Python Insider

PyPI now supports uploading via API token

2019-07-31T12:06:00.000-04:00

We're further increasing the security of the Python Package Index with another new beta feature: scoped API tokens for package upload. This is thanks to a grant from the Open Technology Fund, coordinated by the Packaging Working Group of the Python Software Foundation.

Over the last few months, we've added two-factor authentication (2FA) login security methods. We added Time-based One-Time Password (TOTP) support in late May and physical security device support in mid-June. Now, over 1600 users have started using physical security devices or TOTP applications to better secure their accounts. And over the past week, over 7.8% of logins to PyPI.org have been protected by 2FA, up from 3% in the month of June.

Now, we have another improvement: you can use API tokens to upload packages to PyPI and Test PyPI! And we've designed the token to be a drop-in replacement for the username and password you already use (warning: this is a beta feature that we need your help to test).

PyPI interface for adding an
API token for package upload

How it works: Go to your PyPI account settings and select "Add API token". When you create an API token, you choose its scope: you can create a token that can upload to all the projects you maintain or own, or you can limit its scope to just one project.

The token management screen shows you when each of your tokens were created, and last used. And you can revoke one token without revoking others, and without having to change your password on PyPI and in configuration files.

PyPI API token management interface

Uploading with an API token is currently optional but encouraged; in the future, PyPI will set and enforce a policy requiring users with two-factor authentication enabled to use API tokens to upload (rather than just their password sans second factor). Watch our announcement mailing list for future details.


Immediately after creating the API token, PyPI gives the user one chance to copy it

Why: These API tokens can only be used to upload packages to PyPI, and not to log in more generally. This makes it safer to automate package upload and store the credential in the cloud, since a thief who copies the token won't also gain the ability to delete the project, delete old releases, or add or remove collaborators. And, since the token is a long character string (with 32 bytes of entropy and a service identifier) that PyPI has securely generated on the server side, we vastly reduce the potential for credential reuse on other sites and for a bad actor to guess the token.

Help us test: Please try this out! This is a beta feature and we expect that users will find minor issues over the next few weeks; we ask for your bug reports. If you find any potential security vulnerabilities, please follow our published security policy. (Please don't report security issues in Warehouse via GitHub, IRC, or mailing lists. Instead, please directly email security@python.org.) If you find an issue that is not a security vulnerability, please report it via GitHub.

We'd particularly like testing from:

Organizations that automate uploads using continuous integration
People who save PyPI credentials in a .pypirc file
Windows users
People on mobile devices
People on very slow connections
Organizations where users share an auth token within a group
Projects with 4+ maintainers or owners
People who usually block cookies and JavaScript
People who maintain 20+ projects
People who created their PyPI account 6+ years ago

What's next for PyPI: Next, we'll move on to working on an advanced audit trail of sensitive user actions, plus improvements to accessibility and localization for PyPI (some of which have already started). More details are in our progress reports on Discourse.

Thanks to the Open Technology Fund for funding this work. And please sign up for the PyPI Announcement Mailing List for future updates.

Written by Sumana Harihareswara, published initially to https://pyfound.blogspot.com/2019/07/pypi-now-supports-uploading-via-api.html

Python 3.7.4 is now available

2019-07-08T19:57:00.000-04:00

Python 3.7.4 is now available. 3.7.4 is the next maintenance release of Python 3.7, the latest feature release of Python. You can find the release files, a link to the changelog, and more information here:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-374/

See the What’s New In Python 3.7 document for more information about the many new features and optimizations included in the 3.7 series. Detailed information about the changes made in 3.7.4 can be found in its change log.

Thanks to all of the many volunteers who help make Python Development and these releases possible! Please consider supporting our efforts by volunteering yourself or through organization contributions to the Python Software Foundation.

Python 3.8.0b2 is now available for testing

2019-07-04T18:10:00.000-04:00

After a few days of delay, but somewhat cutely timed with the US Independence Day, I present you Python 3.8.0b2:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-380b2/

This release is the second of four planned beta release previews. Beta release previews are intended to give the wider community the opportunity to test new features and bug fixes and to prepare their projects to support the new feature release. The next pre-release of Python 3.8 will be 3.8.0b3, currently scheduled for 2019-07-29.

Call to action

We strongly encourage maintainers of third-party Python projects to test with 3.8 during the beta phase and report issues found to the Python bug tracker as soon as possible. While the release is planned to be feature complete entering the beta phase, it is possible that features may be modified or, in rare cases, deleted up until the start of the release candidate phase (2019-09-30). Our goal is have no ABI changes after beta 3 and no code changes after 3.8.0rc1, the release candidate. To achieve that, it will be extremely important to get as much exposure for 3.8 as possible during the beta phase.

Please keep in mind that this is a preview release and its use is not recommended for production environments.

No more non-bugfixes allowed on the “3.8” branch

The time has come, team. Please help make Python 3.8 as stable as possible and keep all features not currently landed for Python 3.9. Don’t fret, it’ll come faster than you think.

Python 3.7.4rc2 is now available for testing

2019-07-02T19:15:00.000-04:00

Python 3.7.4rc2 is now available. 3.7.4rc2 is the second release preview of the next maintenance release of Python 3.7, the latest feature release of Python. Assuming no further critical problems are found prior to 2019-07-08, no code changes are planned between this release candidate and the final release. The release candidate is intended to give you the opportunity to test the new security and bug fixes in 3.7.4. Because of the small number of changes between rc1, the original release preview, and rc2, we are planning on an abbreviated exposure cycle so we can get the final release to you as soon as possible. We strongly encourage you to test your projects and report issues found to bugs.python.org as soon as possible. Please keep in mind that this is a preview release and, thus, is not recommended for production environments.

You can find the release files, a link to the changelog, and more information here:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-374rc2/

Python 3.6.9 security-fix release is now available

2019-07-02T19:00:00.000-04:00

Python 3.6.9 is now available. 3.6.9 is the first security-only-fix release of Python 3.6. Python 3.6 has now entered the security fix phase of its life cycle. Only security-related issues are accepted and addressed during this phase. We plan to provide security fixes for Python 3.6 as needed through 2021, five years following its initial release. Security fix releases are produced periodically as needed and only provided in source code form; binary installers are not provided. We urge you to consider upgrading to the latest release of Python 3.7, the current fully-supported version.

You can find the release files, a link to the changelog, and more information here:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-369/

Python 3.7.4rc1 and 3.6.9rc1 are now available

2019-06-18T23:30:00.000-04:00

Python 3.7.4rc1 and 3.6.9rc1 are now available. 3.7.4rc1 is the release preview of the next maintenance release of Python 3.7, the latest feature release of Python. 3.6.9rc1 is the release preview of the first security-fix release of Python 3.6. Assuming no critical problems are found prior to 2019-06-28, no code changes are planned between these release candidates and the final releases. These release candidates are intended to give you the opportunity to test the new security and bug fixes in 3.7.4 and security fixes in 3.6.9. We strongly encourage you to test your projects and report issues found to bugs.python.org as soon as possible. Please keep in mind that these are preview releases and, thus, their use is not recommended for production environments.

You can find the release files, a link to their changelogs, and more information here:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-374rc1/

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-369rc1/

PyPI Now Supports Two-Factor Login via WebAuthn

2019-06-18T11:16:00.000-04:00

To further increase the security of Python package downloads, we're adding a new beta feature to the Python Package Index: WebAuthn support for U2F compatible hardware security keys as a two-factor authentication (2FA) login security method. This is thanks to a grant from the Open Technology Fund, coordinated by the Packaging Working Group of the Python Software Foundation.

Last month, we added the first 2FA method for users logging into the canonical Python Package Index at PyPI.org and the test site at test.pypi.org. Hundreds of project owners and maintainers have now started using that method (generating a code through a Time-based One-time Password (TOTP) application) to better secure their accounts.

Starting today, PyPI also supports (in beta) WebAuthn (U2F compatible) security keys for a second login factor. A security key (also known as a universal second factor, or U2F compatible key) is hardware device that communicates via USB, NFC, or Bluetooth. Popular keys include Yubikey, Google Titan and Thetis. PyPI supports any FIDO U2F compatible key and follows the WebAuthn standard. Users who have set up this second factor will be prompted to use their key (usually by inserting it into a USB port and pressing a button) when logging in. (This feature requires JavaScript.)

This is a beta feature and we expect that users will find minor issues over the next few weeks; we ask for your bug reports. If you find any potential security vulnerabilities, please follow our published security policy. (Please don't report security issues in Warehouse via GitHub, IRC, or mailing lists. Instead, please directly email one or more of our maintainers.) If you find an issue that is not a security vulnerability, please report it via GitHub.

We encourage project maintainers and owners to log in and go to your Account Settings to add a second factor. This will help improve the security of your PyPI user accounts, and thus reduce the risk of vandals, spammers, and thieves gaining account access. If you're not yet comfortable using a beta feature, you can provision a TOTP application for your second factor.

You'll need to verify your primary email address on your Test PyPI and/or PyPI accounts before setting up 2FA. You can also do that in your Account Settings.

2FA only affects login via the website, which safeguards against malicious changes to project ownership, deletion of old releases, and account takeovers. Package uploads will continue to work without users providing 2FA codes.

But that's just for now. We are working on implementing per-user API keys as an alternative form of multifactor authentication in the setuptools/twine/PyPI auth flows. These will be application-specific tokens scoped to individual users/projects, so that users will be able to use token-based logins to better secure uploads. And we'll move on to working on an advanced audit trail of sensitive user actions, plus improvements to accessibility and localization for PyPI. More details are in our progress reports.

Thanks to the Open Technology Fund for funding this work. And please sign up for the PyPI Announcement Mailing List for future updates.

Python 3.8.0b1 is now available for testing

2019-06-04T19:18:00.001-04:00

The time has come for Python 3.8.0b1! Download it from:
https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-380b1/

This release is the first of four planned beta release previews. Beta release previews are intended to give the wider community the opportunity to test new features and bug fixes and to prepare their projects to support the new feature release. The next pre-release of Python 3.8 will be 3.8.0b2, currently scheduled for 2019-07-01.

Call to action

A new challenger has appeared!

With the release of Python 3.8.0b1, development started on Python 3.9. The “master” branch in the cpython repository now tracks development of 3.9 while Python 3.8 received its own branch, called simply “3.8”.

Acknowledgments

As you might expect, creating new branches triggers a lot of changes in configuration for all sorts of tooling that we’re using. Additionally, the inevitable deadline for new features caused a flurry of activity that tested the buildbots to the max. The revert hammer got used more than once.

The Release Manager would not be able to make this release available alone. Many thanks to the fearless duo of Pablo Galindo Salgado and Victor Stinner for spending tens of hours during the past week working on getting the buildbots green for release. Seriously, that took a lot of effort. We are all so lucky to have you both.

Thanks to Andrew Svetlov for his swift fixes to asyncio and to Yury Selivanov for code reviews, even when jetlagged. Thanks to Julien Palard for untangling the documentation configs. Thank you to Zachary Ware for help with buildbot and CI configuration. Thanks to Mariatta for helping with the bots. Thank you to Steve Dower for delivering the Windows installers.

Most importantly though, huge thanks to Ned Deily who not only helped me understand the scope of this special release but also did some of the grunt work involved.

Last but not least, thanks to you for making this release more meaty than I expected. There’s plenty of super exciting changes in there. Just take a look at “What’s New”!

One more thing

Hey, fellow Core Developer, Beta 2 is in four weeks. If your important new feature got reverted last minute, or you decided not to merge due to inadequate time, I have a one time offer for you (restrictions apply). If you:

find a second core developer champion for your change; and
in tandem you finish your change complete with tests and documentation before Beta 2

then I will let it in. I’m asking for a champion because it’s too late now for changes with hasty design or code review. And as I said, restrictions apply. For instance, at this point changes to existing APIs are unlikely to be accepted. Don’t start new work with 3.8 in mind. 3.9 is going to come sooner than you think!

Use two-factor auth to improve your PyPI account's security

2019-05-30T12:06:00.000-04:00

To increase the security of Python package downloads, we're beginning to introduce two-factor authentication (2FA) as a login security option on the Python Package Index. This is thanks to a grant from the Open Technology Fund; coordinated by the Packaging Working Group of the Python Software Foundation.

Starting today, the canonical Python Package Index at PyPI.org and the test site at test.pypi.org offer 2FA for all users. We encourage project maintainers and owners to log in and go to their Account Settings to add a second factor. This will help improve the security of their PyPI user accounts, and thus reduce the risk of vandals, spammers, and thieves gaining account access.

PyPI's maintainers tested this new feature throughout May and fixed several resulting bug reports; regardless, you might find a new issue. If you find any potential security vulnerabilities, please follow our published security policy. (Please don't report security issues in Warehouse via GitHub, IRC, or mailing lists. Instead, please directly email one or more of our maintainers.) If you find an issue that is not a security vulnerability, please report it via GitHub.

PyPI currently supports a single 2FA method: generating a code through a Time-based One-time Password (TOTP) application. After you set up 2FA on your PyPI account, then you must provide a TOTP (along with your username and password) to log in. Therefore, to use 2FA on PyPI, you'll need to provision an application (usually a mobile phone app) in order to generate authentication codes; see our FAQ for suggestions and pointers.

You'll need to verify your primary email address on your Test PyPI and/or PyPI accounts before setting up 2FA. You can also do that in your Account Settings.

Currently, only TOTP is supported as a 2FA method. Also, 2FA only affects login via the website which safeguards against malicious changes to project ownership, deletion of old releases, and account take overs. Package uploads will continue to work without 2FA codes being provided.

But we're not done! We're currently working on WebAuthn-based multi-factor authentication, which will let you use, for instance, Yubikeys for your second factor. Then we'll add API keys for package upload, then an advanced audit trail of sensitive user actions. More details are in our progress reports.

Thanks to the Open Technology Fund for funding this work. And please sign up for the PyPI Announcement Mailing List for future updates.

Farewell, Python 3.4

2019-05-08T11:40:00.004-04:00

It's with a note of sadness that I announce the final retirement of Python 3.4. The final release was back in March, but I didn't get around to actually closing and deleting the 3.4 branch until this morning.

Python 3.4 introduced many features we all enjoy in modern Python--the asyncio, ensurepip, and enum packages, just to name three. It's a release I hope we all remember fondly.

My eternal thanks to all the members of the release team that worked on Python 3.4:

Georg Brandl
Julien Palard

Martin von Löwis

Ned Deily
Steve Dower
Terry Reedy

and all the engineers of the Python infrastructure team.

Special thanks to Benjamin Peterson and Ned Deily, who frequently scurried around behind the scenes cleaning up the messes I cluelessly left in my wake.

Having closed 3.4, I am now retired as Python 3.4 Release Manager. I regret to inform all of you that you're still stuck with me as Python 3.5 Release Manager until sometime next year.

Python 3.8.0a3 is now available for testing

2019-03-26T05:18:00.006-04:00

Go get it here:
https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-380a3/

The most visible change so far is probably the implementation of PEP 572: Assignment Expressions. For a detailed list of changes, see:
https://docs.python.org/3.8/whatsnew/changelog.html

Python 3.8.0a3 is the third of four planned alpha releases of Python 3.8, the next feature release of Python. During the alpha phase, Python 3.8 remains under heavy development: additional features will be added and existing features may be modified or deleted. Please keep in mind that this is a preview release and its use is not recommended for production environments. The last alpha release, Python 3.8.0a4, is planned for 2019-04-29.

Thanks to all of the many volunteers who help make Python development and these releases possible! Please consider supporting our efforts by volunteering yourself or through organization contributions to the Python Software Foundation.

Python 3.7.3 is now available

2019-03-25T19:51:00.000-04:00

Python 3.7.3 is now available. 3.7.3 is the next maintenance release of Python 3.7, the latest feature release of Python. You can find the release files, a link to the changelog, and more information here:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-373/

Python 3.4.10 is now available

2019-03-18T16:36:00.001-04:00

Python 3.4.10 is now available. You can download it here.

Python 3.4.10 is the final release in the Python 3.4 series. As of this release, the 3.4 branch has been retired, no further changes to 3.4 will be accepted, and no new releases will be made. This is standard Python policy; Python releases get five years of support and are then retired.

If you're still using Python 3.4, you should consider upgrading to the current version--3.7.2 as of this writing. Newer versions of Python have many new features, performance improvements, and bug fixes, which should all serve to enhance your Python programming experience.

We in the Python core development community thank you for your interest in 3.4, and we wish you all the best!

Python 3.5.7 is now available

2019-03-18T16:35:00.000-04:00

Python 3.5.7 is now available. You can download Python 3.5.7 here.

Python 3.7.3rc1 is now available for testing

2019-03-12T19:23:00.001-04:00

Python 3.7.3rc1 is now available for testing. 3.7.3rc1 is the release preview of the next maintenance release of Python 3.7, the latest feature release of Python. Assuming no critical problems are found prior to 2019-03-25, no code changes are planned between now and the final release. This release candidate is intended to give you the opportunity to test the new security and bug fixes in 3.7.3. We strongly encourage you to test your projects and report issues found to bugs.python.org as soon as possible. Please keep in mind that this is a preview release and, thus, its use is not recommended for production environments.

You can find the release files, a link to the changelog, and more information here:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-373rc1/

Python 3.5.7rc1 and Python 3.4.10rc1 are now available

2019-03-04T04:27:00.002-05:00

Python 3.5.7rc1 and Python 3.4.10rc1 are now available.

You can download Python 3.5.7rc1 here, and you can download Python 3.4.10rc1 here.

Python 2.7.16 released

2019-03-03T22:24:00.002-05:00

A bug fix release in the 2.7 series, 2.7.16, is now available for download.

Python 3.8.0a2 is now available for testing

2019-02-25T15:14:00.000-05:00

Go get it here:
https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-380a2/

The most visible change so far is probably the implementation of PEP 572: Assignment Expressions. For a detailed list of changes, see:
https://docs.python.org/3.8/whatsnew/changelog.html

Python 3.8.0a2 is the second of four planned alpha releases of Python 3.8, the next feature release of Python. During the alpha phase, Python 3.8 remains under heavy development: additional features will be added and existing features may be modified or deleted. Please keep in mind that this is a preview release and its use is not recommended for production environments. The next preview release, Python 3.8.0a3, is planned for 2019-03-25.

Thanks to all of the many volunteers who help make Python development and these releases possible! Please consider supporting our efforts by volunteering yourself or through organization contributions to the Python Software Foundation.

Python 2.7.16 release candidate 1 available

2019-02-16T19:56:00.001-05:00

A release candidate for the upcoming 2.7.16 bug fix release is now available for download.

Python 3.8.0a1 is now available for testing

2019-02-04T07:53:00.003-05:00

Go get it here:
https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-380a1/

The most visible change so far is probably the implementation of PEP 572: Assignment Expressions. For a detailed list of changes, see:
https://docs.python.org/3.8/whatsnew/changelog.html

Python 3.8.0a1 is the first of four planned alpha releases of Python 3.8, the next feature release of Python. During the alpha phase, Python 3.8 remains under heavy development: additional features will be added and existing features may be modified or deleted. Please keep in mind that this is a preview release and its use is not recommended for production environments. The next preview release, Python 3.8.0a2, is planned for 2019-02-24.

Thanks to all of the many volunteers who help make Python development and these releases possible! Please consider supporting our efforts by volunteering yourself or through organization contributions to the Python Software Foundation.

Python 3.7.2 and 3.6.8 are now available

2018-12-24T06:26:00.001-05:00

Python 3.7.2 and 3.6.8 are now available. Python 3.7.2 is the next maintenance release of Python 3.7, the latest feature release of Python. You can find Python 3.7.2 here:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-372/

We are also happy to announce the availability of Python 3.6.8:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-368/

Python 3.6.8 is planned to be the last bugfix release of Python 3.6. Per our support policy, we plan to provide security fixes for Python 3.6 as needed through 2021, five years following its initial release.

Python 3.7.2rc1 and 3.6.8rc1 now available for testing

2018-12-11T22:00:00.000-05:00

Python 3.7.2rc1 and 3.6.8rc1 are now available. 3.7.2rc1 is the release preview of the next maintenance release of Python 3.7, the latest feature release of Python. 3.6.8rc1 is the release preview of the next and last maintenance release of Python 3.6, the previous feature release of Python. Assuming no critical problems are found prior to 2018-12-20, no code changes are planned between these release candidates and the final releases. These release candidates are intended to give you the opportunity to test the new security and bug fixes in 3.7.2 and 3.6.8. We strongly encourage you to test your projects and report issues found to bugs.python.org as soon as possible. Please keep in mind that these are preview releases and, thus, their use is not recommended for production environments.

You can find these releases and more information here:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-372rc1/

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-368rc1/

Python 3.7.1 and 3.6.7 are now available

2018-10-20T14:00:00.000-04:00

Python 3.7.1 and 3.6.7 are now available. Python 3.7.1 is the first maintenance release of the newest feature release of the Python language. You can find Python 3.7.1 here:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-371/

We are also happy to announce the availability of Python 3.6.7, the next maintenance release of Python 3.6:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-367/

Python 3.7.1rc2 and 3.6.7rc2 now available for testing

2018-10-13T17:00:00.000-04:00

Python 3.7.1rc2 and 3.6.7rc2 are now available. 3.7.1rc2 is a release preview of the first maintenance release of Python 3.7, the latest feature release of Python. 3.6.7rc2 is a release preview of the next maintenance release of Python 3.6, the previous feature release of Python. Assuming no further critical problems are found prior to 2018-10-20, no code changes are planned between these release candidates and the final releases. These release candidates are intended to give you the opportunity to test the new security and bug fixes in 3.7.1 and 3.6.7. We strongly encourage you to test your projects and report issues found to bugs.python.org as soon as possible. Please keep in mind that these are preview releases and, thus, their use is not recommended for production environments.

You can find these releases and more information here:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-371rc2/

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-367rc2/

Python 3.7.1rc1 and 3.6.7rc1 now available for testing

2018-09-26T22:00:00.000-04:00

Python 3.7.1rc1 and 3.6.7rc1 are now available. 3.7.1rc1 is the release preview of the first maintenance release of Python 3.7, the latest feature release of Python. 3.6.7rc1 is the release preview of the next maintenance release of Python 3.6, the previous feature release of Python. Assuming no critical problems are found prior to 2018-10-06, no code changes are planned between these release candidates and the final releases. These release candidates are intended to give you the opportunity to test the new security and bug fixes in 3.7.1 and 3.6.7. We strongly encourage you to test your projects and report issues found to bugs.python.org as soon as possible. Please keep in mind that these are preview releases and, thus, their use is not recommended for production environments.

You can find these releases and more information here:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-371rc1/

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-367rc1/