TypeError: 'dict_keys' object is not subscriptable (Python)

TypeError: 'dict_keys' object is not subscriptable (Python) #

The Python "TypeError: 'dict_keys' object is not subscriptable" occurs when we try to access a dict_keys object at a specific index. To solve the error, convert the dict_keys object to a list, before accessing an index, e.g. list(my_dict.keys())[0].

Here is an example of how the error occurs.

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my_dict = {'name': 'Alice', 'age': 30}

keys = my_dict.keys()

print(type(keys))  # 👉️ <class 'dict_keys'>

# ⛔️ TypeError: 'dict_keys' object is not subscriptable
print(keys[0])

Notice that the dict.keys() method returns a dict_keys object, not a list.

To solve the error, pass the dict_keys object to the list constructor to convert it to a list before accessing a list item at a specific index.

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my_dict = {'name': 'Alice', 'age': 30}

# ✅ convert to list
keys = list(my_dict.keys())

print(keys[0])  # 👉️ "name"
print(keys[1])  # 👉️ "age"
print(keys[0:2])  # 👉️ ['name', 'age']

The dict.keys method returns a new view of the dictionary's keys.

Note that if you try to access a list index that is out of bounds, you would get an error. You can use a try/except statement if you need to handle that.

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my_dict = {'name': 'Alice', 'age': 30}

keys = list(my_dict.keys())

try:
    print(keys[100])
except IndexError:
    print('index out of bounds')  # 👉️ this runs

The example catches the IndexError that is thrown if the index is out of bounds.

The list constructor takes an iterable, such as a dict_keys object, and converts it to a list.

The list constructor takes an iterable that may be a sequence, a container that supports iteration or an iterator object.

You should only use square brackets to access subscriptable objects.

The subscriptable objects in Python are:

• list
• tuple
• dictionary
• string

All other objects have to be converted to a subscriptable object by using the list(), tuple(), dict() or str() classes to be able to use bracket notation.

Subscriptable objects implement the __getitem__ method whereas non-subscriptable objects do not.

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a_list = [2, 4, 6, 8]

# 👇️ <built-in method __getitem__ of list object at 0x7f71f3252640>
print(a_list.__getitem__)

Conclusion #

The Python "TypeError: 'dict_keys' object is not subscriptable" occurs when we try to access a dict_keys object at a specific index. To solve the error, convert the dict_keys object to a list, before accessing an index, e.g. list(my_dict.keys())[0].