crewAIInc/crewAI · error · ImportError

Attempted to install 'tavily-python' but failed: {e}. Please

Error message

Attempted to install 'tavily-python' but failed: {e}. Please install it manually to use the TavilyGetResearchTool.

What it means

TavilyGetResearchTool raises this when the accepted auto-install command `uv add tavily-python` fails with CalledProcessError; the command's stderr/exit info is inlined into the message. It means the installer itself ran and errored (uv missing from PATH yields FileNotFoundError instead, which is NOT caught).

Source

Thrown at lib/crewai-tools/src/crewai_tools/tools/tavily_get_research_tool/tavily_get_research_tool.py:86

                    "The 'tavily-python' package is required. 'click' and "
                    "'subprocess' are also needed to assist with installation "
                    "if the package is missing. Please install 'tavily-python' "
                    "manually (e.g., 'pip install tavily-python') and ensure "
                    "'click' and 'subprocess' are available."
                ) from e

            if click.confirm(
                "You are missing the 'tavily-python' package, which is required "
                "for TavilyGetResearchTool. Would you like to install it?"
            ):
                try:
                    subprocess.run(["uv", "add", "tavily-python"], check=True)  # noqa: S607
                    raise ImportError(
                        "'tavily-python' has been installed. Please restart your "
                        "Python application to use the TavilyGetResearchTool."
                    )
                except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
                    raise ImportError(
                        f"Attempted to install 'tavily-python' but failed: {e}. "
                        "Please install it manually to use the TavilyGetResearchTool."
                    ) from e
            else:
                raise ImportError(
                    "The 'tavily-python' package is required to use the "
                    "TavilyGetResearchTool. Please install it with: uv add tavily-python"
                )

    @staticmethod
    def _stringify_response(response: Any) -> str:
        if isinstance(response, str):
            return response
        return json.dumps(response, indent=2)

    def _run(self, request_id: str) -> str:
        """Synchronously retrieves Tavily research task status and results."""
        if not self._client:

View on GitHub (pinned to 754d7323be)

Solutions

  1. Install manually: uv add tavily-python from the project root, or pip install tavily-python, then retry tool construction.
  2. If `uv add` fails due to a missing pyproject.toml, initialize the project or use `uv pip install tavily-python` instead.
  3. Fix network/proxy (PIP_INDEX_URL, UV_INDEX_URL, HTTPS_PROXY) and retry.
  4. Ensure uv is installed and on PATH.
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

import shutil, importlib.util
if importlib.util.find_spec("tavily") is None:
    if shutil.which("uv") is None and shutil.which("pip") is None:
        raise SystemExit("No installer on PATH; install tavily-python manually")

Try / catch

try:
    tool = TavilyGetResearchTool()
except ImportError as e:
    if "Attempted to install 'tavily-python' but failed" in str(e):
        subprocess.run(["pip", "install", "tavily-python"], check=True)
        raise SystemExit("tavily-python installed; restart the app") from e
    raise

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: User confirms install; uv runs but exits non-zero — offline network, proxy blocking PyPI, uv operating outside a project (no pyproject.toml for `uv add`), or read-only project directory.

Common situations: CI without network egress; running `uv add` semantics in a directory without a uv-managed project; permission-restricted filesystems.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of crewAIInc/crewAI@754d7323be (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c8d11b2db6880cba. Report an issue: GitHub.