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Version: 2.0.x (deprecated)

Global options

Options to control the overall behavior of Pants.

Backend: pants.core

Config section: [GLOBAL]

Basic options​

level​

-l=<LogLevel>, --level=<LogLevel>
PANTS_LEVEL
one of: trace, debug, info, warn, error
default: info

Set the logging level.

colors​

--[no-]colors
PANTS_COLORS
default: False

Whether Pants should use colors in output or not. This may also impact whether some tools Pants run use color.

spec_files​

--spec-files="['<str>', '<str>', ...]"
PANTS_SPEC_FILES
default: []

Read additional specs (target addresses, files, and/or globs), one per line,from these files.

dynamic_ui​

--[no-]dynamic-ui
PANTS_DYNAMIC_UI
default: True

Display a dynamically-updating console UI as Pants runs. This is true by default if Pants detects a TTY and there is no 'CI' environment variable indicating that Pants is running in a continuous integration environment.

tag​

--tag="[[+-]tag1,tag2,..., [+-]tag1,tag2,..., ...]"
PANTS_TAG
default: []

Include only targets with these tags (optional '+' prefix) or without these tags ('-' prefix). See https://www.pantsbuild.org/docs/advanced-target-selection.

exclude_target_regexp​

--exclude-target-regexp="[<regexp>, <regexp>, ...]"
PANTS_EXCLUDE_TARGET_REGEXP
default: []

Exclude targets that match these regexes. This does not impact file arguments.

loop​

--[no-]loop
PANTS_LOOP
default: False

Run goals continuously as file changes are detected. Alpha feature.

Advanced options​

backend_packages​

--backend-packages="['<str>', '<str>', ...]"
PANTS_BACKEND_PACKAGES
default: []

Register functionality from these backends.

The backend packages must be present on the PYTHONPATH, typically because they are in the Pants core dist, in a plugin dist, or available as sources in the repo.

plugins​

--plugins="['<str>', '<str>', ...]"
PANTS_PLUGINS
default: []

Allow backends to be loaded from these plugins (usually released through PyPI). The default backends for each plugin will be loaded automatically. Other backends in a plugin can be loaded by listing them in backend_packages in the [GLOBAL] scope.

plugins_force_resolve​

--[no-]plugins-force-resolve
PANTS_PLUGINS_FORCE_RESOLVE
default: False

Re-resolve plugins, even if previously resolved.

plugin_cache_dir​

--plugin-cache-dir=<str>
PANTS_PLUGIN_CACHE_DIR
default: $XDG_CACHE_HOME/pants/plugins

Cache resolved plugin requirements here.

show_log_target​

--[no-]show-log-target
PANTS_SHOW_LOG_TARGET
default: False

Display the target where a log message originates in that log message's output. This can be helpful when paired with --log-levels-by-target.

log_levels_by_target​

--log-levels-by-target="{'key1': val1, 'key2': val2, ...}"
PANTS_LOG_LEVELS_BY_TARGET
default: {}

Set a more specific logging level for one or more logging targets. The names of logging targets are specified in log strings when the --show-log-target option is set. The logging levels are one of: "error", "warn", "info", "debug", "trace". All logging targets not specified here use the global log level set with --level. For example, you can set --log-levels-by-target='{"workunit_store": "info", "pants.engine.rules": "warn"}'.

log_show_rust_3rdparty​

--[no-]log-show-rust-3rdparty
PANTS_LOG_SHOW_RUST_3RDPARTY
default: False

Whether to show/hide logging done by 3rdparty Rust crates used by the Pants engine.

ignore_pants_warnings​

--ignore-pants-warnings="['<str>', '<str>', ...]"
PANTS_IGNORE_PANTS_WARNINGS
default: []

Regexps matching warning strings to ignore, e.g. ["DEPRECATED: the option --my-opt will be removed"]. The regex patterns will be matched from the start of the warning string, and are case-insensitive.

pants_version​

--pants-version=<str>
PANTS_VERSION
default: 2.0.2

Use this Pants version. Note that Pants only uses this to verify that you are using the requested version, as Pants cannot dynamically change the version it is using once the program is already running.

If you use the ./pants script from https://www.pantsbuild.org/docs/installation, however, changing the value in your pants.toml will cause the new version to be installed and run automatically.

Run ./pants --version to check what is being used.

pants_bin_name​

--pants-bin-name=<str>
PANTS_BIN_NAME
default: ./pants

The name of the script or binary used to invoke Pants. Useful when printing help messages.

pants_bootstrapdir​

--pants-bootstrapdir=<dir>
PANTS_BOOTSTRAPDIR
default: $XDG_CACHE_HOME/pants

Unused. Will be deprecated in 2.1.0.

pants_configdir​

--pants-configdir=<dir>
PANTS_CONFIGDIR
default: /home/josh/.config/pants

Unused. Will be deprecated in 2.1.0.

pants_workdir​

--pants-workdir=<dir>
PANTS_WORKDIR
default: <buildroot>/.pants.d

Write intermediate logs and output files to this dir.

pants_physical_workdir_base​

--pants-physical-workdir-base=<dir>
PANTS_PHYSICAL_WORKDIR_BASE
default: None

When set, a base directory in which to store --pants-workdir contents. If this option is a set, the workdir will be created as symlink into a per-workspace subdirectory.

pants_supportdir​

--pants-supportdir=<dir>
PANTS_SUPPORTDIR
default: <buildroot>/build-support

Unused. Will be deprecated in 2.1.0.

pants_distdir​

--pants-distdir=<dir>
PANTS_DISTDIR
default: <buildroot>/dist

Write end products, such as the results of ./pants package, to this dir.

pants_distdir_legacy_paths​

--[no-]pants-distdir-legacy-paths
PANTS_DISTDIR_LEGACY_PATHS
default: True

Whether to write binaries to the pre-2.0 paths under distdir. These legacy paths are not qualified by target address, so may be ambiguous. This option is a temporary mechanism for easing transition to 2.0. We recommemd switching to the new, unambiguous paths ASAP, by setting this option to true.

pants_subprocessdir​

--pants-subprocessdir=<str>
PANTS_SUBPROCESSDIR
default: <buildroot>/.pids

The directory to use for tracking subprocess metadata. This should live outside of the dir used by pants_workdir to allow for tracking subprocesses that outlive the workdir data.

pants_config_files​

--pants-config-files="['<str>', '<str>', ...]"
PANTS_CONFIG_FILES
default: ["/tmp/tmp.MpwSc5OGVo/pants.toml"]

Paths to Pants config files. This may only be set through the environment variable PANTS_CONFIG_FILES and the command line argument --pants-config-files; it will be ignored if in a config file like pants.toml.

pantsrc​

--[no-]pantsrc
PANTS_PANTSRC
default: True

Use pantsrc files located at the paths specified in the global option pantsrc_files.

pantsrc_files​

--pantsrc-files="[<path>, <path>, ...]"
PANTS_PANTSRC_FILES
default: 
[
  "/etc/pantsrc",
  "~/.pants.rc"
]

Override config with values from these files, using syntax matching that of --pants-config-files.

pythonpath​

--pythonpath="['<str>', '<str>', ...]"
PANTS_PYTHONPATH
default: []

Add these directories to PYTHONPATH to search for plugins. This does not impact the PYTHONPATH used by Pants when running your Python code.

verify_config​

--[no-]verify-config
PANTS_VERIFY_CONFIG
default: True

Verify that all config file values correspond to known options.

pants_ignore​

--pants-ignore="['<str>', '<str>', ...]"
PANTS_IGNORE
default: 
[
  ".*/",
  "/dist/"
]

Paths to ignore for all filesystem operations performed by pants (e.g. BUILD file scanning, glob matching, etc). Patterns use the gitignore syntax (https://git-scm.com/docs/gitignore). The pants_distdir and pants_workdir locations are automatically ignored. pants_ignore can be used in tandem with pants_ignore_use_gitignore; any rules specified here are applied after rules specified in a .gitignore file.

pants_ignore_use_gitignore​

--[no-]pants-ignore-use-gitignore
PANTS_IGNORE_USE_GITIGNORE
default: True

Make use of a root .gitignore file when determining whether to ignore filesystem operations performed by Pants. If used together with --pants-ignore, any exclude/include patterns specified there apply after .gitignore rules.

logdir​

-d=<dir>, --logdir=<dir>
PANTS_LOGDIR
default: None

Write logs to files under this directory.

pantsd​

--[no-]pantsd
PANTS_PANTSD
default: True

Enables use of the Pants daemon (pantsd). pantsd can significantly improve runtime performance by lowering per-run startup cost, and by memoizing filesystem operations and rule execution.

concurrent​

--[no-]concurrent
PANTS_CONCURRENT
default: False

Enable concurrent runs of Pants. Without this enabled, Pants will start up all concurrent invocations (e.g. in other terminals) without pantsd. Enabling this option requires parallel Pants invocations to block on the first

pantsd_timeout_when_multiple_invocations​

--pantsd-timeout-when-multiple-invocations=<float>
PANTS_PANTSD_TIMEOUT_WHEN_MULTIPLE_INVOCATIONS
default: 60.0

The maximum amount of time to wait for the invocation to start until raising a timeout exception. Because pantsd currently does not support parallel runs, any prior running Pants command must be finished for the current one to start. To never timeout, use the value -1.

pantsd_max_memory_usage​

--pantsd-max-memory-usage=<int>
PANTS_PANTSD_MAX_MEMORY_USAGE
default: 1073741824

The maximum memory usage of a pantsd process (in bytes). There is at most one pantsd process per workspace.

--[no-]print-stacktrace
PANTS_PRINT_STACKTRACE
default: False

Print the full exception stack trace for any errors.

native_engine_visualize_to​

--native-engine-visualize-to=<dir_option>
PANTS_NATIVE_ENGINE_VISUALIZE_TO
default: None

A directory to write execution and rule graphs to as dot files. The contents of the directory will be overwritten if any filenames collide.

pantsd_pailgun_port​

--pantsd-pailgun-port=<int>
PANTS_PANTSD_PAILGUN_PORT
default: 0

The port to bind the Pants nailgun server to. Defaults to a random port.

pantsd_pailgun_quit_timeout​

--pantsd-pailgun-quit-timeout=<float>
PANTS_PANTSD_PAILGUN_QUIT_TIMEOUT
default: 5.0

The length of time (in seconds) to wait for further output after sending a signal to the remote pantsd process before killing it.

pantsd_invalidation_globs​

--pantsd-invalidation-globs="['<str>', '<str>', ...]"
PANTS_PANTSD_INVALIDATION_GLOBS
default: []

Filesystem events matching any of these globs will trigger a daemon restart. Pants's own code, plugins, and --pants-config-files are inherently invalidated.

local_store_dir​

--local-store-dir=<str>
PANTS_LOCAL_STORE_DIR
default: $XDG_CACHE_HOME/pants/lmdb_store

Directory to use for the local file store, which stores the results of subprocesses run by Pants. The path may be absolute or relative. If the directory is within the build root, be sure to include it in --pants-ignore.

named_caches_dir​

--named-caches-dir=<str>
PANTS_NAMED_CACHES_DIR
default: $XDG_CACHE_HOME/pants/named_caches

Directory to use for named global caches for tools and processes with trusted, concurrency-safe caches. The path may be absolute or relative. If the directory is within the build root, be sure to include it in --pants-ignore.

local_execution_root_dir​

--local-execution-root-dir=<str>
PANTS_LOCAL_EXECUTION_ROOT_DIR
default: /tmp

Directory to use for local process execution sandboxing. The path may be absolute or relative. If the directory is within the build root, be sure to include it in --pants-ignore.

process_execution_use_local_cache​

--[no-]process-execution-use-local-cache
PANTS_PROCESS_EXECUTION_USE_LOCAL_CACHE
default: True

Whether to keep process executions in a local cache persisted to disk.

process_execution_cleanup_local_dirs​

--[no-]process-execution-cleanup-local-dirs
PANTS_PROCESS_EXECUTION_CLEANUP_LOCAL_DIRS
default: True

Whether or not to cleanup directories used for local process execution (primarily useful for e.g. debugging).

ca_certs_path​

--ca-certs-path=<str>
PANTS_CA_CERTS_PATH
default: None

Path to a file containing PEM-format CA certificates used for verifying secure connections when downloading files required by a build.

process_execution_local_parallelism​

--process-execution-local-parallelism=<int>
PANTS_PROCESS_EXECUTION_LOCAL_PARALLELISM
default: 64

Number of concurrent processes that may be executed locally.

process_execution_remote_parallelism​

--process-execution-remote-parallelism=<int>
PANTS_PROCESS_EXECUTION_REMOTE_PARALLELISM
default: 128

Number of concurrent processes that may be executed remotely.

process_execution_speculation_delay​

--process-execution-speculation-delay=<float>
PANTS_PROCESS_EXECUTION_SPECULATION_DELAY
default: 1.0

Number of seconds to wait before speculating a second request for a slow process. see --process-execution-speculation-strategy

process_execution_speculation_strategy​

--process-execution-speculation-strategy=<str>
PANTS_PROCESS_EXECUTION_SPECULATION_STRATEGY
one of: remote_first, local_first, none
default: none

Speculate a second request for an underlying process if the first one does not complete within --process-execution-speculation-delay seconds. local_first (default): Try to run the process locally first, and fall back to remote execution if available. remote_first: Run the process on the remote execution backend if available, and fall back to the local host if remote calls take longer than the speculation timeout. none: Do not speculate about long running processes.

process_execution_local_enable_nailgun​

--[no-]process-execution-local-enable-nailgun
PANTS_PROCESS_EXECUTION_LOCAL_ENABLE_NAILGUN
default: False

Whether or not to use nailgun to run the requests that are marked as nailgunnable.

remote_execution​

--[no-]remote-execution
PANTS_REMOTE_EXECUTION
default: False

Enables remote workers for increased parallelism. (Alpha)

remote_store_server​

--remote-store-server="['<str>', '<str>', ...]"
PANTS_REMOTE_STORE_SERVER
default: []

host:port of grpc server to use as remote execution file store.

remote_store_thread_count​

--remote-store-thread-count=<int>
PANTS_REMOTE_STORE_THREAD_COUNT
default: 1

Thread count to use for the pool that interacts with the remote file store.

remote_execution_server​

--remote-execution-server=<str>
PANTS_REMOTE_EXECUTION_SERVER
default: None

host:port of grpc server to use as remote execution scheduler.

remote_store_chunk_bytes​

--remote-store-chunk-bytes=<int>
PANTS_REMOTE_STORE_CHUNK_BYTES
default: 1048576

Size in bytes of chunks transferred to/from the remote file store.

remote_store_chunk_upload_timeout_seconds​

--remote-store-chunk-upload-timeout-seconds=<int>
PANTS_REMOTE_STORE_CHUNK_UPLOAD_TIMEOUT_SECONDS
default: 60

Timeout (in seconds) for uploads of individual chunks to the remote file store.

remote_store_rpc_retries​

--remote-store-rpc-retries=<int>
PANTS_REMOTE_STORE_RPC_RETRIES
default: 2

Number of times to retry any RPC to the remote store before giving up.

remote_store_connection_limit​

--remote-store-connection-limit=<int>
PANTS_REMOTE_STORE_CONNECTION_LIMIT
default: 5

Number of remote stores to concurrently allow connections to.

remote_execution_process_cache_namespace​

--remote-execution-process-cache-namespace=<str>
PANTS_REMOTE_EXECUTION_PROCESS_CACHE_NAMESPACE
default: None

The cache namespace for remote process execution. Bump this to invalidate every artifact's remote execution. This is the remote execution equivalent of the legacy cache-key-gen-version flag.

remote_instance_name​

--remote-instance-name=<str>
PANTS_REMOTE_INSTANCE_NAME
default: None

Name of the remote execution instance to use. Used for routing within --remote-execution-server and --remote-store-server.

remote_ca_certs_path​

--remote-ca-certs-path=<str>
PANTS_REMOTE_CA_CERTS_PATH
default: None

Path to a PEM file containing CA certificates used for verifying secure connections to --remote-execution-server and --remote-store-server. If not specified, TLS will not be used.

remote_oauth_bearer_token_path​

--remote-oauth-bearer-token-path=<str>
PANTS_REMOTE_OAUTH_BEARER_TOKEN_PATH
default: None

Path to a file containing an oauth token to use for grpc connections to --remote-execution-server and --remote-store-server. If not specified, no authorization will be performed.

remote_execution_extra_platform_properties​

--remote-execution-extra-platform-properties="['<str>', '<str>', ...]"
PANTS_REMOTE_EXECUTION_EXTRA_PLATFORM_PROPERTIES
default: []

Platform properties to set on remote execution requests. Format: property=value. Multiple values should be specified as multiple occurrences of this flag. Pants itself may add additional platform properties.

remote_execution_headers​

--remote-execution-headers="{'key1': val1, 'key2': val2, ...}"
PANTS_REMOTE_EXECUTION_HEADERS
default: {}

Headers to set on remote execution requests. Format: header=value. Pants itself may add additional headers.

remote_execution_overall_deadline_secs​

--remote-execution-overall-deadline-secs=<int>
PANTS_REMOTE_EXECUTION_OVERALL_DEADLINE_SECS
default: 3600

Overall timeout in seconds for each remote execution request from time of submission

files_not_found_behavior​

--files-not-found-behavior=<FilesNotFoundBehavior>
PANTS_FILES_NOT_FOUND_BEHAVIOR
one of: warn, error
default: warn

What to do when files and globs specified in BUILD files, such as in the sources field, cannot be found. This happens when the files do not exist on your machine or when they are ignored by the --pants-ignore option.

owners_not_found_behavior​

--owners-not-found-behavior=<OwnersNotFoundBehavior>
PANTS_OWNERS_NOT_FOUND_BEHAVIOR
one of: ignore, warn, error
default: error

What to do when file arguments do not have any owning target. This happens when there are no targets whose sources fields include the file argument.

build_patterns​

--build-patterns="['<str>', '<str>', ...]"
PANTS_BUILD_PATTERNS
default: 
[
  "BUILD",
  "BUILD.*"
]

The naming scheme for BUILD files, i.e. where you define targets. This only sets the naming scheme, not the directory paths to look for. To add ignorepatterns, use the option --build-ignore.

build_ignore​

--build-ignore="['<str>', '<str>', ...]"
PANTS_BUILD_IGNORE
default: []

Paths to ignore when identifying BUILD files. This does not affect any other filesystem operations; use --pants-ignore for that instead. Patterns use the gitignore pattern syntax (https://git-scm.com/docs/gitignore).

build_file_prelude_globs​

--build-file-prelude-globs="['<str>', '<str>', ...]"
PANTS_BUILD_FILE_PRELUDE_GLOBS
default: []

Python files to evaluate and whose symbols should be exposed to all BUILD files. See https://www.pantsbuild.org/docs/macros.

subproject_roots​

--subproject-roots="['<str>', '<str>', ...]"
PANTS_SUBPROJECT_ROOTS
default: []

Paths that correspond with build roots for any subproject that this project depends on.

loop_max​

--loop-max=<int>
PANTS_LOOP_MAX
default: 4294967296

The maximum number of times to loop when --loop is specified.

streaming_workunits_report_interval​

--streaming-workunits-report-interval=<float>
PANTS_STREAMING_WORKUNITS_REPORT_INTERVAL
default: 10.0

Interval in seconds between when streaming workunit event receivers will be polled.

streaming_workunits_handlers​

--streaming-workunits-handlers="['<str>', '<str>', ...]"
PANTS_STREAMING_WORKUNITS_HANDLERS
default: []

Use this option to name Subsystems which will receive streaming workunit events. For instance, --streaming-workunits-handlers="['pants.reporting.workunit.Workunits']" will register a Subsystem called Workunits defined in the module "pants.reporting.workunit".

Deprecated options​

backend_packages2​

--backend-packages2="['<str>', '<str>', ...]"
PANTS_BACKEND_PACKAGES2
default: []

Register rules from these backends. The backend packages must be present on the PYTHONPATH, typically because they are in the Pants core dist, in a plugin dist, or available as sources in the repo.

plugins2​

--plugins2="['<str>', '<str>', ...]"
PANTS_PLUGINS2
default: []

Allow backends to be loaded from these plugins. The default backends for each plugin will be loaded automatically. Other backends in a plugin can be loaded by listing them in --backend-packages.

v1​

--[no-]v1
PANTS_V1
default: False

Enables execution of v1 Tasks.

v2​

--[no-]v2
PANTS_V2
default: True

Enables execution of v2 @goal_rules.

option_name_check_distance​

--option-name-check-distance=<int>
PANTS_OPTION_NAME_CHECK_DISTANCE
default: 2

The maximum Levenshtein distance to use when offering suggestions for invalid option names.

spec_file​

--spec-file="['<str>', '<str>', ...]"
PANTS_SPEC_FILE
default: []

Read additional specs from this file (e.g. target addresses or file names). Each spec should be one per line.

--[no-]print-exception-stacktrace
PANTS_PRINT_EXCEPTION_STACKTRACE
default: False

Print to console the full exception stack trace if encountered.

binaries_baseurls​

--binaries-baseurls="['<str>', '<str>', ...]"
PANTS_BINARIES_BASEURLS
default: ["https://binaries.pantsbuild.org"]

List of URLs from which binary tools are downloaded. URLs are searched in order until the requested path is found.

binaries_fetch_timeout_secs​

--binaries-fetch-timeout-secs=<int>
PANTS_BINARIES_FETCH_TIMEOUT_SECS
default: 30

Timeout in seconds for URL reads when fetching binary tools from the repos specified by --baseurls.

binaries_path_by_id​

--binaries-path-by-id="{'key1': val1, 'key2': val2, ...}"
PANTS_BINARIES_PATH_BY_ID
default: {}

Maps output of uname for a machine to a binary search path: (sysname, id) -> (os, arch), e.g. {('darwin', '15'): ('mac', '10.11'), ('linux', 'arm32'): ('linux', 'arm32')}.

allow_external_binary_tool_downloads​

--[no-]allow-external-binary-tool-downloads
PANTS_ALLOW_EXTERNAL_BINARY_TOOL_DOWNLOADS
default: True

If False, require BinaryTool subclasses to download their contents from urls generated from --binaries-baseurls, even if the tool has an external url generator. This can be necessary if using Pants in an environment which cannot contact the wider Internet.

pantsd_log_dir​

--pantsd-log-dir=<str>
PANTS_PANTSD_LOG_DIR
default: None

The directory to log pantsd output to.

remote_execution_enable_streaming​

--[no-]remote-execution-enable-streaming
PANTS_REMOTE_EXECUTION_ENABLE_STREAMING
default: True

This option no longer does anything. (It used to enable the streaming remote execution client which is now the only remote execution client.)

dependency_inference​

--[no-]dependency-inference
PANTS_DEPENDENCY_INFERENCE
default: False

Enable dependency inference, meaning that Pants will read your source code to infer the dependencies field for you in BUILD files. You can check what Pants inferred by running ./pants dependencies on your target. You may still need to explicitly provide some dependencies that cannot be inferred.

lock​

--[no-]lock
PANTS_LOCK
default: True

Use a global lock to exclude other versions of Pants from running during critical operations.