OpenBB-finance/OpenBB · error · OpenBBError

Could not import Charting modules. Install with `pip install

Error message

Could not import Charting modules. Install with `pip install openbb-charting`. -> {e}

What it means

The IMF maritime chokepoint chart view lazily imports plotly and openbb-charting (OpenBBFigure) inside the function; if either is missing or broken, it raises OpenBBError with the underlying import exception chained. This keeps charting an optional dependency for the IMF provider.

Source

Thrown at openbb_platform/providers/imf/openbb_imf/views/maritime_chokepoint_info.py:20

from openbb_imf.models.maritime_chokepoint_info import ImfMaritimeChokePointInfoData


def plot_chokepoint_annual_avg_vessels(
    data: list[ImfMaritimeChokePointInfoData], theme="light"
):
    """Plot the average annual vessels for each chokepoint."""
    # pylint: disable=import-outside-toplevel
    import datetime  # noqa
    from openbb_core.app.model.abstract.error import OpenBBError
    from pandas import DataFrame

    try:
        from openbb_charting.core.openbb_figure import OpenBBFigure
        from plotly import graph_objects as go
        from plotly.subplots import make_subplots
    except Exception as e:
        raise OpenBBError(
            "Could not import Charting modules. Install with `pip install openbb-charting`."
            + f" -> {e}"
        ) from e

    if (
        data is not None
        and not isinstance(data, list)
        or not all(isinstance(item, ImfMaritimeChokePointInfoData) for item in data)
    ):
        raise OpenBBError(
            "Invalid data format. Expected a list of ImfMaritimeChokePointInfoData."
        )
    if len(data) == 0:
        raise OpenBBError("No data to plot.")

    df = DataFrame([item.model_dump() for item in data])
    if theme == "dark":
        geo_bgcolor = "rgba(0,0,0,0)"

View on GitHub (pinned to 3e071fcc2c)

Solutions

Install charting support: pip install openbb-charting (this brings plotly).
If already installed, verify importability: python -c "from openbb_charting.core.openbb_figure import OpenBBFigure" and fix the reported import error (often a plotly version pin: pip install 'plotly>=5,<6' or the version openbb-charting requires).
Recreate/repair the virtualenv if deps are inconsistent.
Alternatively call the endpoint with chart=False and build the plot yourself with whatever plotting stack is available.

Example fix

# before: OpenBBError: Could not import Charting modules ...
obb.economy.imf.maritime_chokepoint(chart=True)
# after
pip install openbb-charting
obb.economy.imf.maritime_chokepoint(chart=True)

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

# Verify charting is importable before enabling charts
def charting_available() -> bool:
    try:
        from openbb_charting.core.openbb_figure import OpenBBFigure  # noqa
        import plotly.graph_objects  # noqa
        return True
    except Exception:
        return False

chart = charting_available()

Type guard

def charting_available() -> bool:
    try:
        from openbb_charting.core.openbb_figure import OpenBBFigure  # noqa
        import plotly.graph_objects  # noqa
        return True
    except Exception:
        return False

Try / catch

from openbb_core.app.model.abstract.error import OpenBBError
try:
    fig = plot_maritime_chokepoint_info(data, theme=theme)
except OpenBBError as e:
    if 'Could not import Charting modules' in str(e):
        pip_install_hint = 'pip install openbb-charting'
        disable_charts()  # degrade to table-only output
    else:
        raise

Prevention

Install openbb-charting in environments that will render charts
Add a smoke-test import of openbb_charting to CI for chart-dependent features
Pin plotly to the version openbb-charting requires

When it happens

Trigger: Calling obb.economy.imf.maritime_chokepoint(chart=True) (or the equivalent chart view) in an environment where openbb-charting or plotly is not installed, or where a conflicting plotly version breaks the import of openbb_charting.core.openbb_figure or plotly.graph_objects.

Common situations: Installing openbb without the charting extra; a venv where plotly was upgraded past compatibility; partial installs where openbb-charting exists but plotly is absent; CI images trimmed of optional deps.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of OpenBB-finance/OpenBB@3e071fcc2c (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/daa713d0385b2325. Report an issue: GitHub.