You request a transfer by contacting the owner first, checking PEP 541's criteria, searching existing PyPI support issues, and then opening a new issue that explains how each criterion is met. A name is never reassigned against the wishes of a reachable owner, and transfers are hard to get.
When a project counts as abandoned
PEP 541 sets three conditions, and all must be met.
- The owner is not reachable.
- There have been no releases within the past twelve months.
- The owner shows no activity on the project's home page, or no home page is listed.
Any project that does not meet all three is treated as active. For reachability, the maintainers try at least three means of contact: the email in the user's profile, the email in the project's Author field, and any addresses in the project's documentation or home page. They stop trying after six weeks.
Two different goals
The PEP separates two requests, and the second is harder.
| Goal | Extra conditions beyond abandonment |
|---|---|
| Continue maintaining the same project | You show failed attempts to contact the owner, show improvements on your own fork, and show why a fork under a different name is not an acceptable workaround |
| Reuse the name for a different project | You show the new project exists and meets notability requirements, show why a fork or other name will not do, and download statistics for the existing package indicate it is not used |
In both cases, the index maintainers also need to have no additional reservations. The request process page itself says the criteria for reusing a name are more stringent, and that it is not easy to get a name transferred in either case.
What never qualifies
For active projects, the maintainers say they are not arbiters of disputes. The PEP lists examples that do not qualify, such as two former collaborators who each want to continue under the same name, or someone who owned a project of that name elsewhere first. Another example is a contributor whose fixes were merged in the repository but never released.
Projects are also never removed from the index only because they are abandoned. Uploaded artifacts are treated as having historical value.
The steps
The PEP lists them in order.
- Try to contact the current owners directly, by email and by opening an issue in any related repository. The process is a last resort.
- Check the criteria to see whether a transfer is allowed.
- Search the PyPI support issues to see whether someone is already requesting the same name.
- If the criteria are met, open a new issue and explain why you believe each relevant criterion is satisfied.
Keep a record of your attempts as you go. Dated emails, issue links and fork links make the request concrete.
Names registered without releases
The PyPI help page lists a registered name with no releases as one of the reasons a seemingly free name is unavailable. It points to the same name transfer section of PEP 541 for that case.
Better options than waiting
- Choose a different, clearly distinct name.
- Contact the owner kindly and offer to help, which is what the PEP recommends users do for active projects.
- Publish under your own namespace style, such as a prefix tied to your organization.
Security context
Name takeovers are a real supply chain risk, because a reassigned name serves new code to anyone who depends on it. That is part of why the rules are strict. If you depend on a package that seems abandoned, plan a migration rather than hoping someone adopts it.
Safeguard's dependency scanning can flag components in your product that you should review. A free scan is a place to begin.
Quick check
Can PyPI give me a name just because the project is quiet?
No. Abandonment requires an unreachable owner, no releases in twelve months and no owner activity on the home page.
Is merging fixes enough to take over an active project?
No. The PEP lists merged but unreleased fixes as an example that does not qualify.
Where do I file the request?
Open a new issue in the PyPI support issue tracker after searching for existing requests.
Sources
Last reviewed: 19 October 2026.
