Installation#

You can install Zipline either using pip, the Python package installer, or conda, the package and environment management system that runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. In case you are installing zipline-reloaded alongside other packages and encounter [conflict errors](conda/conda#9707), consider using [mamba](mamba-org/mamba) instead.

Zipline runs on Python 3.8, 3.9, 3.10 and 3.11. To install and use different Python versions in parallel as well as create a virtual environment, you may want to use pyenv.

Installing with pip#

Installing Zipline via pip is slightly more involved than the average Python package.

There are two reasons for the additional complexity:

  1. Zipline ships several C extensions that require access to the CPython C API. In order to build these C extensions, pip needs access to the CPython header files for your Python installation.

  2. Zipline depends on NumPy, the core library for numerical array computing in Python. NumPy, in turn, depends on the LAPACK linear algebra routines.

Because LAPACK and the CPython headers are non-Python dependencies, the correct way to install them varies from platform to platform. If you’d rather use a single tool to install Python and non-Python dependencies, or if you’re already using Anaconda as your Python distribution, you can skip to the :ref: conda section.

Once you’ve installed the necessary additional dependencies (see below for your particular platform), you should be able to simply run (preferably inside an activated virtual environment):

$ pip install zipline-reloaded

If you use Python for anything other than Zipline, we strongly recommend that you install in a virtualenv. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Python provides an excellent tutorial on virtualenv.

GNU/Linux#

Dependencies#

On Debian-derived Linux distributions, you can acquire all the necessary binary dependencies from apt by running:

$ sudo apt install libatlas-base-dev python-dev gfortran pkg-config libfreetype6-dev hdf5-tools

On recent RHEL-derived derived Linux distributions (e.g. Fedora), the following should be sufficient to acquire the necessary additional dependencies:

$ sudo dnf install atlas-devel gcc-c++ gcc-gfortran libgfortran python-devel redhat-rpm-config hdf5

On Arch Linux, you can acquire the additional dependencies via pacman:

$ pacman -S lapack gcc gcc-fortran pkg-config hdf5

There are also AUR packages available for installing ta-lib. Python 3 is also installable via:

$ pacman -S python3

Compiling TA-Lib#

You will also need to compile the TA-Lib library for technical analysis so its headers become available.

You can accomplish this as follows:

$ wget http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/ta-lib/ta-lib-0.4.0-src.tar.gz
$ tar -xzf ta-lib-0.4.0-src.tar.gz
$ cd ta-lib/
$ sudo ./configure
$ sudo make
$ sudo make install

This will allow you to install the Python wrapper with pip as expected by the binary wheel.

macOS#

The version of Python shipped with macOS is generally out of date, and has a number of quirks because it’s used directly by the operating system. For these reasons, many developers choose to install and use a separate Python installation.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Python provides an excellent guide to Installing Python on macOS, which explains how to install Python with the Homebrew manager. Alternatively, you could use pyenv.

Assuming you’ve installed Python with brew, you’ll also likely need the following packages:

$ brew install freetype pkg-config gcc openssl hdf5 ta-lib

Windows#

For Windows, the easiest and best supported way to install Zipline is to use conda.

Installing with conda#

Another way to install Zipline is via the conda package manager, which comes as part of the Anaconda distribution. Alternatively, you can use the related but more lightweight Miniconda or Miniforge installers.

The primary advantage of using Conda over pip is that conda natively understands the complex binary dependencies of packages like numpy and scipy. This means that conda can install Zipline and its dependencies without requiring the use of a second tool to acquire Zipline’s non-Python dependencies.

For instructions on how to install conda, see the Conda Installation Documentation.

Once conda has been set up you can install Zipline from the conda-forge channel.

See [here](conda-forge/zipline-reloaded-feedstock) for the latest installation details.

Managing conda environments#

It is recommended to install Zipline in an isolated conda environment. Installing Zipline in conda environments will not interfere your default Python deployment or site-packages, which will prevent any possible conflict with your global libraries. For more information on conda environment, see the Conda User Guide.

Assuming conda has been set up, you can create a conda environment:

$ conda create -n env_zipline python=3.10

Now you have set up an isolated environment called env_zipline, a sandbox-like structure to install Zipline. Then you should activate the conda environment by using the command

$ conda activate env_zipline

You can install Zipline by running

(env_zipline) $ conda install -c ml4t zipline-reloaded

To deactivate the conda environment:

(env_zipline) $ conda deactivate

Note

conda activate and conda deactivate only work on conda 4.6 and later versions. For conda versions prior to 4.6, run:

  • Windows: activate or deactivate

  • Linux and macOS: source activate or source deactivate