pyi-makespec

SYNOPSIS

pyi-makespec <options> SCRIPT [SCRIPT …]

DESCRIPTION

The spec file is the description of what you want PyInstaller to do with your program. pyi-makespec is a simple wizard to create spec files that cover basic usages:

pyi-makespec [--onefile] yourprogram.py

By default, pyi-makespec generates a spec file that tells PyInstaller to create a distribution directory contains the main executable and the dynamic libraries. The option --onefile specifies that you want PyInstaller to build a single file with everything inside.

In most cases the specfile generated by pyi-makespec is all you need. If not, see When things go wrong in the manual and be sure to read the introduction to Spec Files.

OPTIONS

Positional Arguments

scriptname

Options

-h, --help

show this help message and exit

--log-level LEVEL

Amount of detail in build-time console messages. LEVEL may be one of TRACE, DEBUG, INFO, WARN, DEPRECATION, ERROR, FATAL (default: INFO). Also settable via and overrides the PYI_LOG_LEVEL environment variable.

What To Generate

-D, --onedir

Create a one-folder bundle containing an executable (default)

-F, --onefile

Create a one-file bundled executable.

--specpath DIR

Folder to store the generated spec file (default: current directory)

-n NAME, --name NAME

Name to assign to the bundled app and spec file (default: first script’s basename)

How To Generate

-d {all,imports,bootloader,noarchive}, –debug {all,imports,bootloader,noarchive}

R|Provide assistance with debugging a frozen application. This argument may be provided multiple times to select several of the following options. - all: All three of the following options. - imports: specify the -v option to the underlying Python interpreter, causing it to print a message each time a module is initialized, showing the place (filename or built-in module) from which it is loaded. See https://docs.python.org/3/using/cmdline.html#id4. - bootloader: tell the bootloader to issue progress messages while initializing and starting the bundled app. Used to diagnose problems with missing imports. - noarchive: instead of storing all frozen Python source files as an archive inside the resulting executable, store them as files in the resulting output directory.

--python-option PYTHON_OPTION

Specify a command-line option to pass to the Python interpreter at runtime. Currently supports “v” (equivalent to “–debug imports”), “u”, and “W <warning control>”.

-s, --strip

Apply a symbol-table strip to the executable and shared libs (not recommended for Windows)

--noupx

Do not use UPX even if it is available (works differently between Windows and *nix)

--upx-exclude FILE

Prevent a binary from being compressed when using upx. This is typically used if upx corrupts certain binaries during compression. FILE is the filename of the binary without path. This option can be used multiple times.

Windows And Mac Os X Specific Options

-c, --console, --nowindowed

Open a console window for standard i/o (default). On Windows this option has no effect if the first script is a ‘.pyw’ file.

-w, --windowed, --noconsole

Windows and Mac OS X: do not provide a console window for standard i/o. On Mac OS this also triggers building a Mac OS .app bundle. On Windows this option is automatically set if the first script is a ‘.pyw’ file. This option is ignored on *NIX systems.

-i <FILE.ico or FILE.exe,ID or FILE.icns or Image or “NONE”>, --icon <FILE.ico or FILE.exe,ID or FILE.icns or Image or “NONE”>

FILE.ico: apply the icon to a Windows executable. FILE.exe,ID: extract the icon with ID from an exe. FILE.icns: apply the icon to the .app bundle on Mac OS. If an image file is entered that isn’t in the platform format (ico on Windows, icns on Mac), PyInstaller tries to use Pillow to translate the icon into the correct format (if Pillow is installed). Use “NONE” to not apply any icon, thereby making the OS show some default (default: apply PyInstaller’s icon). This option can be used multiple times.

--disable-windowed-traceback

Disable traceback dump of unhandled exception in windowed (noconsole) mode (Windows and macOS only), and instead display a message that this feature is disabled.

Windows Specific Options

--version-file FILE

Add a version resource from FILE to the exe.

-m <FILE or XML>, --manifest <FILE or XML>

Add manifest FILE or XML to the exe.

--no-embed-manifest

Generate an external .exe.manifest file instead of embedding the manifest into the exe. Applicable only to onedir mode; in onefile mode, the manifest is always embedded, regardless of this option.

-r RESOURCE, --resource RESOURCE

Add or update a resource to a Windows executable. The RESOURCE is one to four items, FILE[,TYPE[,NAME[,LANGUAGE]]]. FILE can be a data file or an exe/dll. For data files, at least TYPE and NAME must be specified. LANGUAGE defaults to 0 or may be specified as wildcard * to update all resources of the given TYPE and NAME. For exe/dll files, all resources from FILE will be added/updated to the final executable if TYPE, NAME and LANGUAGE are omitted or specified as wildcard *. This option can be used multiple times.

--uac-admin

Using this option creates a Manifest that will request elevation upon application start.

--uac-uiaccess

Using this option allows an elevated application to work with Remote Desktop.

Windows Side-By-Side Assembly Searching Options (Advanced)

--win-private-assemblies

Any Shared Assemblies bundled into the application will be changed into Private Assemblies. This means the exact versions of these assemblies will always be used, and any newer versions installed on user machines at the system level will be ignored.

--win-no-prefer-redirects

While searching for Shared or Private Assemblies to bundle into the application, PyInstaller will prefer not to follow policies that redirect to newer versions, and will try to bundle the exact versions of the assembly.

Mac Os Specific Options

--argv-emulation

Enable argv emulation for macOS app bundles. If enabled, the initial open document/URL event is processed by the bootloader and the passed file paths or URLs are appended to sys.argv.

--osx-bundle-identifier BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER

Mac OS .app bundle identifier is used as the default unique program name for code signing purposes. The usual form is a hierarchical name in reverse DNS notation. For example: com.mycompany.department.appname (default: first script’s basename)

--target-architecture ARCH, --target-arch ARCH

Target architecture (macOS only; valid values: x86_64, arm64, universal2). Enables switching between universal2 and single-arch version of frozen application (provided python installation supports the target architecture). If not target architecture is not specified, the current running architecture is targeted.

--codesign-identity IDENTITY

Code signing identity (macOS only). Use the provided identity to sign collected binaries and generated executable. If signing identity is not provided, ad-hoc signing is performed instead.

--osx-entitlements-file FILENAME

Entitlements file to use when code-signing the collected binaries (macOS only).

Rarely Used Special Options

--runtime-tmpdir PATH

Where to extract libraries and support files in onefile-mode. If this option is given, the bootloader will ignore any temp-folder location defined by the run-time OS. The _MEIxxxxxx-folder will be created here. Please use this option only if you know what you are doing.

--bootloader-ignore-signals

Tell the bootloader to ignore signals rather than forwarding them to the child process. Useful in situations where for example a supervisor process signals both the bootloader and the child (e.g., via a process group) to avoid signalling the child twice.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

PYINSTALLER_CONFIG_DIR

This changes the directory where PyInstaller caches some files. The default location for this is operating system dependent, but is typically a subdirectory of the home directory.

SEE ALSO

pyinstaller(1), The PyInstaller Manual https://pyinstaller.readthedocs.io/, Project Homepage http://www.pyinstaller.org