FindPythonLibs

Changed in version 3.27: This module is available only if policy CMP0148 is not set to NEW.

Deprecated since version 3.12: Use FindPython3, FindPython2, or FindPython instead.

This module finds the Python installation and determines the location of its include directories and libraries, as well as the name of the Python library to link against.

Note

When using both this and the FindPythonInterp module, call find_package(PythonInterp) before find_package(PythonLibs). This ensures that the detected interpreter version is used to guide the selection of compatible libraries, resulting in a consistent PYTHON_LIBRARIES value.

Result Variables

This module defines the following variables:

PythonLibs_FOUND

Boolean indicating whether the (requested version of) Python libraries have been found. For backward compatibility, the PYTHONLIBS_FOUND variable is also set to the same value.

PYTHONLIBS_VERSION_STRING

The version of the Python libraries found.

PYTHON_LIBRARIES

Libraries needed to link against to use Python.

PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIRS

Include directories needed to use Python.

Cache Variables

The following cache variables may also be set to specify the Python installation to use:

PYTHON_LIBRARY

The path to the Python library.

PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR

The directory containing the Python.h header file.

Hints

This module accepts the following variables before calling find_package(PythonLibs):

Python_ADDITIONAL_VERSIONS

This variable can be used to specify a list of version numbers that should be taken into account when searching for Python.

Deprecated Variables

These variables are provided for backward compatibility:

PYTHON_DEBUG_LIBRARIES

Deprecated since version 2.8.8: Use PYTHON_LIBRARIES instead.

Result variable that holds the path to the debug library.

PYTHON_INCLUDE_PATH

Deprecated since version 2.8.0: Use PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIR or PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIRS instead.

Result variable that holds the path to the directory containing the Python.h header file.

Examples

In earlier versions of CMake, Python libraries were found and used in a project like this:

find_package(PythonLibs)
target_link_libraries(app PRIVATE ${PYTHON_LIBRARIES})
target_include_directories(app PRIVATE ${PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIRS})

Starting with CMake 3.12, Python libraries can be found using the FindPython module. The equivalent example using the modern approach with an imported target is:

find_package(Python COMPONENTS Development)
target_link_libraries(app PRIVATE Python::Python)