Importing azure.identity results in "string argument without an encoding" error

[DumpsterDave]

• Package Name: azure-identity
• Package Version: 1.21.0
• Operating System: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm) (64-bit Raspberry Pi OS)
• Python Version: 3.13.2

Describe the bug
When attempting to import the azure.indentity module (or specific elements from it), it does not load and instead gets stuck in an error "string argument without an ecoding". Occassionally, it will import ok, but never twice in a row . I have attempted to load this via the cmdline too as well as in a script with that as the only line and it always hangs at that command. import azure.identity or from azure.identity import CertificateCredential

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. attempt to import azure.identity

Expected behavior
The module loads

Screenshots
see attached logs
putty.log

Additional context
I can occasionally get this to work by rebooting, however it's extremely inconsistent.

[github-actions]

Hello @DumpsterDave. I'm an AI assistant for the azure-sdk-for-python repository. I have some suggestions that you can try out while the team gets back to you.

• Verify compatibility of Python 3.13.2 with azure-identity 1.21.0. While the module should normally work, some newer Python releases can expose edge-case issues. Consider testing with Python 3.11 or 3.12 as a workaround.

• Ensure all other dependencies (such as azure-core) are updated to versions that are compatible with azure-identity 1.21.0. Sometimes missing or outdated dependencies can lead to odd import errors.

• Try clearing your pip cache and reinstalling azure-identity to rule out any corrupted files during installation.

• Check if any custom environment configurations (e.g. locale settings or system encoding defaults) may be interfering; the error “string argument without an encoding” can suggest an underlying encoding issue in the environment.

• If the issue persists, please provide detailed logs when filing an issue at the GitHub Issues page: Azure SDK for Python Issues as noted in our troubleshooting documentation here.

The team will get back to you shortly, hopefully this helps in the meantime.

---

Edit by SDK Team: Requires analysis of provided log file to determine the source of the error. Other suggestions are still good to try steps to mitigate the issue.

[DumpsterDave]

I also had this issue in 3.11.2 (the version that ships with the OS)

[xiangyan99]

Thanks for reaching out.

I checked your attached putty log and found lots of weird chars.

�[?2004h�[?1h�=�[?25l�[1A
�[1;35m>>> �[0m�[4D�[?12l�[?25h�[4C�[?25l�[4D�[1;35m>>> �[0mi�[5D�[?12l�[?25h�[5C�[?25l�[5D�[1;35m>>> �[0mim�[6D�[?12l�[?25h�[6C�[?25l�[6D�[1;35m>>> �[0mimp�[7D�[?12l�[?25h�[7C�[?25l�[7D�[1;35m>>> �[0mimpo�[8D�[?12l�[?25h�[8C�[?25l�[8D�[1;35m>>> �[0mimpor�[9D�[?12l�[?25h�[9C�[?25l�[9D�[1;35m>>> �[0mimport�[10D�[?12l�[?25h�[10C�[?25l�[10D�[K�[1;35m>>> �[0mimpor�[9D�[?12l�[?25h�[9C�[?25l�[9D�[K�[1;35m>>> �[0mimpo�[8D�[?12l�[?25h�[8C�[?25l�[8D�[K�[1;35m>>> �[0mimp�[7D�[?12l�[?25h�[7C�[?25l�[7D�[K�[1;35m>>> �[0mim�[6D�[?12l�[?25h�[6C�[?25l�[6D�[K�[1;35m>>> �[0mi�[5D�[?12l�[?25h�[5C�[?25l�[5D�[K�[1;35m>>> �[0m�[4D�[?12l�[?25h�[4C�[?25l�[4D�[1;35m>>> �[0mf�[5D�[?12l�[?25h�[5C�[?25l�[5D�[1;35m>>> �[0mfr�[6D�[?12l�[?25h�[6C�[?25l�[6D�[1;35m>>> �[0mfro�[7D�[?12l�[?25h�[7C�[?25l�[7D�[1;35m>>> �[0mfrom�[8D�[?12l�[?25h�[8C�[?25l�[8D�[1;35m>>> �[0mfrom �[9D�[?12l�[?25h�[9C�[?25l�[9D�[1;35m>>> �[0mfrom a�[10D�[?12l�[?25h�[10C�[?25l�[10D�[1;35m>>> �[0mfrom az�[11D�[?12l�[?25h�[11C�[?25l�[11D�[1;35m>>> �[0mfrom azu�[12D�[?12l�[?25h�[12C�[?25l�[12D�[1;35m>>> �[0mfrom azur�[13D�[?12l�[?25h�[13C�[?25l�[13D�[1;35m>>> �[0mfrom azure�[14D�[?12l�[?25h�[14C�[?25l�[14D�[1;35m>>> �[0mfrom azure-�[15D�[?12l�[?25h�[15C�[?25l�[15D�[K�[1;35m>>> �[0mfrom azure�[14D�[?12l�[?25h�[14C�[?25l�[14D�[1;35m>>> �[0mfrom azure.�[15D�[?12l�[?25h�[15C�[?25l�[15D�[1;35m>>> �[0mfrom azure.i�[16D�[?12l�[?25h�[16C�[?25l�[16D�[1;35m>>> �[0mfrom azure.id�[17D�[?12l�[?25h�[17C�[?25l�[17D�[1;35m>>> �[0mfrom azure.ide�[18D�[?12l�[?25h�[18C�[?25l�[18D�[1;35m>>> �[0mfrom azure.iden�[19D�[?12l�[?25h�[19C�[?25l�[19D�[1;35m>>> �[0mfrom azure.ident�[20D�[?12l�[?25h�[20C�[?25l�[20D�[1;35m>>> �[0mfrom azure.identi�[21D�[?12l�[?25h�[21C�[?25l�[21D�[1;35m>>> �[0mfrom azure.identit�[22D�[?12l�[?25h�[22C�[?25l�[22D�[1;35m>>> �[0mfrom azure.identity�[23D�[?12l�[?25h�[23C�[?25l�[23D�[1;35m>>> �[0mfrom azure.identity �[24D�[?12l�[?25h�[24C�[?25l�[24D�[1;35m>>>

Looks like there is a system-level encoding issue rather than an SDK issue.

[github-actions]

Hi @DumpsterDave. Thank you for opening this issue and giving us the opportunity to assist. We believe that this has been addressed. If you feel that further discussion is needed, please add a comment with the text "/unresolve" to remove the "issue-addressed" label and continue the conversation.

[DumpsterDave]

That may have been the "coloring" from the terminal. Here's another log that omits the coloring

putty2.log