microsoft/autogen · error · ValueError

Pip install failed. {stdout}, {stderr}

Error message

Pip install failed. {stdout}, {stderr}

What it means

Raised during Docker executor setup (_setup_functions) when `python -m pip install <packages>` executed inside the container exits non-zero. The packages come from the `required_packages` lists of the functions passed to the constructor. The message embeds the command output (note: an upstream quirk sets both stdout and stderr fields to result.output).

Source

Thrown at python/packages/autogen-ext/src/autogen_ext/code_executors/docker/_docker_code_executor.py:275

        func_file.write_text(func_file_content)

        # Collect requirements
        lists_of_packages = [x.python_packages for x in self._functions if isinstance(x, FunctionWithRequirements)]
        flattened_packages = [item for sublist in lists_of_packages for item in sublist]
        required_packages = list(set(flattened_packages))
        if len(required_packages) > 0:
            logging.info("Ensuring packages are installed in executor.")

            packages = shlex.join(required_packages)

            result = await self._execute_code_dont_check_setup(
                [CodeBlock(code=f"python -m pip install {packages}", language="sh")], cancellation_token
            )

            if result.exit_code != 0:
                stdout = result.output
                stderr = result.output
                raise ValueError(f"Pip install failed. {stdout}, {stderr}")

        # Attempt to load the function file to check for syntax errors, imports etc.
        exec_result = await self._execute_code_dont_check_setup(
            [CodeBlock(code=func_file_content, language="python")], cancellation_token
        )

        if exec_result.exit_code != 0:
            raise ValueError(f"Functions failed to load: {exec_result.output}")

        self._setup_functions_complete = True

    async def _kill_running_command(self, command: List[str]) -> None:
        if self._container is None or not self._running:
            return
        await asyncio.to_thread(self._container.exec_run, ["pkill", "-f", " ".join(command)])

    async def _execute_command(self, command: List[str], cancellation_token: CancellationToken) -> Tuple[str, int]:
        if self._container is None or not self._running:

View on GitHub (pinned to 027ecf0a37)

Solutions

1. Read the embedded pip output — it is the real pip error (resolution failure, network error, no matching distribution)
2. Fix the package spec in the function's required_packages (correct name/pin) and retry
3. If the container has no network, pre-install dependencies into a custom image and pass image="that-image" instead of relying on runtime pip
4. For proxy environments, build the pip config into the image (ENV PIP_INDEX_URL=...) since the executor does not forward host proxy settings

Example fix

# before
DockerCommandLineCodeExecutor(functions=[(fn, ["pandas==9.9.9"])])  # nonexistent version

# after
DockerCommandLineCodeExecutor(functions=[(fn, ["pandas>=2.0"])])

# or bake deps into an image:
# Dockerfile: FROM python:3-slim / RUN pip install pandas
DockerCommandLineCodeExecutor(image="my-executor:latest", functions=[fn])

null

null

try:
    await executor.execute_code_blocks(blocks, ct)
except ValueError as e:
    if "Pip install failed" in str(e):
        # str(e) contains pip's real output: resolution error, network error, etc.
        fix_required_packages_from_pip_output(str(e))
        executor = DockerCommandLineCodeExecutor(functions=fixed_functions)
        await executor.execute_code_blocks(blocks, ct)

When it happens

Trigger: First execute_code_blocks call when any function declares required_packages that pip cannot install in the container: package name typo, no network access in the container, incompatible Python version in the image, or an unpublished/unpinned dependency that breaks resolution.

Common situations: Containers without internet (corporate networks, --network none); pinning a package version with no wheel for the image's Python/arch (e.g. numpy on python:3-slim arm64); typo'd package names like 'pandasq'; proxy env vars not passed into the container.

Related errors

• Functions failed to load: {exec_result.output.strip()}
• Missing dependecies for DockerCommandLineCodeExecutor. Pleas
• Functions failed to load: {exec_result.output}
• Pip install failed. {stdout.decode()}, {stderr.decode()}
• Unauthorized

AI-assisted analysis of microsoft/autogen@027ecf0a37 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/31301ab1fa2708de. Report an issue: GitHub.