# Alpha testing Stretch\_body with Python 3

**URL:** <https://forum.hello-robot.com/t/alpha-testing-stretch-body-with-python-3/142>\
**Category:** Ask\
**Created:** [March 31, 2021, 10:12pm UTC](https://forum.hello-robot.com/t/alpha-testing-stretch-body-with-python-3/142 "2021-03-31T22:12:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![rishi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/90db22/32.png) [@rishi](https://forum.hello-robot.com/u/rishi)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 10:12pm UTC](https://forum.hello-robot.com/t/alpha-testing-stretch-body-with-python-3/142/1 "2021-03-31T22:12:09Z")

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Hi,

I was trying to implement OSC parsing capability for Stretch and was using a package that works Python version \> 3.

Changing the default python on Stretch would mean that I wont be able to execute all the Stretch\_body API calls. And running on Py2.7, I am not able to get the OSC code to work.

I saw that on the Stretch\_body repo, there is a branch that has Py3 support - [https://github.com/hello-robot/stretch\_body/tree/feature/towards\_python3](https://github.com/hello-robot/stretch_body/tree/feature/towards_python3)

what is the best way to update the Stretch I have with this branch and make it Python 3 compatible?

I have tried quite a bit on my own, but not able to get everything to work. Any help on getting this set up would be amazing!

Thank you,  
Rishi

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**Author:** ![bshah](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.hello-robot.com/bshah/32/55_2.png) [@bshah](https://forum.hello-robot.com/u/bshah)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 12:32pm UTC](https://forum.hello-robot.com/t/alpha-testing-stretch-body-with-python-3/142/2 "2021-04-01T12:32:26Z")

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_Edited May 26th, 2021: The install steps in this post are out of date, so they’ve been removed. Please see the below post for updated steps._

* * *

Hi @rishi, thanks for checking out our development branches. We do have a Python3 Stretch\_body package in development, but it is not stable yet and you will likely encounter bugs. Furthermore, note that the Python3 package is actively being developed/tested at Hello Robot, so the API may change without notice. If you are still willing to test it out, I’d love for you to test out the Python3 package and let me know what bugs you run into.

Here are the steps necessary to install the Stretch\_body and its tools packages into your Python3 (\> 3.6 required) installation:

```bash
steps to install alpha removed

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bshah](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.hello-robot.com/bshah/32/55_2.png) [@bshah](https://forum.hello-robot.com/u/bshah)\
**Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 4:44am UTC](https://forum.hello-robot.com/t/alpha-testing-stretch-body-with-python-3/142/3 "2021-05-26T04:44:00Z")

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The Python3 version of Stretch\_body is currently in beta. The updated installation steps are available here:

```bash
$ python3 -m pip install git+https://github.com/hello-robot/stretch_body.git@develop#subdirectory=body

```

Please report any issue to our [issue tracker](https://github.com/hello-robot/stretch_body/issues). I will update this thread when a stable version of the Python3 library is released.

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**Author:** ![anurag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b782af/32.png) [@anurag](https://forum.hello-robot.com/u/anurag)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 6:12pm UTC](https://forum.hello-robot.com/t/alpha-testing-stretch-body-with-python-3/142/4 "2021-06-07T18:12:13Z")

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@bshah Is there a tentative date yet for when the Python3 library will be available?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bshah](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.hello-robot.com/bshah/32/55_2.png) [@bshah](https://forum.hello-robot.com/u/bshah)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2021, 6:46am UTC](https://forum.hello-robot.com/t/alpha-testing-stretch-body-with-python-3/142/5 "2021-06-09T06:46:04Z")

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Hi @anurag, welcome to the forum! We plan to begin shipping a stable Python3 library at the end of summer. It’s currently on beta. See the [post above](https://forum.hello-robot.com/t/alpha-testing-stretch-body-with-python-3/142/3) for install info. We welcome any feedback on the forum here or issues on the [Github tracker](https://github.com/hello-robot/stretch_body/issues).