anthropics/skills · info · RuntimeError

This module should not be run directly.

Error message

This module should not be run directly.

What it means

redlining.py is a library module of the office validators package; executing it as a script hits the __main__ guard and raises RuntimeError at once. Its tracked-change ('redline') extraction helpers are intended for import only.

Source

Thrown at skills/xlsx/scripts/office/validators/redlining.py:299

    def _extract_text_content(self, root):
        p_tag = f"{{{self.namespaces['w']}}}p"
        t_tag = f"{{{self.namespaces['w']}}}t"

        paragraphs = []
        for p_elem in root.findall(f".//{p_tag}"):
            text_parts = []
            for t_elem in p_elem.findall(f".//{t_tag}"):
                text_parts.append(self._rendered_text(t_elem))
            paragraph_text = "".join(text_parts)
            if paragraph_text:
                paragraphs.append(paragraph_text)

        return "\n".join(paragraphs)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    raise RuntimeError("This module should not be run directly.")

View on GitHub (pinned to f6656c1256)

Solutions

1. Run the package entry-point script that imports redlining instead
2. For exploration, import the module and call its classes from a short driver snippet
3. Keep library modules out of execute-all automation

Example fix

# before
python skills/xlsx/scripts/office/validators/redlining.py
# after
python -c "import sys; sys.path.insert(0, 'skills/xlsx/scripts/office'); from validators import redlining"  # import-only

# Nothing to catch — import redlining from a driver instead of running the file.

When it happens

Trigger: `python skills/xlsx/scripts/office/validators/redlining.py` from a shell; an IDE 'run current file'; a CI step that executes every discovered .py file.

Common situations: IDE run button; exploratory execution of files found via grep/glob; mistaken assumption that validators ship CLIs.

Related errors

• This module should not be run directly.
• This module should not be run directly.
• This module should not be run directly.

AI-assisted analysis of anthropics/skills@f6656c1256 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b91533b0cb5d8737. Report an issue: GitHub.