python-poetry/poetry · error · RuntimeError

Repository {repository_name} is not defined

Error message

Repository {repository_name} is not defined

What it means

Raised by Publisher.publish() when a repository_name is supplied but Poetry's config has no repositories.<name>.url entry. Poetry needs an explicit URL to know where to upload; an undefined name is treated as a configuration error rather than guessing.

Source

Thrown at src/poetry/publishing/publisher.py:60

    def publish(
        self,
        repository_name: str | None,
        username: str | None,
        password: str | None,
        cert: Path | None = None,
        client_cert: Path | None = None,
        dry_run: bool = False,
        skip_existing: bool = False,
    ) -> None:
        if not repository_name:
            url = "https://upload.pypi.org/legacy/"
            repository_name = "pypi"
        else:
            # Retrieving config information
            url = self._poetry.config.get(["repositories", repository_name, "url"])
            if url is None:
                raise RuntimeError(f"Repository {repository_name} is not defined")
            url = _normalize_legacy_repository_url(url)

        if not (username and password):
            # Check if we have a token first
            token = self._authenticator.get_pypi_token(repository_name)
            if token:
                logger.debug("Found an API token for %s.", repository_name)
                username = "__token__"
                password = token
            else:
                auth = self._authenticator.get_http_auth(repository_name)
                if auth:
                    logger.debug(
                        "Found authentication information for %s.", repository_name
                    )
                    username = auth.username
                    password = auth.password

View on GitHub (pinned to 92b74dcfe3)

Solutions

1. Register the repository: `poetry config repositories.<name> <url>`.
2. Double-check the name passed to `--repository`/`-r` matches the configured key exactly (case-sensitive).
3. If the URL is in a different config scope, set it explicitly (`--local` for project-level, default for global).
4. For one-off use, fall back to the default PyPI by omitting `-r`.

Example fix

// before
$ poetry publish -r internal
RuntimeError: Repository internal is not defined

// after
$ poetry config repositories.internal https://internal.pypi/simple/
$ poetry publish -r internal

def repository_is_configured(config, name: str) -> bool:
    return config.get(["repositories", name, "url"]) is not None

from poetry.publishing.publisher import Publisher

try:
    publisher.publish(repository_name=name, username=u, password=p)
except RuntimeError as e:
    if "is not defined" in str(e):
        # register the repository then retry
        ...

When it happens

Trigger: Running `poetry publish -r myrepo` (or passing repository_name='myrepo') when `poetry config repositories.myrepo.url` was never set. The lookup `config.get(['repositories', repository_name, 'url'])` returns None.

Common situations: Forgot to configure the repository before publishing; typo in the repository name on the CLI vs. config; config stored in a different scope (local vs global) than the one being read; new team member who hasn't run the config commands.

Related errors

• The name [pypi] is reserved for repositories
• Key {'.'.join(keys)} not in config
• Key {'.'.join(keys)} not in config
• You must pass exactly 1 value
• Invalid build config setting '{value}'. It must be a valid J

AI-assisted analysis of python-poetry/poetry@92b74dcfe3 (2026-08-04). Data as JSON: /data/errors/3c4e495bf4028b59.json. Report an issue: GitHub.