crewAIInc/crewAI · error · ImportError

The 'e2b' package is required for E2B sandbox tools. Install

Error message

The 'e2b' package is required for E2B sandbox tools. Install it with: uv add e2b  (or) pip install e2b

What it means

E2B sandbox tools resolve their SDK class lazily via _import_sandbox_class; the first call imports e2b.Sandbox and on ImportError raises a guidance message telling you to install the e2b package. A module-level cache (_sdk_cache) means the import is attempted once per class, after which either the class is reused or the error is re-raised on every call. This fires only when e2b is missing from the environment — not on API or network problems.

Source

Thrown at lib/crewai-tools/src/crewai_tools/tools/e2b_sandbox_tool/e2b_base_tool.py:120

    _lock: threading.Lock = PrivateAttr(default_factory=threading.Lock)
    _cleanup_registered: bool = PrivateAttr(default=False)

    _sdk_cache: ClassVar[dict[str, Any]] = {}

    @classmethod
    def _import_sandbox_class(cls) -> Any:
        """Return the Sandbox class used by this tool.

        Subclasses override this to swap in a different SDK (e.g. the code
        interpreter sandbox). The default uses plain `e2b.Sandbox`.
        """
        cached = cls._sdk_cache.get("e2b.Sandbox")
        if cached is not None:
            return cached
        try:
            from e2b import Sandbox  # type: ignore[import-untyped]
        except ImportError as exc:
            raise ImportError(
                "The 'e2b' package is required for E2B sandbox tools. "
                "Install it with: uv add e2b  (or) pip install e2b"
            ) from exc
        cls._sdk_cache["e2b.Sandbox"] = Sandbox
        return Sandbox

    def _connect_kwargs(self) -> dict[str, Any]:
        kwargs: dict[str, Any] = {}
        if self.api_key is not None:
            kwargs["api_key"] = self.api_key.get_secret_value()
        if self.domain:
            kwargs["domain"] = self.domain
        if self.sandbox_timeout is not None:
            kwargs["timeout"] = self.sandbox_timeout
        return kwargs

    def _create_kwargs(self) -> dict[str, Any]:
        kwargs: dict[str, Any] = self._connect_kwargs()

View on GitHub (pinned to 754d7323be)

Solutions

1. Install the SDK: pip install e2b (or uv add e2b), matching the message.
2. Confirm it landed in the running interpreter: python -c "import e2b; print(e2b.__version__)" using the same python that runs your app.
3. Add e2b (or crewai-tools[e2b] if provided) to your lockfile/requirements so deployments keep it.
4. If using a code-interpreter variant, make sure the right e2b extra (e.g. e2b-code-interpreter) is installed per the subclass docs.

Example fix

# before
pip install crewai-tools
E2BSandboxTool(...)  # ImportError: 'e2b' package required

# after
pip install crewai-tools e2b
E2BSandboxTool(...)  # SDK class resolves and caches

import importlib.util

if importlib.util.find_spec('e2b') is None:
    raise ImportError("The 'e2b' package is required for E2B sandbox tools. Install it with: pip install e2b")

sandbox_tool = E2BSandboxTool(...)

def e2b_available() -> bool:
    return importlib.util.find_spec('e2b') is not None

try:
    result = tool._run(code=src)
except ImportError as e:
    if "'e2b' package is required" in str(e):
        raise DeploymentError('e2b missing in runtime image — add it to requirements') from e
    raise

When it happens

Trigger: Instantiating/first-running any E2B sandbox tool (E2BSandboxTool and subclasses) in an environment where pip show e2b fails; crewai-tools installed without the e2b extra; a venv mismatch where the tool runs under a different interpreter than the one where e2b was installed.

Common situations: Fresh clones that installed crewai-tools core only; deploying to containers that prune 'dev' dependencies; multiple virtualenvs or system/pip confusion so e2b exists for one interpreter but not the runtime one.

Related errors

• The 'daytona' package is required for Daytona sandbox tools.
• Could not import daytona.CodeRunParams while building argv/e
• The 'e2b_code_interpreter' package is required for the E2B P
• `scrapfly-sdk` package not found, please run `uv add scrapfl
• `selenium` and `webdriver-manager` package not found, please

AI-assisted analysis of crewAIInc/crewAI@754d7323be (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/96a5a97a2403f32e. Report an issue: GitHub.