Using TestPyPI

TestPyPI is a separate instance of the Python Package Index (PyPI) that allows you to try out the distribution tools and process without worrying about affecting the real index. TestPyPI is hosted at test.pypi.org

Registering your account

Because TestPyPI has a separate database from the live PyPI, you’ll need a separate user account for specifically for TestPyPI. Go to https://test.pypi.org/account/register/ to register your account.

Note

The database for TestPyPI may be periodically pruned, so it is not unusual for user accounts to be deleted.

Using TestPyPI with Twine

You can upload your distributions to TestPyPI using twine by passing in the --repository-url flag

$ twine upload --repository-url https://test.pypi.org/legacy/ dist/*

The legacy in the URL above refers to the legacy API for PyPI, which may change as the Warehouse project progresses.

You can see if your package has successfully uploaded by navigating to the URL https://test.pypi.org/project/<sampleproject> where sampleproject is the name of your project that you uploaded. It may take a minute or two for your project to appear on the site.

Using TestPyPI with pip

You can tell pip to download packages from TestPyPI instead of PyPI by specifying the --index-url flag

$ pip install --index-url https://test.pypi.org/simple/ your-package

If you want to allow pip to also pull other packages from PyPI you can specify --extra-index-url to point to PyPI. This is useful when the package you’re testing has dependencies:

pip install --index-url https://test.pypi.org/simple/ --extra-index-url https://pypi.org/simple your-package

Setting up TestPyPI in pypirc

If you want to avoid entering the TestPyPI url and your username you can configure TestPyPI in your $HOME/.pypirc.

Create or modify $HOME/.pypirc with the following:

[distutils]
index-servers=
    pypi
    testpypi

[testpypi]
repository: https://test.pypi.org/legacy/
username: your testpypi username

Warning

Do not store passwords in the pypirc file. Storing passwords in plain text is never a good idea.

You can then tell twine to upload to TestPyPI by specifying the --repository flag:

$ twine upload --repository testpypi dist/*