" title="site.main"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">main()</span></code></a> implicitly uses an
instance of this class.</p>
<p>Typical use:</p>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">state</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">site</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">StartupState</span><span class="p">()</span>
<span class="k">for</span> <span class="n">sitedir</span> <span class="ow">in</span> <span class="n">site_dirs</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="n">state</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">addsitedir</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">sitedir</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">state</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">process</span><span class="p">()</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.15.</span></p>
</div>
<dl class="py method">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="site.StartupState.addsitedir">
<span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">addsitedir</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">sitedir</span></span></em><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#site.StartupState.addsitedir" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Read the <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> and <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.start</span></code> files in <em>sitedir</em> and
record their <a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#sys.path" title="sys.path"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code></a> extensions, deprecated <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code>
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span></code> lines, and <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.start</span></code> entry points on this state.
The recorded data is not applied until <a class="reference internal" href="#site.StartupState.process" title="site.StartupState.process"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">process()</span></code></a> is called.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py method">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="site.StartupState.addusersitepackages">
<span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">addusersitepackages</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#site.StartupState.addusersitepackages" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Add the per-user site-packages directory, if enabled and if it exists.
The directory’s startup data is accumulated for later processing by
<a class="reference internal" href="#site.StartupState.process" title="site.StartupState.process"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">process()</span></code></a>.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py method">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="site.StartupState.addsitepackages">
<span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">addsitepackages</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">prefixes</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#site.StartupState.addsitepackages" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Add global site-packages directories, computed from <em>prefixes</em> or from
the global <a class="reference internal" href="#site.PREFIXES" title="site.PREFIXES"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PREFIXES</span></code></a> when <em>prefixes</em> is <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>. Each
directory’s startup data is accumulated for later processing by
<a class="reference internal" href="#site.StartupState.process" title="site.StartupState.process"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">process()</span></code></a>.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py method">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="site.StartupState.process">
<span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">process</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#site.StartupState.process" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Apply the accumulated state by first adding the path extensions to
<a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#sys.path" title="sys.path"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code></a>, then executing the <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.start</span></code> file entry points
and <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> file <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span></code> lines (<a class="reference internal" href="#site-pth-files"><span class="std std-ref">deprecated</span></a>).</p>
<p>This method is not idempotent and must not be called more than once
on the same instance. Doing so will apply the accumulated state
more than once, re-running entry points and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span></code> lines.</p>
</dd></dl>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="site.addsitedir">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">site.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">addsitedir</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">sitedir</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">known_paths</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#site.addsitedir" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Add a directory to sys.path and parse the <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> and <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.start</span></code>
files found in that directory. Typically used in <a class="reference internal" href="#module-sitecustomize" title="sitecustomize"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sitecustomize</span></code></a> or
<a class="reference internal" href="#module-usercustomize" title="usercustomize"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">usercustomize</span></code></a> (see above).</p>
<p>The <em>known_paths</em> argument is an optional set of case-normalized paths
used to prevent duplicate <a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#sys.path" title="sys.path"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code></a> entries. When <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code> (the
default), the set is built from the current <code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code>.</p>
<p>For batched processing across multiple site directories, build a
<a class="reference internal" href="#site.StartupState" title="site.StartupState"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">StartupState</span></code></a> explicitly and call <a class="reference internal" href="#site.StartupState.addsitedir" title="site.StartupState.addsitedir"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">StartupState.addsitedir()</span></code></a>
on it; that defers <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> and <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.start</span></code> processing until a
single <a class="reference internal" href="#site.StartupState.process" title="site.StartupState.process"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">StartupState.process()</span></code></a> call, ensuring every <a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#sys.path" title="sys.path"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code></a>
extension is visible before any startup code runs.</p>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.15: </span>Also processes <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.start</span></code> files. See <a class="reference internal" href="#site-start-files"><span class="std std-ref">Startup entry points (.start files)</span></a>.</p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="site.getsitepackages">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">site.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">getsitepackages</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#site.getsitepackages" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Return a list containing all global site-packages directories.</p>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.2.</span></p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="site.getuserbase">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">site.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">getuserbase</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#site.getuserbase" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Return the path of the user base directory, <a class="reference internal" href="#site.USER_BASE" title="site.USER_BASE"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">USER_BASE</span></code></a>. If it is not
initialized yet, this function will also set it, respecting
<span class="target" id="index-9"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../using/cmdline.html#envvar-PYTHONUSERBASE"><code class="xref std std-envvar docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PYTHONUSERBASE</span></code></a>.</p>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.2.</span></p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="site.getusersitepackages">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">site.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">getusersitepackages</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#site.getusersitepackages" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Return the path of the user-specific site-packages directory,
<a class="reference internal" href="#site.USER_SITE" title="site.USER_SITE"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">USER_SITE</span></code></a>. If it is not initialized yet, this function will also set
it, respecting <a class="reference internal" href="#site.USER_BASE" title="site.USER_BASE"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">USER_BASE</span></code></a>. To determine if the user-specific
site-packages was added to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code> <a class="reference internal" href="#site.ENABLE_USER_SITE" title="site.ENABLE_USER_SITE"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ENABLE_USER_SITE</span></code></a> should be
used.</p>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.2.</span></p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
</section>
<section id="command-line-interface">
<span id="site-commandline"></span><h2>Command-line interface<a class="headerlink" href="#command-line-interface" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>The <code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">site</span></code> module also provides a way to get the user directories from the
command line:</p>
<div class="highlight-shell-session notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="gp">$ </span>python<span class="w"> </span>-m<span class="w"> </span>site<span class="w"> </span>--user-site
<span class="go">/home/user/.local/lib/python3.11/site-packages</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>If it is called without arguments, it will print the contents of
<a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#sys.path" title="sys.path"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code></a> on the standard output, followed by the value of
<a class="reference internal" href="#site.USER_BASE" title="site.USER_BASE"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">USER_BASE</span></code></a> and whether the directory exists, then the same thing for
<a class="reference internal" href="#site.USER_SITE" title="site.USER_SITE"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">USER_SITE</span></code></a>, and finally the value of <a class="reference internal" href="#site.ENABLE_USER_SITE" title="site.ENABLE_USER_SITE"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ENABLE_USER_SITE</span></code></a>.</p>
<dl class="std option">
<dt class="sig sig-object std" id="cmdoption-site-user-base">
<span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">--user-base</span></span><span class="sig-prename descclassname"></span><a class="headerlink" href="#cmdoption-site-user-base" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Print the path to the user base directory.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="std option">
<dt class="sig sig-object std" id="cmdoption-site-user-site">
<span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">--user-site</span></span><span class="sig-prename descclassname"></span><a class="headerlink" href="#cmdoption-site-user-site" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Print the path to the user site-packages directory.</p>
</dd></dl>
<p>If both options are given, user base and user site will be printed (always in
this order), separated by <a class="reference internal" href="os.html#os.pathsep" title="os.pathsep"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.pathsep</span></code></a>.</p>
<p>If any option is given, the script will exit with one of these values: <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">0</span></code> if
the user site-packages directory is enabled, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">1</span></code> if it was disabled by the
user, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">2</span></code> if it is disabled for security reasons or by an administrator, and a
value greater than 2 if there is an error.</p>
<div class="admonition seealso">
<p class="admonition-title">See also</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><span class="target" id="index-10"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0370/"><strong>PEP 370</strong></a> – Per user site-packages directory</p></li>
<li><p><span class="target" id="index-11"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0829/"><strong>PEP 829</strong></a> – Startup entry points and the deprecation of import lines in <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> files</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="sys_path_init.html#sys-path-init"><span class="std std-ref">The initialization of the sys.path module search path</span></a> – The initialization of <a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#sys.path" title="sys.path"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code></a>.</p></li>
</ul>
</div>
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</section>
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<h3><a href="../contents.html">Table of Contents</a></h3>
<ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">site</span></code> — Site-specific configuration hook</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#path-extensions-pth-files">Path extensions (<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> files)</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#startup-entry-points-start-files">Startup entry points (<code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.start</span></code> files)</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#startup-file-examples">Startup file examples</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#migrating-from-import-lines-in-pth-files-to-start-files">Migrating from <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span></code> lines in <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> files to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.start</span></code> files</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#module-sitecustomize"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sitecustomize</span></code></a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#module-usercustomize"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">usercustomize</span></code></a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#readline-configuration">Readline configuration</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#module-contents">Module contents</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#command-line-interface">Command-line interface</a></li>
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