langchain-ai/deepagents · error · ImportError

Cannot determine location for {package_root}

Error message

Cannot determine location for {package_root}

What it means

After find_spec locates the root package, _load_provider_profiles derives the package directory from spec.origin or spec.submodule_search_locations. If neither yields a usable location (e.g. a namespace-ish or oddly-created spec), it raises ImportError('Cannot determine location for {package_root}') because it cannot build the filesystem path to the _profiles.py file.

Source

Thrown at libs/code/deepagents_code/model_config.py:1401

        if cached is not None:  # `is not None` so empty profile dicts are cached
            return cached

        parts = module_path.split(".")
        package_root = parts[0]

        spec = importlib.util.find_spec(package_root)
        if spec is None:
            msg = f"Package {package_root} is not installed"
            raise ImportError(msg)

        # Determine the package directory from the spec.
        if spec.origin:
            package_dir = Path(spec.origin).parent
        elif spec.submodule_search_locations:
            package_dir = Path(next(iter(spec.submodule_search_locations)))
        else:
            msg = f"Cannot determine location for {package_root}"
            raise ImportError(msg)

        # Build the path to the target file (e.g., data/_profiles.py).
        relative_parts = parts[1:]  # ["data", "_profiles"]
        profiles_path = package_dir.joinpath(
            *relative_parts[:-1], f"{relative_parts[-1]}.py"
        )

        if not profiles_path.exists():
            msg = f"Profile module not found: {profiles_path}"
            raise ImportError(msg)

        file_spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location(module_path, profiles_path)
        if file_spec is None or file_spec.loader is None:
            msg = f"Could not create module spec for {profiles_path}"
            raise ImportError(msg)

        module = importlib.util.module_from_spec(file_spec)
        file_spec.loader.exec_module(module)

View on GitHub (pinned to a1af029e6e)

Solutions

  1. Inspect the spec: `python -c "import importlib.util as u; s=u.find_spec('<package_root>'); print(s.origin, s.submodule_search_locations)"` and fix the install (reinstall the package).
  2. Remove shadowing directories or files with the same name as the package earlier on sys.path.
  3. If it is a namespace package by design, ensure it has __init__.py or proper search locations so importlib can resolve a directory.
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

import importlib.util
spec = importlib.util.find_spec(package_root)
if spec is None or (spec.origin is None and not spec.submodule_search_locations):
    raise SystemExit(f"Package {package_root} is installed but has no importable location; reinstall it")

Try / catch

try:
    profiles = get_model_profiles(module_path)
except ImportError as exc:
    logging.warning("profiles unavailable: %s", exc)
    profiles = {}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling _discover_available_models() or get_model_profiles() for a package whose ModuleSpec has origin=None (e.g. namespace packages, packages installed via unusual loaders, or stub/frozen modules) and no submodule_search_locations entries.

Common situations: Shadowing a real package with an empty namespace directory of the same name on sys.path; a broken/partial install where dist-info exists but the package directory does not; running under tooling that injects fake specs (some test runners, zipapps).

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of langchain-ai/deepagents@a1af029e6e (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e9259a3828a76bb9. Report an issue: GitHub.