Error: Python packaging tool 'setuptools' not found

Question

I have a poetry project that is not using setuptools

[tool.poetry.dependencies]
python = ">=3.9,<3.11"
opencv-python = "^4.7.0.68"
tensorflow-macos = "^2.11.0"
tensorflow-metal = "^0.7.0"

but I keep getting this error in pycharm. Command from screenshot:

/Users/mc/Library/Caches/pypoetry/virtualenvs/besafe-_8yAv-v6-py3.9/bin/Python /Users/mc/Library/Application Support/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/PyCharm-P/ch-0/223.8214.51/PyCharm.app/Contents/plugins/python/helpers/packaging_tool.py list

It just pops up without any action from my side. It seems like PyCharm is doing some execution under the hood but I do not know what is it.

I do not understand how am I supposed to fix this?

Dogoodism

What's the executed command? -- You should always avoid posting screenshots of text (or code), and copy-paste the text into your question instead. – Gayomart

No command is executed it just popup at some times. I think PyCharm is doing sth underneeth but I do not know what. – Dogoodism

@Gayomart just added full command to the post. PyCharm is probably doing sth expected but I do not know what ;) – Dogoodism

Track the PyCharm issue here: youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/PY-48909/… – Moccasin

Answer 1

While it seems that this requires a fix from the PyCharm team, an interim solution is to install setuptools as a development dependency,

new version (thanks @milonimrod)

poetry add --group dev setuptools

old version,

poetry add --dev setuptools

Tuning

I would recommend using poetry add --group dev setuptools as --dev is deprecated. – Albescent

Answer 2

In my case, the only solution was to uninstall PyCharm and install the newest version. All problems disappeared. The problems started when I began using Python 3.12 instead of Python 3.11. Unfortunately, I don't remember the version of the old PyCharm that made problems.

Adaline

I am not sure if it's the only solution, but for me it was for sure the quickest. Updating from 3.10 to 3.12 was the trigger for me. – Procuration

Thanks. Got that error during Poetry env creation for Python 3.12 installed via pyenv. Upgrading from PyCharm 2023.1.3 to 2023.3.3 solved it. – Spiegelman

Not work for me. I've updated my PyCharm CE to 2023.3.5 from 2023.2 but still have the same issue. – Gonfanon

@Gonfanon what i recommend is uninstall old version and install new one – Adaline

Worthy to note that as of 3.12, setuptools is no longer installed by default. – Civilly

Answer 3

I followed these steps to solve it using poetry env in PyCharm. I'm writing all the steps assuming the person trying to find the answer has ended up here for a generic 'setuptools' not found failure in PyCharm and doesn't even have Poetry to start with. My current setup is PyCharm 2023.3.6 (Community Edition) on a Mac M3 with Sonoma 14.3.

Steps:

• Install pipx

brew install pipx

pipx ensurepath

sudo pipx ensurepath --global

• Install poetry

pipx install poetry

• Go to PyCharm -> Settings -> Project -> Python Interpreter -> Add Interpreter -> New -> Poetry Environment -> OK. This should create a new poetry environment.

• Inside the newly created Poetry env in PyCharm terminal (make sure to restart the terminal so that the changes can take effect), run this command as mentioned by Russell:

poetry add --group dev setuptools

Once you do this, pip or pip3 should work fine in this environment.

Tabbi

Answer 4

Check if pip is installed and is added to path variable. It seems like pip is missing, Download pip and try again.

Linux:

sudo apt install python3-pip

Follow this documentation for more. https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/installation/

pip install setuptools

Saylor

I'm using poetry not pip. Why I should install pip just to fix this bug? Is Pycharm using it under the hood? – Dogoodism

Try install setuptools using pip and check if the error is resolved. – Saylor

so hater, he is trying to help – Culosio