[BUG] `AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'name'` with setuptools 60.9.1+

[edmorley]

setuptools version

setuptools==62.1.0 (however the earliest affected version is setuptools==60.9.1)

Python version

Python 3.9 (though 3.7 and 3.8 are also affected)

OS

Docker image python:3.9.12 which is Debian 11 (it also occurs on Ubuntu on Heroku)

Additional environment information

importlib-metadata==0.20

Description

Between setuptools 60.9.0 and 60.9.1, a previously working project now encounters an error during the python setup.py egg_info phase of pip install:

  × python setup.py egg_info did not run successfully.
  │ exit code: 1
  ╰─> [22 lines of output]
      Traceback (most recent call last):
        File "<string>", line 2, in <module>
        File "<pip-setuptools-caller>", line 14, in <module>
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/setuptools/__init__.py", line 18, in <module>
          from setuptools.dist import Distribution
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/setuptools/dist.py", line 35, in <module>
          from ._importlib import metadata
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/setuptools/_importlib.py", line 28, in <module>
          disable_importlib_metadata_finder(metadata)
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/setuptools/_importlib.py", line 12, in disable_importlib_metadata_finder
          import importlib_metadata
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/importlib_metadata/__init__.py", line 490, in <module>
          __version__ = version(__name__)
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/importlib_metadata/__init__.py", line 457, in version
          return distribution(package).version
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/importlib_metadata/__init__.py", line 430, in distribution
          return Distribution.from_name(package)
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/importlib_metadata/__init__.py", line 179, in from_name
          dists = resolver(name)
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/setuptools/_vendor/importlib_metadata/__init__.py", line 886, in find_distributions
          found = self._search_paths(context.name, context.path)
      AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'name'

The changes between those two setuptools versions are:
v60.9.0...v60.9.1

In addition to the workaround of downgrading setuptools to 60.9.0, I also found that making any of the following changes prevents the error from occurring:

• Upgrading Python to 3.10 (it only seems to affect <=3.9)
• Upgrading importlib-metadata from 0.20 to 0.21+ (changelog)

It looks like the two copies of importlib-metadata (the older one in the environment, and the newer one vendored in setuptools) are inadvertently interacting.

I'm presuming the root cause of this and #3292 are similar/the same, however filing separately in case they are not (particularly given one is build-time, the other run-time etc).

Expected behavior

Either:

1. The python setup.py egg_info phase of pip install succeeds with newer versions of setuptools, as it did before.
2. Or, setuptools outputs a warning/error to make debugging this easier, or otherwise blocks usage with incompatible importlib-metadata versions.

How to Reproduce

1. docker run --rm -it python:3.9.12 bash
2. mkdir -p testcase/mypackage && touch testcase/mypackage/__init__.py
3. echo 'from setuptools import setup; setup(name="mypackage", version="0.0.1", packages=["mypackage"])' > testcase/setup.py
4. pip install setuptools==62.1.0
5. pip install importlib-metadata==0.20
6. pip install ./testcase

Output

$ docker run --rm -it python:3.9.12 bash
...
root@f2eceebb1668:/# mkdir -p testcase/mypackage && touch testcase/mypackage/__init__.py
root@f2eceebb1668:/# echo 'from setuptools import setup; setup(name="mypackage", version="0.0.1", packages=["mypackage"])' > testcase/setup.py
root@f2eceebb1668:/# pip install setuptools==62.1.0
...
Successfully installed setuptools-62.1.0
root@f2eceebb1668:/# pip install importlib-metadata==0.20
...
Successfully installed importlib-metadata-0.20 zipp-3.8.0

root@f2eceebb1668:/# pip install ./testcase
Processing /testcase
  Preparing metadata (setup.py) ... error
  error: subprocess-exited-with-error

  × python setup.py egg_info did not run successfully.
  │ exit code: 1
  ╰─> [22 lines of output]
      Traceback (most recent call last):
        File "<string>", line 2, in <module>
        File "<pip-setuptools-caller>", line 14, in <module>
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/setuptools/__init__.py", line 18, in <module>
          from setuptools.dist import Distribution
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/setuptools/dist.py", line 35, in <module>
          from ._importlib import metadata
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/setuptools/_importlib.py", line 28, in <module>
          disable_importlib_metadata_finder(metadata)
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/setuptools/_importlib.py", line 12, in disable_importlib_metadata_finder
          import importlib_metadata
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/importlib_metadata/__init__.py", line 490, in <module>
          __version__ = version(__name__)
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/importlib_metadata/__init__.py", line 457, in version
          return distribution(package).version
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/importlib_metadata/__init__.py", line 430, in distribution
          return Distribution.from_name(package)
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/importlib_metadata/__init__.py", line 179, in from_name
          dists = resolver(name)
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/setuptools/_vendor/importlib_metadata/__init__.py", line 886, in find_distributions
          found = self._search_paths(context.name, context.path)
      AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'name'
      [end of output]

  note: This error originates from a subprocess, and is likely not a problem with pip.
error: metadata-generation-failed

× Encountered error while generating package metadata.
╰─> See above for output.

[abravalheri]

With PR #3296 we would have the following:

> docker run --rm -it python:3.9.12 bash
mkdir -p testcase/mypackage && touch testcase/mypackage/__init__.py
echo 'from setuptools import setup; setup(name="mypackage", version="0.0.1", packages=["mypackage"])' > testcase/setup.py
pip install 'setuptools @ git+https://github.com/abravalheri/setuptools@issue-3292'
pip install importlib-metadata==0.20
pip install ./testcase

Processing /testcase
  Preparing metadata (setup.py) ... error
  error: subprocess-exited-with-error

  × python setup.py egg_info did not run successfully.
  │ exit code: 1
  ╰─> [25 lines of output]
      /usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/setuptools/_importlib.py:23: UserWarning: `importlib-metadata` version is incompatible with `setuptools`.
      This problem is likely to be solved by installing an updated version of `importlib-metadata`.
        warnings.warn(msg)  # Ensure a descriptive message is shown.
      Traceback (most recent call last):
        File "<string>", line 2, in <module>
        File "<pip-setuptools-caller>", line 14, in <module>
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/setuptools/__init__.py", line 18, in <module>
          from setuptools.dist import Distribution
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/setuptools/dist.py", line 35, in <module>
          from ._importlib import metadata
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/setuptools/_importlib.py", line 39, in <module>
          disable_importlib_metadata_finder(metadata)
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/setuptools/_importlib.py", line 12, in disable_importlib_metadata_finder
          import importlib_metadata
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/importlib_metadata/__init__.py", line 490, in <module>
          __version__ = version(__name__)
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/importlib_metadata/__init__.py", line 457, in version
          return distribution(package).version
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/importlib_metadata/__init__.py", line 430, in distribution
          return Distribution.from_name(package)
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/importlib_metadata/__init__.py", line 179, in from_name
          dists = resolver(name)
        File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/setuptools/_vendor/importlib_metadata/__init__.py", line 886, in find_distributions
          found = self._search_paths(context.name, context.path)
      AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'name'
      [end of output]

  note: This error originates from a subprocess, and is likely not a problem with pip.
error: metadata-generation-failed

× Encountered error while generating package metadata.
╰─> See above for output.

This solution is also not ideal, but the users would at least be able to see a message in the traceback advising to update importlib-metadata.

[mihaimaruseac]

This is currently blocking TensorFlow releases.

[abravalheri]

Hi @mihaimaruseac, I can merge #3296 soon if that helps, however that solution will improve the error message and point out to the user how they can solve the problem (i.e. update importlib-metadata).

Does that improve your workflow?
(Please note that you can importlib-metadata today, without waiting for #3296 to be merged).

[mihaimaruseac]

Thank you for the hint. We'll try upgrading importlib-metadata, it seems our only breaking job uses a very old version (all passing ones are using upgraded version).