pypa/pip · error · PylockValidationError

path or url must be provided

Error message

path or url must be provided

What it means

Raised by _validate_path_url in pylock.py:245-247, called from the _from_dict of PackageVcs, PackageArchive, PackageSdist and PackageWheel. At least one of 'path' or 'url' must be a non-empty string; if both are missing/empty, PylockValidationError is raised (note: a vcs/archive/sdist/wheel still needs a fetchable location even when 'name' is set).

Solutions

1. Add path = "..." or url = "..." to the vcs/archive/sdist/wheel entry.
2. For VCS entries ensure 'url' (remote) or 'path' (local checkout) is present.

Example fix

# before
[[packages]]
name = "x"
  [packages.vcs]
  type = "git"
  commit-id = "abc"
# after
[[packages]]
name = "x"
  [packages.vcs]
  type = "git"
  url = "https://example.com/x.git"
  commit-id = "abc"

def has_path_or_url(path, url) -> bool:
    return bool(path) or bool(url)

from packaging.pylock import Pylock, PylockValidationError

try:
    Pylock.from_dict(d)
except PylockValidationError as e:
    ...

When it happens

Trigger: A [[packages.vcs]] table with only type/commit-id but no path and no url; a sdist/archive/wheel entry with hashes and name but neither path nor url.

Common situations: Forgetting the source location; assuming 'name' implies a download URL.

Related errors

• At least one hash must be provided
• Cannot determine sdist filename
• Cannot determine wheel filename
• Cannot select requirements from pylock file
• Directory entries are not supported in remote pylock.toml

AI-assisted analysis of pypa/pip@f399c37189 (2026-08-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c09d1847cb436890. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/pip/_vendor/packaging/pylock.py:247

    d: Mapping[str, Any], target_item_type: type[_FromMappingProtocolT], key: str
) -> Sequence[_FromMappingProtocolT]:
    """Get a required list value from the dictionary and convert its items to a
    dataclass."""
    if (result := _get_sequence_of_objects(d, target_item_type, key)) is None:
        raise _PylockRequiredKeyError(key)
    return result


def _validate_normalized_name(name: str) -> NormalizedName:
    """Validate that a string is a NormalizedName."""
    if not is_normalized_name(name):
        raise PylockValidationError(f"Name {name!r} is not normalized")
    return NormalizedName(name)


def _validate_path_url(path: str | None, url: str | None) -> None:
    if not path and not url:
        raise PylockValidationError("path or url must be provided")


def _path_name(path: str | None) -> str | None:
    if not path:
        return None
    # If the path is relative it MAY use POSIX-style path separators explicitly
    # for portability
    if "/" in path:
        return path.rsplit("/", 1)[-1]
    elif "\\" in path:
        return path.rsplit("\\", 1)[-1]
    else:
        return path


def _url_name(url: str | None) -> str | None:
    if not url:
        return None

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