iii worker add --force does not invalidate dependency cache when project dependencies change (ex. pyproject.toml, Cargo.lock)

[orincolor]

Problem

When dependencies in pyproject.toml are updated and iii worker add --force is run,
the old deps cache is reused. New packages are not installed, causing ModuleNotFoundError
at runtime.

Steps to Reproduce

1. iii worker add ./workers/my-worker — worker installs and caches deps
2. Add a new package to pyproject.toml dependencies
3. iii worker add ./workers/my-worker --force
4. Worker boots but the new package is missing

Expected behavior

--force should detect that pyproject.toml changed and reinstall deps.
Or at minimum, --force should always wipe the deps cache, not just the rootfs.

Environment

• iii v0.16.1
• macOS aarch64

[rohitg00]

hey @orincolor thanks for reporting, I have assigned dedicated engineer.

[anthonyiscoding]

Hey @orincolor while iii worker has a few commands for setting up and running your project in the worker manifest when it comes to dependencies that needs to be done via the language/runtime itself.

For this, iii provides iii worker exec caller-worker -- pip install -r /workspace/requirements.txt can be used to run commands to manage cache.

Note: When built all files are under /workspace so you'll need to specify that when running iii worker exec

Another option is to have a compound start command in your worker manifest such as: pip install -r requirements.txt && watchfiles 'python math_worker.py' which would make sure to install requirements on start.

[orincolor]

Thanks for the response @anthonyiscoding!
The compound start command is a helpful workaround, though it does shift dependency management to the user.

One thing worth noting:
--force is documented as: "Force re-download: delete existing artifacts before adding" (iii worker add --help)
Since the deps cache is an artifact, it feels like --force should clear it too.

As a user I would expect either:

1. --force wiping the deps cache to match the documented behavior
2. Or a separate --force-deps flag for explicit control

iii worker exec also works great as a manual fix in the meantime.

[anthonyiscoding]

Thanks @orincolor I'll share this feedback with the team

[orincolor]

Thank you @anthonyiscoding !