Bazel 8.5.1: rules_python pip extension takes 400+ seconds during bazel mod graph

[hoangnguyen20-art]

Hi, I'm using Bazel 8.5.1, rules_python version 1.7.1 and bazel mod graph gets stuck for over 400 seconds at Fetching module extension @@rules_python+//python/extensions:pip.bzl%pip. Is this expected, and what are the common causes or recommended ways to troubleshoot and reduce this delay? (It used to run normally—fetching via pip took only about 30 seconds—but this issue has only started happening recently.)

[aignas]

Moved it to QnA because both, the bazel version and the rules_python version are quite old. If this discussion yields tickets, we can create them as issues in the GH repo.