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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="#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>
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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/3.13/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 interpreters <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-threading"><span class="xref std std-term">free threading</span></a> build, and is
appended if <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&quot;t&quot;</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>
<p>If a file named “pyvenv.cfg” exists one directory above sys.executable,
sys.prefix and sys.exec_prefix are set to that directory and
it is also checked for site-packages (sys.base_prefix and
sys.base_exec_prefix will always be the “real” prefixes of the Python
installation). If “pyvenv.cfg” (a bootstrap configuration file) contains
the key “include-system-site-packages” set to anything other than “true”
(case-insensitive), the system-level prefixes will not be
searched for site-packages; otherwise they will.</p>
<p id="index-2">A path configuration 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">.pth</span></code>
and exists in one of the four directories mentioned above; its contents are
additional items (one per line) to be added to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.path</span></code>. Non-existing items
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. Lines starting
with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span></code> (followed by space or tab) are executed.</p>
<div class="admonition note">
<p class="admonition-title">Note</p>
<p>An executable line in a <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> file is run at every Python startup,
regardless of whether a particular module is actually going to be used.
Its impact should thus be kept to a minimum.
The primary intended purpose of executable lines is to make the
corresponding module(s) importable
(load 3rd-party import hooks, adjust <span class="target" id="index-3"></span><code class="xref std std-envvar docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PATH</span></code> etc).
Any other initialization is supposed to be done upon a modules
actual import, if and when it happens.
Limiting a code chunk to a single line is a deliberate measure
to discourage putting anything more complex here.</p>
</div>
<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>
<p id="index-4">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
subsubdirectories, <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 doesnt 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>
<section id="module-sitecustomize">
<span id="sitecustomize"></span><h2><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><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
<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>, 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 exceptions <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 to <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 <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> 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><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><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 <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>,
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 exceptions <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 to <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 <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> 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. (Unix)"><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 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-5"></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-6"></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> hasnt 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> hasnt 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-7"></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.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 process its <code class="file docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.pth</span></code> files. 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>
</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-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>
<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 <a class="reference internal" href="#module-site" title="site: Module responsible for site-specific configuration."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">site</span></code></a> 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-9"></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><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>
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<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="#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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