How to Install `click` in Python

v8.3.2 CLI & Utilities Python >=3.10

Composable command line interface toolkit

Install pip install click

What is click?

Composable command line interface toolkit

Click is a Python package for creating beautiful command line interfaces in a composable way with as little code as necessary. It's the "Command Line Interface Creation Kit". It's highly configurable but comes with sensible defaults out of the box.

It aims to make the process of writing command line tools quick and fun while also preventing any frustration caused by the inability to implement an intended CLI API.

- Arbitrary nesting of commands - Automatic help page generation - Supports lazy loading of subcommands at runtime

PyPI page →

Quick Start

Minimal example to get started with click:

import click

@click.command()
@click.option("--name", default="World", help="Who to greet")
def hello(name):
    click.echo(f"Hello, {name}!")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    hello()
# Usage: python script.py --name Alice

Installation

pip (standard)

pip install click

Virtual environment (recommended)

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate   # Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
pip install click

pip3

pip3 install click

conda

conda install -c conda-forge click

Poetry

poetry add click

Dependencies

Installing click will also install these packages:

colorama

Verify the Installation

After installing, confirm the package is available:

python -c "import click; print(click.__version__)"

If this prints a version number, installation succeeded. If you see a ModuleNotFoundError, see the errors section below.

Installation Errors

Common errors when installing click with pip.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'click'

Cause: The package is not installed in the current Python environment.

Fix: Run pip install click. If using a virtual environment, ensure it is activated first.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'click' (installed but still failing)

Cause: pip installed the package into a different Python than the one running your script.

Fix: Use python -m pip install click to install into the interpreter you are running.

ImportError: cannot import name 'X' from 'click'

Cause: The function or class does not exist in the installed version.

Fix: Check the version with pip show click and upgrade with pip install --upgrade click.

pip: command not found

Cause: pip is not in PATH or Python was not added to PATH during installation.

Fix: Try python -m pip install click. On macOS/Linux try pip3.

PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied

Cause: No write access to the system Python package directory.

Fix: Use a virtual environment, or add --user: pip install --user click

SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED

Cause: pip cannot verify PyPI's SSL certificate — common behind corporate proxies.

Fix: Try: pip install --trusted-host pypi.org --trusted-host files.pythonhosted.org click

Runtime Errors

Common errors when using click after installation.

click.exceptions.UsageError: Missing argument

Cause: A required argument was not provided on the command line.

Fix: Pass the argument or add required=False with a default value.

click.exceptions.BadParameter

Cause: A parameter value failed type conversion or custom validation.

Fix: Check the expected type. Use type=click.INT, click.FLOAT, etc. for automatic conversion.

Recent Releases

Version	Released
`8.3.2` latest	2026-04-03
`8.3.1`	2025-11-15
`8.3.0`	2025-09-18
`8.2.2`	2025-08-02
`8.2.1`	2025-05-20

Full release history on PyPI →

Manage click

Upgrade to latest version

pip install --upgrade click

Install a specific version

pip install click==8.3.2

Uninstall

pip uninstall click

Check what is installed

pip show click

Last updated: 2026-04-11 • Data from PyPI

How to Install click in Python