HKUDS/Vibe-Trading · error · RegistryError

{alpha_id}: import failed: {exc}

Error message

{alpha_id}: import failed: {exc}

What it means

compute() imports the alpha module (via importlib) and wraps any import-time exception as RegistryError('import failed'). The chained __cause__ holds the real error: ImportError, SyntaxError, or an exception raised at module top level.

Source

Thrown at agent/src/factors/registry.py:344

            SkipAlpha: required column / sector tag absent in panel.
            RegistryError: import/compute failed or output failed sanity checks.
        """
        alpha = self.get(alpha_id)
        meta = alpha.meta

        missing = [c for c in meta.get("columns_required", []) if c not in panel]
        if missing:
            raise SkipAlpha(f"{alpha_id}: panel missing required columns {missing}")
        missing_extra = [c for c in meta.get("extras_required", []) if c not in panel]
        if missing_extra:
            raise SkipAlpha(f"{alpha_id}: panel missing extras {missing_extra}")
        if meta.get("requires_sector") and "sector" not in panel:
            raise SkipAlpha(f"{alpha_id}: panel missing sector tag")

        try:
            module = self._load_module(alpha)
        except Exception as exc:  # noqa: BLE001 — isolate import failure
            raise RegistryError(f"{alpha_id}: import failed: {exc}") from exc

        compute_fn = getattr(module, "compute", None)
        if compute_fn is None:
            raise RegistryError(f"{alpha_id}: module has no compute() function")

        try:
            result = compute_fn(panel)
        except Exception as exc:  # noqa: BLE001 — isolate compute failure
            raise RegistryError(f"{alpha_id}: compute() raised: {exc}") from exc

        return self._validate_output(alpha_id, result, panel)

    def _load_module(self, alpha: Alpha) -> ModuleType:
        if not self._use_filesystem_loader:
            return importlib.import_module(alpha.module_path)
        py_file = self._py_paths[alpha.id]
        cached = sys.modules.get(alpha.module_path)
        if cached is not None and getattr(cached, "__file__", None) == str(py_file):

View on GitHub (pinned to 80ffdda44c)

Solutions

1. Inspect exc.__cause__ for the real traceback and fix that (install dep, fix syntax)
2. Re-generate or restore the alpha module file
3. Verify with `python -c "import module.path"` outside the registry

Example fix

# before
out = registry.compute('alpha_042', panel)  # ImportError: No module named 'talib'
# after
pip install TA-Lib
out = registry.compute('alpha_042', panel)

import importlib
try:
    importlib.import_module(registry.get(alpha_id).module_path)
except Exception as e:
    skip(alpha_id, f'import fails: {e}')

try:
    out = registry.compute(aid, panel)
except RegistryError as e:
    if 'import failed' in str(e): skip(aid, e.__cause__)
    else: raise

When it happens

Trigger: compute(alpha_id, panel) where the module has a bad import (missing dependency), a syntax error, or top-level code that raises (e.g. reading a missing file at import).

Common situations: Vendored zoo modules depending on packages not installed in the env; partial file writes/corruption in the zoo; Python version incompatibility in generated code.

Related errors

• {alpha.id}: could not build import spec for {py_file}
• tushare not installed: {exc}
• futu-api is not installed; run `pip install futu-api`.
• tigeropen is not installed; run `pip install tigeropen`.
• unknown zoo {v!r}; expected one of {sorted(_VALID_ZOOS)}

AI-assisted analysis of HKUDS/Vibe-Trading@80ffdda44c (2026-08-28). Data as JSON: /api/errors/29430ccd8d53fa32. Report an issue: GitHub.