Installation#

Requirements#

bootstack needs Python 3.12 or later and Tk/Tcl, the GUI runtime it draws with. Tk ships with most Python distributions, so usually there is nothing extra to install — see Checking your Tk installation below if a window fails to appear.

Install#

bootstack is in pre-release, so pass --pre to opt in to the latest alpha:

python -m pip install --pre bootstack

Upgrade to the newest pre-release the same way:

python -m pip install --upgrade --pre bootstack

To pin an exact version — for a reproducible environment — name it directly (--pre is then not required):

python -m pip install bootstack==0.1.0a10

Checking your Tk installation#

Because bootstack renders through Tk, a working Tk is the one system requirement. Confirm it with the standard library’s self-test, which opens a small window:

python -m tkinter

If a window appears, you are set. If you instead see ModuleNotFoundError: No module named '_tkinter' or a TclError, install Tk for your platform:

Linux — Tk is packaged separately from Python:

sudo apt-get install python3-tk      # Debian / Ubuntu
sudo dnf install python3-tkinter     # Fedora
sudo pacman -S tk                    # Arch

Windows — re-run the official python.org installer and keep “tcl/tk and IDLE” checked (it is on by default); the Microsoft Store build also includes it.

macOS — use the python.org installer, which bundles a current Tk. The system Python and some Homebrew builds ship an older Tk; if you hit rendering glitches, switch to the python.org build.

Note

Inside a virtual environment, Tk support comes from the base interpreter the environment was created from. If python -m tkinter works system-wide but not in your venv, recreate the venv from a Python that has Tk.

Optional features#

A few data-format integrations are optional extras — install them only if you need them, by adding the extra in brackets:

python -m pip install --pre "bootstack[excel]"      # .xlsx export from DataTable
python -m pip install --pre "bootstack[parquet]"    # read and write Parquet and Feather
python -m pip install --pre "bootstack[hdf5]"       # read and write HDF5

Combine extras in one install — for example bootstack[excel,parquet]. These power the file reader/writer registry behind data sources and DataTable export; the core CSV/TSV/JSON formats need no extra. See Data Sources.

Verify#

Run the built-in diagnostics to confirm everything is healthy:

bootstack doctor

Or check from Python that the package imports and a window opens:

import bootstack as bs

with bs.App(title="Hello") as app:
    bs.Label("bootstack is working!", font="heading-md")
app.run()

See it#

Launch the widget gallery for a live tour of every widget, theme, and layout container — no code required:

bootstack gallery

Browse the full icon catalog:

bootstack icons

Next steps#