I’m looking for guidance on how to reference a library directly from GitHub in my requirements.txt file. I’ve been able to install it using the command below:
This installation works well when I execute it manually. However, I need to include this GitHub dependency in the requirements.txt so that others can install it seamlessly.
My attempt was to add these lines into my requirements.txt:
When I proceed with pip install -r requirements.txt, I encounter the following error:
Downloading/unpacking elasticutils==0.7.dev (from -r requirements.txt (line 20))
Could not find a version that satisfies the requirement elasticutils==0.7.dev
No distributions matching the version for elasticutils==0.7.dev
I’ve checked the pip documentation but haven’t found the correct format for including GitHub links. Can anyone help me out with this?
The issue arises from the incorrect use of the -f flag. Instead, you should include the Git URL directly within your requirements.txt, omitting any version lines. For instance:
git+git://github.com/mozilla/elasticutils.git
If you aim to target a specific commit or tag, append @ followed by the commit hash:
I faced a similar problem when working with a forked version of a package. Remember that the -f option is intended for extra package indexes, not for Git repositories. If you specify it with a git URL, pip seeks the version on PyPI, which leads to the errors you’re encountering.
Additionally, bear in mind that using git dependencies can slow down installation times since pip has to clone the entire repository for each install. If efficiency is crucial, particularly in production, consider using egg fragments instead.
Ditch the -f flag and separate version line. The -f is for finding packages, not installing from git.
This approach gets messy fast with multiple projects though. I’ve had GitHub refs randomly break builds.
I automated the whole thing with Latenode now. Set up workflows that monitor updates, test compatibility, and update requirements across all projects automatically. Handles git dependencies, version conflicts, and notifies the team when something breaks.
Saves me hours weekly vs manually tracking GitHub packages and fixing broken builds. Just runs in the background keeping everything synced.
You’re getting that error because the -f flag doesn’t work with git URLs like that. Just put the git URL directly in your requirements.txt:
git+https://github.com/mozilla/elasticutils.git
That’s it. No version specifier, no -f flag.
The real headache starts when you scale this across multiple projects. I used to waste hours tracking which git dependencies broke, updating them manually, and dealing with version conflicts between repos.
Now I handle this through Latenode automation. Set up flows that pull from git repos, test compatibility, auto-update requirements files, and notify when something breaks. Works with private repos too.
Instead of manually checking GitHub for updates and hoping nothing breaks in production, the whole dependency management runs itself. Catches issues early and keeps projects synced.
You’re mixing -f with git URLs wrong. Drop the -f flag and put the git URL directly in requirements.txt:
git+https://github.com/mozilla/elasticutils.git
I hit this same issue last year pulling a custom Django package from our company’s GitHub. The -f flag tells pip to look for extra package indexes, but when you mix it with a git URL, pip still searches PyPI for that version - which obviously isn’t there.
Quick heads up - if you’re on a team, make sure everyone has git access to the repo. I’ve seen builds fail silently because someone couldn’t clone during pip install. Also pin to a specific commit hash in production so surprise updates don’t break your build.
Agreed, the -f flag’s causing the issue. Just drop the git URL straight into requirements.txt like git+https://github.com/mozilla/elasticutils.git and you’re good. Works fine with private repos too.