pypa/pip · error · ValueError

Duplicate entry point

Error message

Duplicate entry point

What it means

Raised by EntryPoint.parse_group when two entry points within the same group share the same name (the 'name' left of '='). pkg_resources builds a dict keyed by entry point name per group, so duplicates are ambiguous and rejected with ValueError('Duplicate entry point', group, name).

Source

Thrown at src/pip/_vendor/pkg_resources/__init__.py:2827

        if req.specs:
            raise ValueError
        return req.extras

    @classmethod
    def parse_group(
        cls,
        group: str,
        lines: _NestedStr,
        dist: Distribution | None = None,
    ):
        """Parse an entry point group"""
        if not MODULE(group):
            raise ValueError("Invalid group name", group)
        this: dict[str, Self] = {}
        for line in yield_lines(lines):
            ep = cls.parse(line, dist)
            if ep.name in this:
                raise ValueError("Duplicate entry point", group, ep.name)
            this[ep.name] = ep
        return this

    @classmethod
    def parse_map(
        cls,
        data: str | Iterable[str] | dict[str, str | Iterable[str]],
        dist: Distribution | None = None,
    ):
        """Parse a map of entry point groups"""
        _data: Iterable[tuple[str | None, str | Iterable[str]]]
        if isinstance(data, dict):
            _data = data.items()
        else:
            _data = split_sections(data)
        maps: dict[str, dict[str, Self]] = {}
        for group, lines in _data:
            if group is None:

View on GitHub (pinned to d7d0d0a394)

Solutions

1. Inspect entry_points.txt for the reported group and remove/rename the duplicate key so each name appears once.
2. If duplicates come from multiple installed distributions, uninstall or upgrade the conflicting package so only one defines that entry point.
3. Regenerate metadata from setup.cfg/pyproject.toml after de-duplicating the [project.scripts]/entry_points entries.

Example fix

# before
[console_scripts]
foo = pkg.a:main
foo = pkg.b:run

# after
[console_scripts]
foo = pkg.a:main
bar = pkg.b:run

names = [ep.split('=', 1)[0].strip() for ep in lines if ep.strip()]
if len(names) != len(set(names)):
    dupes = {n for n in names if names.count(n) > 1}
    raise ValueError(f'duplicate entry points: {dupes}')
EntryPoint.parse_group(group, lines)

def has_unique_names(entry_lines):
    seen = set()
    for ln in entry_lines:
        if '=' in ln:
            n = ln.split('=', 1)[0].strip()
            if n in seen:
                return False
            seen.add(n)
    return True

try:
    EntryPoint.parse_group(group, lines)
except ValueError as e:
    if 'Duplicate entry point' in str(e):
        # de-duplicate lines, then retry
        ...
    raise

When it happens

Trigger: An entry_points.txt section lists the same key twice, e.g. '[console_scripts]\nfoo=a:main\nfoo=b:main', and pkg_resources parses that group via parse_group/parse_map.

Common situations: Merging entry_points from multiple packages that both define the same console script, a copy-paste error in metadata, or a packaging plugin that appends rather than replaces.

Related errors

• Duplicate group name
• Invalid group name
• Entry points must be listed in groups
• Missing 'Version:' header and/or {} file at path: {}
• Entry point %r not found

AI-assisted analysis of pypa/pip@d7d0d0a394 (2026-08-04). Data as JSON: /data/errors/f15f5444e18b4985.json. Report an issue: GitHub.