Pip python Cannot install module spaCy

Question

I wanted to use spacy to work on a project, but it cannot be installed using pip and is showing the following error message in command prompt

pip install spacy
Collecting spacy
  Using cached spacy-3.8.2.tar.gz (1.3 MB)
  Installing build dependencies ... error
  error: subprocess-exited-with-error

  × pip subprocess to install build dependencies did not run successfully.
  │ exit code: 1
  ╰─> [103 lines of output]
      Ignoring numpy: markers 'python_version < "3.9"' don't match your environment
      Collecting setuptools
        Using cached setuptools-76.0.0-py3-none-any.whl.metadata (6.7 kB)
      Collecting cython<3.0,>=0.25
        Using cached Cython-0.29.37-py2.py3-none-any.whl.metadata (3.1 kB)
      Collecting cymem<2.1.0,>=2.0.2
        Using cached cymem-2.0.11-cp313-cp313-win_amd64.whl.metadata (8.8 kB)
      Collecting preshed<3.1.0,>=3.0.2
        Using cached preshed-3.0.9.tar.gz (14 kB)
        Installing build dependencies: started
        Installing build dependencies: finished with status 'done'
        Getting requirements to build wheel: started
        Getting requirements to build wheel: finished with status 'done'
        Preparing metadata (pyproject.toml): started
        Preparing metadata (pyproject.toml): finished with status 'done'
      Collecting murmurhash<1.1.0,>=0.28.0
        Using cached murmurhash-1.0.12-cp313-cp313-win_amd64.whl.metadata (2.2 kB)
      Collecting thinc<8.4.0,>=8.3.0
        Using cached thinc-8.3.2.tar.gz (193 kB)
        Installing build dependencies: started
        Installing build dependencies: finished with status 'error'
        error: subprocess-exited-with-error

        pip subprocess to install build dependencies did not run successfully.
        exit code: 1

        [65 lines of output]
        Ignoring numpy: markers 'python_version < "3.9"' don't match your environment
        Collecting setuptools
          Using cached setuptools-76.0.0-py3-none-any.whl.metadata (6.7 kB)
        Collecting cython<3.0,>=0.25
          Using cached Cython-0.29.37-py2.py3-none-any.whl.metadata (3.1 kB)
        Collecting murmurhash<1.1.0,>=1.0.2
          Using cached murmurhash-1.0.12-cp313-cp313-win_amd64.whl.metadata (2.2 kB)
        Collecting cymem<2.1.0,>=2.0.2
          Using cached cymem-2.0.11-cp313-cp313-win_amd64.whl.metadata (8.8 kB)
        Collecting preshed<3.1.0,>=3.0.2
          Using cached preshed-3.0.9.tar.gz (14 kB)
          Installing build dependencies: started
          Installing build dependencies: finished with status 'done'
          Getting requirements to build wheel: started
          Getting requirements to build wheel: finished with status 'done'
          Preparing metadata (pyproject.toml): started
          Preparing metadata (pyproject.toml): finished with status 'done'
        Collecting blis<1.1.0,>=1.0.0
          Using cached blis-1.0.2-cp313-cp313-win_amd64.whl.metadata (7.8 kB)
        Collecting numpy<2.1.0,>=2.0.0
          Using cached numpy-2.0.2.tar.gz (18.9 MB)
          Installing build dependencies: started
          Installing build dependencies: finished with status 'done'
          Getting requirements to build wheel: started
          Getting requirements to build wheel: finished with status 'done'
          Installing backend dependencies: started
          Installing backend dependencies: finished with status 'done'
          Preparing metadata (pyproject.toml): started
          Preparing metadata (pyproject.toml): finished with status 'error'
          error: subprocess-exited-with-error

          Preparing metadata (pyproject.toml) did not run successfully.
          exit code: 1

          [19 lines of output]
          + C:\Users\ronal\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python313\python.exe C:\Users\ronal\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-install-bpp4n0ch\numpy_744bbb085194411e9f392421c1dd5e5e\vendored-meson\meson\meson.py setup C:\Users\ronal\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-install-bpp4n0ch\numpy_744bbb085194411e9f392421c1dd5e5e C:\Users\ronal\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-install-bpp4n0ch\numpy_744bbb085194411e9f392421c1dd5e5e\.mesonpy-8ls7xc0w -Dbuildtype=release -Db_ndebug=if-release -Db_vscrt=md --native-file=C:\Users\ronal\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-install-bpp4n0ch\numpy_744bbb085194411e9f392421c1dd5e5e\.mesonpy-8ls7xc0w\meson-python-native-file.ini
          The Meson build system
          Version: 1.4.99
          Source dir: C:\Users\ronal\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-install-bpp4n0ch\numpy_744bbb085194411e9f392421c1dd5e5e
          Build dir: C:\Users\ronal\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-install-bpp4n0ch\numpy_744bbb085194411e9f392421c1dd5e5e\.mesonpy-8ls7xc0w
          Build type: native build
          Project name: NumPy
          Project version: 2.0.2
          C compiler for the host machine: gcc (gcc 6.3.0 "gcc (MinGW.org GCC-6.3.0-1) 6.3.0")
          C linker for the host machine: gcc ld.bfd 2.28
          C++ compiler for the host machine: c++ (gcc 6.3.0 "c++ (MinGW.org GCC-6.3.0-1) 6.3.0")
          C++ linker for the host machine: c++ ld.bfd 2.28
          Cython compiler for the host machine: cython (cython 3.0.12)
          Host machine cpu family: x86
          Host machine cpu: x86

          ..\meson.build:28:4: ERROR: Problem encountered: NumPy requires GCC >= 8.4

          A full log can be found at C:\Users\ronal\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-install-bpp4n0ch\numpy_744bbb085194411e9f392421c1dd5e5e\.mesonpy-8ls7xc0w\meson-logs\meson-log.txt
          [end of output]

          note: This error originates from a subprocess, and is likely not a problem with pip.
        error: metadata-generation-failed

        Encountered error while generating package metadata.

        See above for output.

        note: This is an issue with the package mentioned above, not pip.
        hint: See above for details.
        [end of output]

        note: This error originates from a subprocess, and is likely not a problem with pip.
      error: subprocess-exited-with-error

      pip subprocess to install build dependencies did not run successfully.
      exit code: 1

      See above for output.

      note: This error originates from a subprocess, and is likely not a problem with pip.
      [end of output]

  note: This error originates from a subprocess, and is likely not a problem with pip.
error: subprocess-exited-with-error

× pip subprocess to install build dependencies did not run successfully.
│ exit code: 1
╰─> See above for output.

note: This error originates from a subprocess, and is likely not a problem with pip.

I have been trying to install spacy module to import into a python backend project. Spacy was not even being installed using

pip install spacy

I am not able to import spacy as it wont be installed using pip due to the problem above as in the terminal response

please someone help me fix this issue

Are you using a dedicated environment for your project ? it seems that you use pip linked to python 3.13 whereas numpy version wants <3.9 — rehaqds
– rehaqds, Commented Mar 14 at 21:40

EuanG · Accepted Answer · 2025-03-12 17:13:48Z

0

The error message shows you need a newer version of GCC:

NumPy requires GCC >= 8.4

You have GCC 6.3.0 from MinGW, which is too old for NumPy 2.0.2.

Potential Fixes

Use pre-built wheels:

Instead of building from source you can use pre-compiled package.
```
pip install -U pip
pip install --only-binary=all spacy
```

Try older versions:

pip install spacy==3.5.3

Or:

pip install numpy==1.24.3
pip install spacy

Update GCC:
- Install newer MinGW/MSYS2 with GCC 8.4+
- Add to PATH
Use conda:
```
conda install -c conda-forge spacy
```

answered Mar 12 at 17:13

EuanG

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Comments

Uchenna Adubasim · Accepted Answer · 2025-04-11 13:56:52Z

0

From your error message, you were trying to install spacy 3.8.2 using Python 3.13 on a Windows machine. However Spacy 3.8.2 only has wheels for Python 3.9 - 3.12.

It is listed that the latest version (i.e. spacy 3.8.5) supports Python 3.9 - 3.13 but I can only see wheels for Python 3.9 - 3.12 in the latest release.

I suggest you downgrade to Python 3.12 and run pip install spacy again.

answered Apr 11 at 13:56

Uchenna Adubasim

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