How to fix the error "Python.h: No such file or directory"

Question

I have a C file that I am trying to integrate Python into, but it returns this error "Python.h: No such file or directory". This is my file:

#define PY_SSIZE_T_CLEAN
#include <Python.h>
int main(int argl, char **argv)
{

        return 0;
}

I also tried to use cmake, but it gives me the same error, this is my CMakeLists.txt file:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.18)

project(Test)

add_executable(main main.c)

find_package(PythonLibs REQUIRED)
include_directories(${Python_INCLUDE_DIRS})
target_link_libraries(main ${Python_LIBRARIES})

Output picture from the exec

Please update question to include the text output instead of an external image that will break and render the question less useful. Text is also searchable. — Allan Wind, Sep 03 '22 at 03:15

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 03 '22 at 03:11

You didn't tell us what operating system you are using. Debian (and Ubuntu) ships that header file in:

$ apt-file search /Python.h|grep h$
libpython2.7-dbg: /usr/include/python2.7_d/Python.h
libpython2.7-dev: /usr/include/python2.7/Python.h
libpython3.9-dbg: /usr/include/python3.9d/Python.h
libpython3.9-dev: /usr/include/python3.9/Python.h
...

and you would install that with:

$ sudo apt install libpython3.9-dev

You tagged this with c and not cmake, so the answer that you now need to include that directory with -I/usr/include/python3.9. On the Debian the best way to do that is using so you would include that as an argument to when compiling the file:

$ pkg-config -cflags python-3.9
-I/usr/include/python3.9 -I/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu/python3.9

How to fix the error "Python.h: No such file or directory"

1 Answers1