# ERROR: Could not build wheels for numpy, which is required to install pyproject.toml-based projects

- **ID:** `python/pip-wheel-not-supported-python-version`
- **Domain:** python
- **Category:** install_error
- **Verification:** ai_generated
- **Fix Rate:** 80%

## Root Cause

No prebuilt wheel exists for the current (Python version, platform, ABI) triple, so pip falls back to a source build that fails because build deps (compiler, headers) are missing.

## Version Compatibility

| Version | Status | Introduced | Deprecated |
|---------|--------|------------|------------|
| 3.8 | active | — | — |
| 3.9 | active | — | — |
| 3.10 | active | — | — |
| 3.11 | active | — | — |
| 3.12 | active | — | — |
| 3.13 | active | — | — |

## Workarounds

1. **** (88% success)
   ```
   Install a prebuilt wheel from a compatible index or pin to a version with wheels: `pip install 'numpy<2' --only-binary=:all:` to force wheel-only resolution.
   ```
2. **** (85% success)
   ```
   Install build prerequisites: on Debian/Ubuntu `apt-get install build-essential python3-dev`, then retry `pip install numpy`.
   ```

## Dead Ends

- **** — Upgrading build tools does not create a wheel that upstream did not publish for this platform. (75% fail)
- **** — Uses the current environment's build deps; usually the same missing compiler is the actual blocker. (70% fail)