BerriAI/litellm · error · ImportError

Missing aws_sdk_bedrock_runtime. Install with: pip install…

Error message

Missing aws_sdk_bedrock_runtime. Install with: pip install aws-sdk-bedrock-runtime

What it means

The Bedrock realtime handler (bidirectional streaming, e.g. Nova Sonic) imports the aws_sdk_bedrock_runtime preview SDK and smithy_aws_core.identity at session start; an ImportError is caught and re-raised with this pip hint. boto3/botocore alone is not enough for realtime: the separate aws-sdk-bedrock-runtime package is required because bimi-directional streaming is not in boto3.

Solutions

1. pip install aws-sdk-bedrock-runtime
2. Add aws-sdk-bedrock-runtime to requirements.txt/pyproject alongside litellm
3. Verify with: python -c "import aws_sdk_bedrock_runtime"

Example fix

# before: ImportError at session start
# after
pip install aws-sdk-bedrock-runtime

import importlib.util

if importlib.util.find_spec("aws_sdk_bedrock_runtime") is None:
    raise SystemExit(
        "bedrock realtime requires the preview SDK; install with: pip install aws-sdk-bedrock-runtime"
    )

def bedrock_realtime_available() -> bool:
    """True when the realtime preview SDK and its smithy dependency are importable."""
    return importlib.util.find_spec("aws_sdk_bedrock_runtime") is not None and importlib.util.find_spec("smithy_aws_core") is not None

try:
    session = litellm.realtime(model="bedrock/amazon.nova-sonic-v1:0", ...)
except ImportError as e:
    if "aws_sdk_bedrock_runtime" in str(e):
        raise SystemExit("pip install aws-sdk-bedrock-runtime") from e
    raise

When it happens

Trigger: Starting a litellm realtime session against a Bedrock realtime model in an environment where aws_sdk_bedrock_runtime is not installed (only litellm base deps or boto3 present).

Common situations: Slim Docker images, CI environments, or requirements files that never included the realtime extra; environments where chat/completion via SigV4 works fine, masking the missing package.

Understand the failure class

Background: "not installed", "pip install", "required for": how missing-dependency errors surface across open-source libraries — this error's family across 34 libraries.

Related errors

• Missing boto3 to call bedrock. Run 'pip install boto3'.
• A2A SDK is required for localhost retry handling. Install…
• boto3/botocore is required for AWS event stream parsing
• google-cloud-iam is required for GCP IAM Redis…
• Importing torch, transformers, petals failed Try pip…

AI-assisted analysis of BerriAI/litellm@77b7c6c40c (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8e15c40985371500. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at litellm/llms/bedrock/realtime/handler.py:69

        """
        Establish bidirectional streaming connection with Bedrock Nova Sonic.

        Args:
            model: Model ID (e.g., 'amazon.nova-sonic-v1:0')
            websocket: Client WebSocket connection
            logging_obj: LiteLLM logging object
            aws_region_name: AWS region
            Various AWS authentication parameters
        """
        try:
            from aws_sdk_bedrock_runtime.client import (
                BedrockRuntimeClient,
                InvokeModelWithBidirectionalStreamOperationInput,
            )
            from aws_sdk_bedrock_runtime.config import Config
            from smithy_aws_core.identity import StaticCredentialsResolver
        except ImportError:
            raise ImportError("Missing aws_sdk_bedrock_runtime. Install with: pip install aws-sdk-bedrock-runtime")

        # Get AWS region
        if aws_region_name is None:
            optional_params: Final = {
                "aws_region_name": aws_region_name,
            }
            aws_region_name = self._get_aws_region_name(optional_params, model)

        # Get endpoint URL
        if api_base is not None:
            endpoint_uri = api_base
        elif aws_bedrock_runtime_endpoint is not None:
            endpoint_uri = aws_bedrock_runtime_endpoint
        else:
            endpoint_uri = f"https://bedrock-runtime.{aws_region_name}.amazonaws.com"

        verbose_proxy_logger.debug("Bedrock Realtime: Connecting to %s with model %s", endpoint_uri, model)

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