PyO3/pyo3 · error

expected a bool (1/true/True or 0/false/False) for Py_ENABLE

Error message

expected a bool (1/true/True or 0/false/False) for Py_ENABLE_SHARED

What it means

Parsing error raised while InterpreterConfig is built from a sysconfigdata file (from_sysconfigdata). The Py_ENABLE_SHARED value read from the _sysconfigdata module was not one of the accepted boolean spellings (1/true/True/0/false/False), e.g. an empty string or localized/unusual token, so Rust's bool parser rejected it.

Source

Thrown at pyo3-build-config/src/impl_.rs:616

                    .ok_or(concat!($key, " not found in sysconfigdata file"))
            };
        }

        macro_rules! parse_key {
            ($sysconfigdata:expr, $key:literal) => {
                get_key!($sysconfigdata, $key)?
                    .parse()
                    .context(concat!("could not parse value of ", $key))
            };
        }

        let soabi = get_key!(sysconfigdata, "SOABI")?;
        let implementation = PythonImplementation::from_soabi(soabi)?;
        let version = parse_key!(sysconfigdata, "VERSION")?;
        let shared = match sysconfigdata.get_value("Py_ENABLE_SHARED") {
            Some("1") | Some("true") | Some("True") => true,
            Some("0") | Some("false") | Some("False") => false,
            _ => bail!("expected a bool (1/true/True or 0/false/False) for Py_ENABLE_SHARED"),
        };
        // macOS framework packages use shared linking (PYTHONFRAMEWORK is the framework name, hence the empty check)
        let framework = match sysconfigdata.get_value("PYTHONFRAMEWORK") {
            Some(s) => !s.is_empty(),
            _ => false,
        };
        let python_framework_prefix = sysconfigdata
            .get_value("PYTHONFRAMEWORKPREFIX")
            .map(str::to_string);
        let lib_dir = get_key!(sysconfigdata, "LIBDIR").ok().map(str::to_string);
        let gil_disabled = match sysconfigdata.get_value("Py_GIL_DISABLED") {
            Some(value) => value == "1",
            None => false,
        };
        let cygwin = soabi.ends_with("cygwin");
        // purely descriptive of the interpreter in the sysconfigdata: PyO3's own
        // build pipeline applies any abi3/abi3t cargo features to this config
        // afterwards, in apply_build_env

View on GitHub (pinned to ac9b6899d3)

Solutions

1. Inspect the generated _sysconfigdata*.py and check the Py_ENABLE_SHARED entry for stray characters or an unexpected value
2. Regenerate or point PYO3_CROSS_LIB_DIR/_PYTHON_SYSCONFIGDATA_NAME at a sysconfigdata file produced by the real target interpreter
3. If cross-compiling, fix the toolchain/sysroot that produced the malformed file

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at pyo3-build-config/src/impl_.rs:616 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of PyO3/pyo3@ac9b6899d3 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ebaa73693338bd96. Report an issue: GitHub.