[Bug Report] ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'isaaclab'

[shileiphys]

Hello, I need some help!

when I tried to run the test ./isaaclab.sh -p scripts/tutorials/00_sim/create_empty.py, I got error
"""
from isaaclab.app import AppLauncher
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'isaaclab'
"""

the only ERROR I saw during installation is the following:
"""
Using cached flatdict-4.0.1.tar.gz (8.3 kB)
Installing build dependencies ... done
Getting requirements to build wheel ... error
error: subprocess-exited-with-error

× Getting requirements to build wheel did not run successfully.
│ exit code: 1
╰─> [20 lines of output]
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/lei/Projects/isaaclab_test/IsaacLab/env_isaaclab/lib/python3.11/site-packages/pip/_vendor/pyproject_hooks/_in_process/_in_process.py", line 389, in
main()
File "/home/lei/Projects/isaaclab_test/IsaacLab/env_isaaclab/lib/python3.11/site-packages/pip/_vendor/pyproject_hooks/_in_process/_in_process.py", line 373, in main
json_out["return_val"] = hook(**hook_input["kwargs"])
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/home/lei/Projects/isaaclab_test/IsaacLab/env_isaaclab/lib/python3.11/site-packages/pip/_vendor/pyproject_hooks/_in_process/_in_process.py", line 143, in get_requires_for_build_wheel
return hook(config_settings)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/tmp/pip-build-env-x8g5s0se/overlay/lib/python3.11/site-packages/setuptools/build_meta.py", line 333, in get_requires_for_build_wheel
return self._get_build_requires(config_settings, requirements=[])
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/tmp/pip-build-env-x8g5s0se/overlay/lib/python3.11/site-packages/setuptools/build_meta.py", line 301, in _get_build_requires
self.run_setup()
File "/tmp/pip-build-env-x8g5s0se/overlay/lib/python3.11/site-packages/setuptools/build_meta.py", line 520, in run_setup
super().run_setup(setup_script=setup_script)
File "/tmp/pip-build-env-x8g5s0se/overlay/lib/python3.11/site-packages/setuptools/build_meta.py", line 317, in run_setup
exec(code, locals())
File "", line 1, in
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pkg_resources'
[end of output]

note: This error originates from a subprocess, and is likely not a problem with pip.
ERROR: Failed to build 'flatdict' when getting requirements to build wheel
"""

yet I did install pip install setuptools==66.1.1 and was able to run python -c "import pkg_resources; print('pkg_resources is available')" successfully

[Jason-xy]

I encountered the same problem even when switching to different tags. Have you found a solution?

[mwulfman]

See this issue for the solution: #4577

[ewirbel]

I have a PR that removes flatdict entirely #4585 This module is used only once, for a very specific use case (flattening dictionary for settings). This module is very old and it's probably better to remove it entirely

[shileiphys]

so after installing the following first

pip install setuptools==65
pip install flatdict==4.0.0

I was able to ./isaaclab.sh --install without any errors.

Yet I still got the same module not found error when trying the both tests,e.g.:
./isaaclab.sh -p scripts/tutorials/00_sim/create_empty.py

IsaacLab/scripts/tutorials/00_sim/create_empty.py", line 20, in <module>
    from isaaclab.app import AppLauncher
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'isaaclab'

any suggestions?

thanks

[mwulfman]

so after installing the following first

pip install setuptools==65
pip install flatdict==4.0.0

I was able to ./isaaclab.sh --install without any errors.

Yet I still got the same module not found error when trying the both tests,e.g.:
./isaaclab.sh -p scripts/tutorials/00_sim/create_empty.py

IsaacLab/scripts/tutorials/00_sim/create_empty.py", line 20, in <module>
    from isaaclab.app import AppLauncher
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'isaaclab'

any suggestions?

thanks

I had the same issue, you can see my comment above yours pointing to the solution that worked for me.

[shileiphys]

I had the same issue, you can see my comment above yours pointing to the solution that worked for me.

Thanks for post! Yes, except pip install pip==23 which throw me error when was trying to install, so I did pip update instead. Is the pip==23 really required?

pip install pip==23
pip install setuptools==65
pip install flatdict==4.0.0
./isaaclab.sh --install

here's the error when I tried it again

ERROR: Could not find a version that satisfies the requirement typing-extensions>=4.10.0 (from torch) (from versions: 4.4.0, 4.8.0, 4.9.0, 4.12.2, 4.14.0, 4.15.0)
ERROR: No matching distribution found for typing-extensions>=4.10.0
WARNING: There was an error checking the latest version of pip.

[arshadlab]

The setup.py under source/isaaclab specifies flatdict==4.0.1, which is not compatible with Python 3.11. Updating the dependency to flatdict==4.1.0 resolves the issue and allows the installation to complete successfully.

[KimYe-Ji0305]

i have same issue, i did all of solution, upside this comment. i work on window 11. i can't install isaac lab.

ERROR: Could not find a version that satisfies the requirement omniverseclient (from isaaclab) (from versions: none)
ERROR: No matching distribution found for omniverseclient
error: subprocess-exited-with-error

× Getting requirements to build wheel did not run successfully.
│ exit code: 1
╰─> [20 lines of output]
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:\Users\yeji\anaconda3\envs\ISAACLAB\Lib\site-packages\pip_vendor\pyproject_hooks_in_process_in_process.py", line 389, in
main()
File "C:\Users\yeji\anaconda3\envs\ISAACLAB\Lib\site-packages\pip_vendor\pyproject_hooks_in_process_in_process.py", line 373, in main
json_out["return_val"] = hook(**hook_input["kwargs"])
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "C:\Users\yeji\anaconda3\envs\ISAACLAB\Lib\site-packages\pip_vendor\pyproject_hooks_in_process_in_process.py", line 143, in get_requires_for_build_wheel
return hook(config_settings)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "C:\Users\yeji\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-build-env-8stloohv\overlay\Lib\site-packages\setuptools\build_meta.py", line 333, in get_requires_for_build_wheel
return self._get_build_requires(config_settings, requirements=[])
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "C:\Users\yeji\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-build-env-8stloohv\overlay\Lib\site-packages\setuptools\build_meta.py", line 301, in _get_build_requires
self.run_setup()
File "C:\Users\yeji\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-build-env-8stloohv\overlay\Lib\site-packages\setuptools\build_meta.py", line 520, in run_setup
super().run_setup(setup_script=setup_script)
File "C:\Users\yeji\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-build-env-8stloohv\overlay\Lib\site-packages\setuptools\build_meta.py", line 317, in run_setup
exec(code, locals())
File "", line 1, in
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pkg_resources'
[end of output]

note: This error originates from a subprocess, and is likely not a problem with pip.
ERROR: Failed to build 'flatdict' when getting requirements to build wheel

[ooctipus]

Some dependency installation may have failed during install isaaclab core packages,
We have seen flatdict versioning becoming problem recently. Try install flatdict==4.0.0 before install isaaclab.

for ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pkg_resources'
you may need to downgrade the setuptools

[shileiphys]

So I decided to use binary route and installed isaac-lab with conda. I was able to lunch ./isaaclab.sh -p scripts/tutorials/00_sim/create_empty.p successfully! Make sure you run source _isaac_sim/setup_conda_env.s too.

However, there are still many erros, main with omni.kit.test, omni.graph.tools and gcc, e.g.,

AttributeError: module 'omni.kit' has no attribute 'test' 
ImportError: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6: version `CXXABI_1.3.15' not found (required by /home/lei/miniconda3/envs/env_isaaclab/lib/python3.11/lib-dynload/../.././libicui18n.so.78

[iaq3]

I had this issue, then fixed it by locking setuptools to 81
setuptools 82+ removed pkg_resources, which broke pip's build isolation:
isaaclab.sh -i runs pip install --editable .../isaaclab with full dependencies
pip resolves flatdict==4.0.1 as a dependency → needs to build a wheel
pip creates an isolated build environment in /tmp/pip-build-env-*/ and pulls the latest setuptools (82+)
flatdict's setup.py does import pkg_resources → ModuleNotFoundError (removed in 82)
isaaclab install fails, but isaaclab.sh uses find -exec which silently swallows the error
Result: isaaclab and all its deps (flatdict, prettytable, pyglet, hidapi, etc.) never get installed into Isaac Sim's Python

I had to add these to my docker to lock setuptools version.

RUN echo "setuptools<81" > /etc/pip-constraints.txt

RUN /isaac-sim/python.sh -m pip install --force-reinstall "numpy==1.26.4" "setuptools<81"

[yyh-ai]

You can check where the installation is failing by running ./isaaclab.sh --install 2>&1 | tee install_log.txt, and then fix the issues. IsaacLab is considered successfully installed only after no errors are reported.

[d-kleine]

Even for the most recent Isaac Lab v2.3.2 the issue persists, I can confirm this on my end too.

[GiulioRomualdi]

Hi all in our team we fixed the problem by appling the following patch to isaaclab v2.3.2

diff --git a/source/isaaclab/setup.py b/source/isaaclab/setup.py
index 939ee294d8d..ecf0ea3093d 100644
--- a/source/isaaclab/setup.py
+++ b/source/isaaclab/setup.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ INSTALL_REQUIRES = [
     "pytest",
     "pytest-mock",
     "junitparser",
-    "flatdict==4.0.1",
+    "flatdict==4.1.0",
     "flaky",
     "packaging",
 ]

This is actually what is written by @arshadlab in #4576 (comment)