crewAIInc/crewAI · warning · ImportError

'tavily-python' has been installed. Please restart your Pyth

Error message

'tavily-python' has been installed. Please restart your Python application to use the TavilyGetResearchTool.

What it means

TavilyGetResearchTool raises this ImportError on purpose after `subprocess.run(["uv", "add", "tavily-python"], check=True)` succeeds. The just-installed package cannot be imported into the already-running process reliably, so the exception instructs the user to restart. It signals success, not failure.

Source

Thrown at lib/crewai-tools/src/crewai_tools/tools/tavily_get_research_tool/tavily_get_research_tool.py:81

                import subprocess

                import click
            except ImportError as e:
                raise ImportError(
                    "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

View on GitHub (pinned to 754d7323be)

Solutions

Restart the Python process (or Jupyter kernel) and construct TavilyGetResearchTool again.
Better: add tavily-python to project deps (uv add tavily-python / pip install) up front and skip the prompt entirely.

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

import importlib.util
if importlib.util.find_spec("tavily") is None:
    raise SystemExit("tavily-python not installed; install before starting the app")

Try / catch

try:
    tool = TavilyGetResearchTool()
except ImportError as e:
    if "has been installed" in str(e):
        os.execv(sys.executable, [sys.executable, *sys.argv])  # restart to load new package
    raise

Prevention

Install tavily-python up front so the restart-required path never fires.
In notebooks, plan a kernel restart after accepting any auto-install.
Treat the 'restart' ImportError as a success code in orchestration wrappers.

When it happens

Trigger: Missing tavily-python, user answers 'y' to the click.confirm prompt, and `uv add tavily-python` exits 0. The ImportError is raised immediately after the successful install.

Common situations: Interactive first-run sessions where the developer accepts the auto-install; notebook users who must restart the kernel to pick up the new package.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of crewAIInc/crewAI@754d7323be (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cbd480d0aa485124. Report an issue: GitHub.