ERROR pip install_error ai_generated true

ERROR: Project file has a 'pyproject.toml' and its build backend is missing the 'build_editable' hook

ID: pip/editable-install-requires-pyproject

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90%Fix Rate
90%Confidence
50Evidence
2023-01-01First Seen

Version Compatibility

VersionStatusIntroducedDeprecatedNotes
24 active — — —

Root Cause

pip install -e . fails because build backend doesn't support editable installs.

generic

Workarounds

  1. 95% success Add setuptools to build-system in pyproject.toml — it supports build_editable 
    [build-system]
requires = ['setuptools>=64']
build-backend = 'setuptools.build_meta'

    Sources: https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/userguide/development_mode.html

  2. 82% success Or use pip install -e . --no-build-isolation if using a custom backend 
    # Skip build isolation (uses current environment's build tools):
pip install -e . --no-build-isolation

# You may need to install build deps first:
pip install setuptools wheel
pip install -e . --no-build-isolation

    Sources: https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/cli/pip_install/#cmdoption-no-build-isolation

Dead Ends

Common approaches that don't work:

  1. Use pip install . instead (non-editable) 55% fail

    Loses live editing — need to reinstall after every change

  2. Downgrade pip to bypass the check 65% fail

    Old pip has other issues — better to fix the build config

Error Chain

Frequently confused with: