approval-tests minimal: a dependency is missing since 17.2.1

[ahitrin]

Hi!

First of all, I want to thank you for creating this awesome testing library 😄 I use it in several my projects, and it's really satisfying to work with.

Unfortunately, several last versions of its approvaltests-minimal flavour suffer from a missing dependency issue. I've created a simple reproducer for this issue, and it shows that this issue had appeared since 17.2.1 version.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Create an empty Python project (say, with poetry)
2. Add approvaltests-minimal dependency with version 17.2.1 or newer.
3. Try to run pytest (just like poetry run pytest). It's not even required to create any real test, TBH.

Results:

• For version 17.2.0 or older, tests are executed correctly;
• For version 17.2.1 or newer, the following error appears:

zlobookV:min-approval zloddey$ poetry run pytest
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/bin/pytest", line 8, in <module>
    sys.exit(console_main())
             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/_pytest/config/__init__.py", line 223, in console_main
    code = main()
           ^^^^^^
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/_pytest/config/__init__.py", line 193, in main
    config = _prepareconfig(new_args, plugins)
             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/_pytest/config/__init__.py", line 361, in _prepareconfig
    config: Config = pluginmanager.hook.pytest_cmdline_parse(
                     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/pluggy/_hooks.py", line 512, in __call__
    return self._hookexec(self.name, self._hookimpls.copy(), kwargs, firstresult)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/pluggy/_manager.py", line 120, in _hookexec
    return self._inner_hookexec(hook_name, methods, kwargs, firstresult)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/pluggy/_callers.py", line 167, in _multicall
    raise exception
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/pluggy/_callers.py", line 139, in _multicall
    teardown.throw(exception)
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/_pytest/helpconfig.py", line 124, in pytest_cmdline_parse
    config = yield
             ^^^^^
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/pluggy/_callers.py", line 121, in _multicall
    res = hook_impl.function(*args)
          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/_pytest/config/__init__.py", line 1186, in pytest_cmdline_parse
    self.parse(args)
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/_pytest/config/__init__.py", line 1539, in parse
    self.pluginmanager.load_setuptools_entrypoints("pytest11")
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/pluggy/_manager.py", line 416, in load_setuptools_entrypoints
    plugin = ep.load()
             ^^^^^^^^^
  File "/opt/local/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.12/lib/python3.12/importlib/metadata/__init__.py", line 205, in load
    module = import_module(match.group('module'))
             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/opt/local/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.12/lib/python3.12/importlib/__init__.py", line 90, in import_module
    return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:], package, level)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1387, in _gcd_import
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1360, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1310, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 488, in _call_with_frames_removed
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1387, in _gcd_import
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1360, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1310, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 488, in _call_with_frames_removed
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1387, in _gcd_import
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1360, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1310, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 488, in _call_with_frames_removed
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1387, in _gcd_import
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1360, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1331, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 935, in _load_unlocked
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/_pytest/assertion/rewrite.py", line 197, in exec_module
    exec(co, module.__dict__)
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/approvaltests/__init__.py", line 3, in <module>
    from .approvals import *
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/_pytest/assertion/rewrite.py", line 197, in exec_module
    exec(co, module.__dict__)
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/approvaltests/approvals.py", line 7, in <module>
    import approvaltests.namer.default_namer_factory
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/_pytest/assertion/rewrite.py", line 197, in exec_module
    exec(co, module.__dict__)
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/approvaltests/namer/__init__.py", line 3, in <module>
    from .default_namer_factory import *
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/_pytest/assertion/rewrite.py", line 197, in exec_module
    exec(co, module.__dict__)
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/approvaltests/namer/default_namer_factory.py", line 4, in <module>
    from approvaltests.core.options import Options
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/_pytest/assertion/rewrite.py", line 197, in exec_module
    exec(co, module.__dict__)
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/approvaltests/core/__init__.py", line 4, in <module>
    from .options import *
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/_pytest/assertion/rewrite.py", line 197, in exec_module
    exec(co, module.__dict__)
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/approvaltests/core/options.py", line 6, in <module>
    from approvaltests.file_approver import FileComparator
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/_pytest/assertion/rewrite.py", line 197, in exec_module
    exec(co, module.__dict__)
  File "/Users/zloddey/temp/min-approval/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/approvaltests/file_approver.py", line 8, in <module>
    from approval_utilities.utilities.multiline_string_utils import remove_indentation_from
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'approval_utilities.utilities.multiline_string_utils'

Looks like approvaltests-minimal doesn't contain approval_utilities package since version 17.2.1 but still tries to use it.

[JayBazuzi]

Related: #140 and #246.

[JayBazuzi]

This is not specific to Poetry:

> pip3 list
Package Version
------- -------
pip     24.3.1

> pip3 install approvaltests-minimal
...

> python3 -c "import approvaltests"
...
  File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.12/lib/python3.12/site-packages/approvaltests/file_approver.py", line 8, in <module>
    from approval_utilities.utilities.multiline_string_utils import remove_indentation_from
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'approval_utilities'

[JayBazuzi]

Hi @ahitrin I wonder if you can tell us a bit more about why you use approvaltests-minimal rather than the full approvaltests package? What about your context makes -minimal the right one for you?

Also, we meet on Sundays to work on ApprovalTests. If you're available to join us next week (2026-04-19) that would help us know what the right thing is to do. https://github.com/approvals/ApprovalTests.Python/blob/main/docs/Contribute.md#join-our-weekly-mobbing-sessions

[ahitrin]

Hi @JayBazuzi!
I don't remember all details why I've switched from approvaltests to approvaltests-minimal (it happenned few years ago). Most probably, it was done for the sake of reducing a total amount of dependencies. approvaltests-minimal doesn't require some libs I don't need in my development process (beautifulsoup, pyperclip, mock). Therefore, I don't need to worry about updates or vulns in these transitive dependencies.

zlobookV:min-approval zloddey$ poetry show -t
approvaltests-minimal 17.2.0 Assertion/verification library to aid testing with the minimal required dependencies + the abili
ty to opt in for the others
├── empty-files >=0.0.3
│   └── requests *
│       ├── certifi >=2023.5.7
│       ├── charset-normalizer >=2,<4
│       ├── idna >=2.5,<4
│       └── urllib3 >=1.26,<3
├── pytest >=4.0.0
│   ├── colorama >=0.4
│   ├── iniconfig >=1.0.1
│   ├── packaging >=22
│   ├── pluggy >=1.5,<2
│   └── pygments >=2.7.2
└── typing-extensions >=3.6.2

vs

zlobookV:min-approval zloddey$ poetry show -t
approvaltests 17.4.3 Assertion/verification library to aid testing
├── allpairspy >=2.1.0
├── approval-utilities 17.4.3
├── beautifulsoup4 >=4.4.0
│   ├── soupsieve >=1.6.1
│   └── typing-extensions >=4.0.0
├── empty-files >=0.0.3
│   └── requests *
│       ├── certifi >=2023.5.7
│       ├── charset-normalizer >=2,<4
│       ├── idna >=2.5,<4
│       └── urllib3 >=1.26,<3
├── mock >=5.1.0
├── pyperclip >=1.5.29
├── pytest >=4.0.0
│   ├── colorama >=0.4
│   ├── iniconfig >=1.0.1
│   ├── packaging >=22
│   ├── pluggy >=1.5,<2
│   └── pygments >=2.7.2
├── testfixtures >=7.1.0
└── typing-extensions >=3.6.2

BTW, during answering your question, I've tried to compare dependency list for two flavours of the library, and I've found that the full approvaltests library now depends on approval-utilities, while approvaltests-minimal doesn't. And if I add approval-utilities explicitly as a dependency to my project, it starts to work even on a newer approvaltests-minimal!

zlobookV:min-approval zloddey$ poetry show -t
approval-utilities 17.4.3 Utilities for your production code that work well with approvaltests
approvaltests-minimal 17.4.3 Assertion/verification library to aid testing with the minimal required dependencies + the ability to opt in for the others
├── empty-files >=0.0.3
│   └── requests *
│       ├── certifi >=2023.5.7
│       ├── charset-normalizer >=2,<4
│       ├── idna >=2.5,<4
│       └── urllib3 >=1.26,<3
├── pytest >=4.0.0
│   ├── colorama >=0.4
│   ├── iniconfig >=1.0.1
│   ├── packaging >=22
│   ├── pluggy >=1.5,<2
│   └── pygments >=2.7.2
└── typing-extensions >=3.6.2
zlobookV:min-approval zloddey$ poetry run pytest -q
.                                                                                                                     [100%]
1 passed in 0.03s

So, I could consider that this issue could be solved by adding a approval-utils dependency to approvaltests-minimal package. And even until this is done, there's a suitable workaround: a user may add approval-utils to its project in addition to approvaltests-minimal.