How to show installed Python package information

Package troubleshooting often starts with one distribution, not the full Python environment. Showing the installed package metadata confirms the version, install location, dependency edges, and owning interpreter before an upgrade, removal, or import investigation changes anything.

The python3 -m pip show command reads the installed distribution metadata recorded for the active interpreter or virtual environment and prints it in RFC-compliant mail-header format. Fields such as Name, Version, Location, Requires, and Required-by show which distribution is installed, where its files live, and how it fits into the local dependency graph.

The result applies only to the interpreter that owns the current python3 -m pip invocation, so the same host can return different answers from a virtual environment, user-site install, or alternate Python binary. Query the distribution name rather than assuming the import name used in code, expect some fields to be blank when a project does not publish them, and on Windows replace python3 -m pip with py -m pip when the launcher is available.

1. Print the interpreter path that will answer the package metadata query.

   $ python3 -c "import sys; print(sys.executable)"
   /srv/apps/acme-api/.venv/bin/python3

   Running pip through the interpreter with python3 -m pip avoids mixing a standalone pip executable with another Python install.

   Related: How to activate a Python virtual environment

2. Confirm that pip belongs to the same environment.

   $ python3 -m pip --version
   pip 26.1.2 from /srv/apps/acme-api/.venv/lib/python3.14/site-packages/pip (python 3.14)

   The path after from should match the interpreter or virtual environment that owns the package being checked.

3. Query the standard metadata block for the target distribution package.

   $ python3 -m pip show requests
   Name: requests
   Version: 2.34.2
   Summary: Python HTTP for Humans.
   Home-page:
   Author:
   Author-email: Kenneth Reitz <me@kennethreitz.org>
   License: Apache-2.0
   Location: /srv/apps/acme-api/.venv/lib/python3.14/site-packages
   Requires: certifi, charset_normalizer, idna, urllib3
   Required-by:

   pip show accepts more than one package name, but checking one distribution at a time keeps troubleshooting and environment comparisons easier to scan.

   Fields such as Home-page or Author depend on the package metadata published upstream and may be blank even when the distribution is installed correctly.

4. Add --verbose when the standard block does not expose enough recorded metadata.

   $ python3 -m pip show --verbose requests
   Name: requests
   Version: 2.34.2
   Summary: Python HTTP for Humans.
   Home-page:
   Author:
   Author-email: Kenneth Reitz <me@kennethreitz.org>
   License: Apache-2.0
   Location: /srv/apps/acme-api/.venv/lib/python3.14/site-packages
   Requires: certifi, charset_normalizer, idna, urllib3
   Required-by:
   Metadata-Version: 2.4
   Installer: pip
   Classifiers:
     Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable
     Environment :: Web Environment
     License :: OSI Approved :: Apache Software License
     Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14
   ##### snipped
   Entry-points:
   Project-URLs:
     Documentation, https://requests.readthedocs.io
     Source, https://github.com/psf/requests

   --verbose is the general pip verbosity flag and expands the metadata block with fields such as Metadata-Version, Installer, classifiers, entry points, and project URLs when the distribution records them.

5. Add --files when the installed file list is needed for auditing, cleanup, or package tracing.

   $ python3 -m pip show --files requests
   Name: requests
   Version: 2.34.2
   Summary: Python HTTP for Humans.
   Home-page:
   Author:
   Author-email: Kenneth Reitz <me@kennethreitz.org>
   License: Apache-2.0
   Location: /srv/apps/acme-api/.venv/lib/python3.14/site-packages
   Requires: certifi, charset_normalizer, idna, urllib3
   Required-by:
   Files:
     requests-2.34.2.dist-info/INSTALLER
     requests-2.34.2.dist-info/METADATA
     requests-2.34.2.dist-info/RECORD
     requests-2.34.2.dist-info/REQUESTED
     requests-2.34.2.dist-info/WHEEL
     requests-2.34.2.dist-info/licenses/LICENSE
     requests/__init__.py
     requests/api.py
     requests/sessions.py
   ##### snipped

   The file list comes from the package metadata recorded at install time, which makes it useful for tracing exactly which paths the current interpreter owns for that distribution.

6. Check a dependency package when the ownership question is about which installed package requires it.

   $ python3 -m pip show idna
   Name: idna
   Version: 3.18
   Summary: Internationalized Domain Names in Applications (IDNA)
   Home-page:
   Author:
   Author-email: Kim Davies <kim+pypi@gumleaf.org>
   License-Expression: BSD-3-Clause
   Location: /srv/apps/acme-api/.venv/lib/python3.14/site-packages
   Requires:
   Required-by: requests

   The Required-by field is helpful before removing a dependency because it shows installed packages that declare a dependency on the target distribution.

7. Check the warning path when the requested distribution is not installed in the current interpreter context.

   $ python3 -m pip show does-not-exist
   WARNING: Package(s) not found: does-not-exist

   pip show exits non-zero when the requested package is missing, so shell scripts can treat the result as a failure instead of a partial success. If the package should exist, confirm the active interpreter first and verify that the distribution name matches the installed project name rather than only the import name used in code.