Paperdl Installation

Environment Requirements

Operating system: Linux, macOS, or Windows.
Python version: Python 3.10 or later.
Package manager: pip is required. We recommend using the latest pip, setuptools, and wheel before installation.
Network access: most Paperdl engines search or download papers from remote academic websites, so a stable network connection is required.
Optional browser runtime: Playwright + Chromium is only needed for browser fallback downloads, mainly for bioRxiv / medRxiv PDF pages that block normal HTTP clients.

Recommended Environment Setup

Although Paperdl can be installed directly into your global Python environment, we recommend installing it in a virtual environment to avoid dependency conflicts with other projects.

For Linux / macOS:

python3.10 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install -U pip setuptools wheel

For Windows PowerShell:

py -3.10 -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
python -m pip install -U pip setuptools wheel

If PowerShell refuses to activate the virtual environment because script execution is disabled, run the following command once and then activate the environment again:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser

Installation Instructions

You have several installation methods to choose from.

# from PyPI
python -m pip install -U paperdl

# from GitHub repository
python -m pip install -U git+https://github.com/CharlesPikachu/paperdl.git@main

# from local source code
git clone https://github.com/CharlesPikachu/paperdl.git
cd paperdl
python -m pip install -U .

# editable install for development
python -m pip install -e .

For modern Python projects based on pyproject.toml, python -m pip install . is preferred over python setup.py install. The latter is deprecated and this repository may not include a setup.py file.

Optional Browser Installation

Most Paperdl engines work with the normal installation above. However, some bioRxiv / medRxiv PDF downloads may be blocked for normal HTTP clients. Paperdl includes an optional Playwright-based browser fallback for these cases.

To enable this feature when installing from PyPI:

python -m pip install -U "paperdl[browser]"
python -m playwright install chromium

To enable it from local source code:

python -m pip install -e ".[browser]"
python -m playwright install chromium

On some Linux servers, Playwright may also need system-level browser dependencies:

python -m playwright install-deps chromium

You can skip this optional browser installation if you only use engines such as arXiv, ACL Anthology, OpenReview, PMLR, or PMC OA, or if normal bioRxiv / medRxiv HTTP downloads work in your environment.