Imagine you’re building an automation flow that depends on the requests package. You’ve already installed it, but now you need a newer version to unlock the feature you want. Here comes the question: should you go through the Tools menu, or manage it directly in the Flow Editor? Octoparse AI gives you both options, and each works a little differently.
What You Can Do with the Manager
Install new libraries by name, with or without a specific version number.
Upgrade libraries to match your script’s needs.
Uninstall libraries you no longer need.
This ensures your automation scripts always have the right dependencies without cluttering your environment.
Two Ways to Manage Python Libraries
Method 1: Managing Packages from Client Tools
Start from the Octoparse AI client homepage. Click the user avatar in the top-right corner and, in the dropdown menu, select Tools → Python Package Manager.
Inside the Package Manager window, you can search for libraries, specify a version number, choose whether to use a mirror, and then install or uninstall as needed. The results appear in the output box, so you can confirm the installation worked.
Packages installed this way are tied to your Octoparse AI client. They don’t automatically travel with your app when you share it, but they’re always available to any flow you build locally.
Method 2: Managing Packages from the Flow Editor
If you’re already editing a flow and realize you need a package, you don’t have to leave the editor. Open the right-hand sidebar, go to Python Packages, and click the ➕ button to install one.
Here, you’ll see the same installation options as in Tools, with one additional setting: a checkbox to “Use the latest version of PIP.” Enabling this ensures PIP itself is upgraded before installing, which helps reduce errors with newer packages.
The real benefit of using the Flow Editor is that the packages you install here are tied directly to your app. This means when you share the app with someone else, Octoparse AI will automatically check if the required packages are installed on their side. If not, the client installs them automatically—so your collaborators don’t have to worry about setup.
In practice, this method saves time and avoids the frustrating “it works on my machine” problem. For flows you plan to share or reuse across environments, installing packages in the Flow Editor is usually the smarter choice.
Which Method Should You Use?
Think of it as:
Tools → better for preparing your environment ahead of time.
Flow Editor → better for installing “just in time,” plus it handles package dependencies when sharing apps with others.
So in short: Tools is for local use, Flow Editor is for app-linked use. If you’d like a full walkthrough of every installation step, check out our detailed Python Package Manager guide