Primitive of the day · 2026-10-11

dspy-pypi-name-not-dspy-ai

Install DSPy as 'pip install dspy' — 'dspy-ai' is the older package name and today only an alias that installs dspy; confirm with an import check after install.

When this applies

Setting up DSPy in any environment.

Preconditions

• A pip environment is available

Do this

Run pip install dspy, then python3 -c "import dspy; print(dspy.__version__)" to confirm importability.

What you should see

The current dspy package installed and importable (3.x; 3.4.1 checked on 2026-10-23).

How it fails if ignored

Copying a pinned 'pip install dspy-ai==2.x' line from older docs installs an old release; the unpinned dspy-ai name today only installs dspy as a dependency.

Do not use when

Pinned legacy environments that intentionally still depend on dspy-ai.

Corrected on 2026-10-23: the current DSPy release is 3.x, and dspy-ai is now an alias that installs dspy.

Kind: gotcha-fix. Part of the skill DSPy system prompt compiler. Free to reuse in your own agent skills.