DOC: correct the .python-version claim in the contributor install guide - #2407
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Roman Lutz (romanlutz) merged 1 commit intoAug 18, 2026
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install_local_dev.md states in three places that the repository ships a .python-version file pinning Python 3.12. No such file is tracked and none appears anywhere in the git history, so uv resolves against requires-python (>=3.10, <3.15) and uses whatever interpreter it has. Following the page on a clean macOS checkout produced a 3.13.7 venv, not 3.12. Replace the claim with the supported range (3.10-3.14, matching requires-python and the build_and_test matrix), note that no interpreter is pinned, and point contributors who do want a pin at `uv python pin`. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Roman Lutz (romanlutz)
approved these changes
Aug 18, 2026
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Description
The contributor install guide tells you the repo pins Python 3.12 via a
.python-versionfile. There is no such file:doc/getting_started/install_local_dev.mdasserts it in three places:.python-version".python-versionfile that pins Python 3.12."What actually happens is that
uv syncresolves againstrequires-python = ">=3.10, <3.15"and uses whatever interpreter it already has. Following this page on a clean macOS checkout gave me a 3.13.7 venv, not 3.12 — so a new contributor is told their environment is pinned when it is not, and can silently end up on a different version from the one the page describes.For what it is worth, the
# .python-versionline in.gitignoreis inherited from GitHub's standard Python template (it sits inside the commented# pyenvblock) and is not evidence of a deliberate pin.Changes
Replaces the claim with what the project actually guarantees:
requires-pythonand thebuild_and_test.ymlmatrix (["3.10", "3.11", "3.12", "3.13", "3.14"])uvselects a compatible oneuv python pin <version>, noting the resulting file is local and untrackedHappy to go the other way instead if pinning 3.12 was the actual intent — in that case the fix is to commit a
.python-versionfile and I can swap this PR for that.Documentation only; no code or behavior changes.
Tests and Documentation
pre-commit run --files doc/getting_started/install_local_dev.mdpasses, including theValidate Documentation Structurehook.No JupyText run needed — this page is prose Markdown with no paired notebook and no executable cells.