# Stale PyKx License - Signed up today

**URL:** <https://forum.kx.com/t/stale-pykx-license-signed-up-today/15398>\
**Category:** Community Support\
**Tags:** pykx, kdb-insights\
**Created:** [January 28, 2026, 2:24pm UTC](https://forum.kx.com/t/stale-pykx-license-signed-up-today/15398 "2026-01-28T14:24:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![matthew\_power](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9c0ed/32.png) [@matthew\_power](https://forum.kx.com/u/matthew_power)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 2:24pm UTC](https://forum.kx.com/t/stale-pykx-license-signed-up-today/15398/1 "2026-01-28T14:24:35Z")

</div>

Hi,

I recently started getting license errors while importing pykx. I downloaded a fresh version from Insights which is the link that the error message led me towards. I got the welcome email today but it is either not recognized, or it is recognized but something else is going wrong:

“import pykx  
Your PyKX license has now expired.

Captured output from initialization attempt:  
'2026.01.27T17:31:28.594 license error: exp

License used:  
/home/matthew/.kx\_backup/kc.lic

Would you like to renew your license? (Selecting no will proceed with unlicensed mode) [Y/n]: Y

Do you have access to an existing license for PyKX that you would like to use? [N/y]: y

Please select the method you wish to use to activate your license:  
[1] Provide the location of your license  
[2] Input the activation key  
Enter your choice here [1/2]: 2

Please confirm the license type:  
[1] Personal use (kc.lic)  
[2] Commercial use (k4.lic)  
Enter your choice here [1/2]: 1

Provide your activation key (base64 encoded string) : \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*

PyKX license successfully installed to: /home/matthew/.kx\_backup/kc.lic

Traceback (most recent call last):  
File "", line 1, in  
File "/home/matthew/myenv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/pykx/ **init**.py", line 32, in  
from . import core  
File "pykx/core.pyx", line 362, in init pykx.core  
pykx.exceptions.PyKXException: Non-zero qinit following license install with configuration: {'qhome': '/home/matthew/myenv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/pykx/lib/kdbx-libs', 'qlic': PosixPath('/home/matthew/.kx\_backup'), 'ignore\_qhome': False, 'qargs': }  
failed with output: '2026.01.27T17:31:56.809 license error: exp”

For what it’s worth, I have tried everything else I can think of here including downloading the file directly into the QLIC location, but none of it works, and I’m out of ideas to get pykx to recognize the new license. Is there something I am missing here?

Thanks,  
Matthew

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rocuinneagain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forum.kx.com/rocuinneagain/32/287_2.png) [@rocuinneagain](https://forum.kx.com/u/rocuinneagain)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 2:43pm UTC](https://forum.kx.com/t/stale-pykx-license-signed-up-today/15398/2 "2026-01-28T14:43:54Z")

</div>

You are using an older public preview version of KDB-X Python which has expired.

Upgrade to the latest `4.0.0b4` and that license will work without issue:

```bash
pip install --upgrade --pre pykx

```

[KDB-X Python Install - KDB-X Documentation](https://code.kx.com/kdb-x/get_started/kdb-x-python-install.html)