How to Install `starlette` in Python

v1.0.0 Web & HTTP Python >=3.10

The little ASGI library that shines.

Install pip install starlette

What is starlette?

The little ASGI library that shines.

✨ The little ASGI framework that shines. ✨

Starlette is a lightweight [ASGI][asgi] framework/toolkit, which is ideal for building async web services in Python.

It is production-ready, and gives you the following:

PyPI page → Author: Tom Christie <tom@tomchristie.com>

Quick Start

Minimal example to get started with starlette:

import starlette

print(starlette.__version__)

Installation

pip (standard)

pip install starlette

Virtual environment (recommended)

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate   # Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
pip install starlette

pip3

pip3 install starlette

conda

conda install -c conda-forge starlette

Poetry

poetry add starlette

Dependencies

Installing starlette will also install these packages:

anyio typing-extensions

Verify the Installation

After installing, confirm the package is available:

python -c "import starlette; print(starlette.__version__)"

If this prints a version number, installation succeeded. If you see a ModuleNotFoundError, see the errors section below.

Installation Errors

Common errors when installing starlette with pip.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'starlette'

Cause: The package is not installed in the current Python environment.

Fix: Run pip install starlette. If using a virtual environment, ensure it is activated first.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'starlette' (installed but still failing)

Cause: pip installed the package into a different Python than the one running your script.

Fix: Use python -m pip install starlette to install into the interpreter you are running.

ImportError: cannot import name 'X' from 'starlette'

Cause: The function or class does not exist in the installed version.

Fix: Check the version with pip show starlette and upgrade with pip install --upgrade starlette.

pip: command not found

Cause: pip is not in PATH or Python was not added to PATH during installation.

Fix: Try python -m pip install starlette. On macOS/Linux try pip3.

PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied

Cause: No write access to the system Python package directory.

Fix: Use a virtual environment, or add --user: pip install --user starlette

SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED

Cause: pip cannot verify PyPI's SSL certificate — common behind corporate proxies.

Fix: Try: pip install --trusted-host pypi.org --trusted-host files.pythonhosted.org starlette

ConnectionError: Failed to establish a new connection

Cause: Server unreachable, URL invalid, or firewall/proxy blocking the connection.

Fix: Verify the URL and network access. Set HTTP_PROXY / HTTPS_PROXY env vars if behind a proxy.

SSLError: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED

Cause: The remote server's SSL certificate cannot be verified.

Fix: Update CA certificates on your system. For testing only, disable SSL verification (never in production).

Recent Releases

Version	Released
`1.0.0` latest	2026-03-22
`1.0.0rc1`	2026-02-23
`0.52.0`	2026-01-18
`0.52.1`	2026-01-18
`0.51.0`	2026-01-10

Full release history on PyPI →

Manage starlette

Upgrade to latest version

pip install --upgrade starlette

Install a specific version

pip install starlette==1.0.0

Uninstall

pip uninstall starlette

Check what is installed

pip show starlette

Last updated: 2026-04-11 • Data from PyPI

How to Install starlette in Python