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BUG: Compatibility issue with docutils resolved#17

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aylward merged 1 commit intomainfrom
docutil_version_fix
Jan 17, 2026
Merged

BUG: Compatibility issue with docutils resolved#17
aylward merged 1 commit intomainfrom
docutil_version_fix

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@aylward aylward commented Jan 17, 2026

An error is caused by sphinx-tabs being incompatible with Docutils 0.22 (Docutils 0.22 removed the "backrefs" attribute, and sphinx-tabs crashes when it tries attrs.pop("backrefs")).

Error reported on github workflow, now fixed.

writing output... [ 87%] developer/workflows
writing output... [ 88%] examples
writing output... [ 90%] faq
writing output... [ 92%] index

Versions

  • Platform: linux; (Linux-6.11.0-1018-azure-x86_64-with-glibc2.39)
  • Python version: 3.11.14 (CPython)
  • Sphinx version: 9.0.4
  • Docutils version: 0.22.4
  • Jinja2 version: 3.1.6
  • Pygments version: 2.19.2

Last Messages

faq

writing output... [ 92%]
index

writing output... [ 93%]
installation

Loaded Extensions

  • sphinx.ext.mathjax (9.0.4)
  • alabaster (1.0.0)
  • sphinxcontrib.applehelp (2.0.0)
  • sphinxcontrib.devhelp (2.0.0)
  • sphinxcontrib.htmlhelp (2.1.0)
  • sphinxcontrib.serializinghtml (2.0.0)
  • sphinxcontrib.qthelp (2.0.0)
  • sphinx.ext.autodoc (9.0.4)
  • sphinx.ext.napoleon (9.0.4)
  • sphinx.ext.viewcode (9.0.4)
  • sphinx.ext.intersphinx (9.0.4)
  • sphinx.ext.todo (9.0.4)
  • sphinx.ext.coverage (9.0.4)
  • sphinx_autodoc_typehints (unknown version)
  • sphinx_copybutton (0.5.2)
  • sphinx_tabs.tabs (unknown version)
  • myst_parser (5.0.0)
  • sphinxcontrib.jquery (4.1)
  • sphinx_rtd_theme (unknown version)

Traceback

  File "/opt/hostedtoolcache/Python/3.11.14/x64/lib/python3.11/site-packages/sphinx_tabs/tabs.py", line 69, in visit
    attrs.pop("backrefs")
KeyError: 'backrefs'

The full traceback has been saved in:
/tmp/sphinx-err-r0ph0hb1.log

To report this error to the developers, please open an issue at https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/issues/. Thanks! Please also report this if it was a user error, so that a better error message can be provided next time. make: *** [Makefile:19: html] Error 2
writing output... [ 93%] installation
Error: Process completed with exit code 2.

An error is caused by sphinx-tabs being incompatible with Docutils
0.22 (Docutils 0.22 removed the "backrefs" attribute, and sphinx-tabs
crashes when it tries attrs.pop("backrefs")).

Error reported on github workflow, now fixed.

writing output... [ 87%] developer/workflows
writing output... [ 88%] examples
writing output... [ 90%] faq
writing output... [ 92%] index

Versions
========

* Platform:         linux; (Linux-6.11.0-1018-azure-x86_64-with-glibc2.39)
* Python version:   3.11.14 (CPython)
* Sphinx version:   9.0.4
* Docutils version: 0.22.4
* Jinja2 version:   3.1.6
* Pygments version: 2.19.2

Last Messages
=============

    faq

    writing output... [ 92%]
    index

    writing output... [ 93%]
    installation

Loaded Extensions
=================

* sphinx.ext.mathjax (9.0.4)
* alabaster (1.0.0)
* sphinxcontrib.applehelp (2.0.0)
* sphinxcontrib.devhelp (2.0.0)
* sphinxcontrib.htmlhelp (2.1.0)
* sphinxcontrib.serializinghtml (2.0.0)
* sphinxcontrib.qthelp (2.0.0)
* sphinx.ext.autodoc (9.0.4)
* sphinx.ext.napoleon (9.0.4)
* sphinx.ext.viewcode (9.0.4)
* sphinx.ext.intersphinx (9.0.4)
* sphinx.ext.todo (9.0.4)
* sphinx.ext.coverage (9.0.4)
* sphinx_autodoc_typehints (unknown version)
* sphinx_copybutton (0.5.2)
* sphinx_tabs.tabs (unknown version)
* myst_parser (5.0.0)
* sphinxcontrib.jquery (4.1)
* sphinx_rtd_theme (unknown version)

Traceback
=========

      File "/opt/hostedtoolcache/Python/3.11.14/x64/lib/python3.11/site-packages/sphinx_tabs/tabs.py", line 69, in visit
        attrs.pop("backrefs")
    KeyError: 'backrefs'

The full traceback has been saved in:
/tmp/sphinx-err-r0ph0hb1.log

To report this error to the developers, please open an issue at <https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/issues/>. Thanks!
Please also report this if it was a user error, so that a better error message can be provided next time.
make: *** [Makefile:19: html] Error 2
writing output... [ 93%] installation
Error: Process completed with exit code 2.
Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings January 17, 2026 15:51
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Pull request overview

This PR resolves a build failure in the documentation pipeline caused by an incompatibility between sphinx-tabs and docutils 0.22. The issue occurs because docutils 0.22 removed the "backrefs" attribute that sphinx-tabs attempts to access, resulting in a KeyError during documentation builds.

Changes:

  • Added a version constraint docutils<0.22 to the docs optional dependencies in pyproject.toml to prevent installation of incompatible docutils versions

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@aylward aylward merged commit 1236725 into main Jan 17, 2026
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@aylward aylward deleted the docutil_version_fix branch January 17, 2026 16:11
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2 participants