Solved Error: could not build wheels for ta-lib, which is required to install pyproject toml based projects

If you are trying to install ta-lib using pip and encountering installation errors:

This error originates from a subprocess, and is likely not a problem with pip. Building wheel for ta-lib (pyproject.toml) ... error ERROR: Failed building wheel for ta-lib Failed to build ta-lib
ERROR: Could not build wheels for ta-lib, which is required to install pyproject.toml-based projects

then you have come to right place in this post we will discuess the possible solution for that error.

Solution to "error: could not build wheels for ta-lib"

We encountered an error while trying to install a pyproject.toml-based project, specifically related to building wheels for the ta-lib package then you can can follow these steps to resolve this issue, :

Install prerequisites

We need to ensure that we have the necessary dependencies installed on our system. Ta-lib requires certain development headers and libraries to build correctly.

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Install ta-lib

We'll install ta-lib using pip. However, since ta-lib requires compilation, we need to ensure we have the necessary tools and libraries installed.

pip install ta-lib

Try installing the project again

Now that we have ta-lib installed, let's try installing the project that was previously failing. We should no longer encounter the "error: could not build wheels for ta-lib" message.

pip install [project_name]

You can try to Install pre-built wheels (if available):

Sometimes, pre-built wheels for TA-Lib might be available for your specific operating system and Python version. You can try installing these directly using pip:

pip install ta-lib

Also ensure C library installation, if pre-built wheels aren't available, you need to install the C library manually.

We also getting the same error while trying to pip install ta-lib, we found a solution by using different methods:

Method 1: Using conda

We used the Anaconda Command Prompt and executed the following command:

conda install -c conda-forge ta-lib

This resolved the issue for us.

Method 2: Using Homebrew (for macOS and Ubuntu)

If the conda method doesn't work, another option is to use Homebrew, we learned this solution from a friend who successfully installed ta-lib on both macOS and Ubuntu (WSL) by executing the following command in the terminal:

brew install ta-lib

These methods should help resolve the issue you're facing with installing ta-lib. We recommend trying them sequentially, starting with the conda method, and then moving on to Homebrew if necessary.

Solution to Installing ta-lib in Ubuntu

When we face the same issue in Ubuntu, we found a solution on Stack Overflow and successfully resolved it by following these steps:

Step 1: Download and Extract ta-lib

We downloaded ta-lib-0.4.0-src.tar.gz and placed it in the directory where we intended to install ta-lib, which in our case was "~/talib". Then, we opened the terminal and navigated to the directory where we placed the downloaded file:

cd ~/talib
tar -xzf ta-lib-0.4.0-src.tar.gz
cd ta-lib/

Step 2: Configure, Make, and Install ta-lib

We ran the following commands to configure, make, and install ta-lib:

./configure --prefix=/usr
make
sudo make install

Step 3: Update PATH and Install Python Package

To ensure ta-lib is accessible, we added the necessary directories to the PATH variable by editing .bashrc in our home directory:

nano ~/.bashrc

And added the following lines (replacing PREFIX with the path to ta-lib):

export TA_LIBRARY_PATH=$PREFIX/lib
export TA_INCLUDE_PATH=$PREFIX/include

Then, we installed the Python package:

pip install TA-Lib

Using above step successfully installed ta-lib , if you don't have access to /usr or are working in a restricted environment, additional things may be required for you.