python-poetry/poetry · error · RuntimeError

Unable to determine package info from path: {file_path}

Error message

Unable to determine package info from path: {file_path}

What it means

Raised by DirectOrigin.get_package_from_file at src/poetry/packages/direct_origin.py:66-74 when PackageInfo.from_path(path=file_path) raises PackageInfoError (cannot parse the file as a wheel/sdist). The original error is swallowed and re-raised as RuntimeError pointing at the path. Used for file:// and URL-based direct dependency resolution.

Source

Thrown at src/poetry/packages/direct_origin.py:72

    return package


class DirectOrigin:
    def __init__(self, artifact_cache: ArtifactCache) -> None:
        self._artifact_cache = artifact_cache
        config = Config.create()
        self._max_retries = config.get("requests.max-retries", 0)
        self._authenticator = get_default_authenticator()

    @classmethod
    def get_package_from_file(cls, file_path: Path) -> Package:
        try:
            package = PackageInfo.from_path(path=file_path).to_package(
                root_dir=file_path
            )
        except PackageInfoError:
            raise RuntimeError(
                f"Unable to determine package info from path: {file_path}"
            )

        package.files = [
            {
                "file": file_path.name,
                "hash": "sha256:" + get_file_hash(file_path),
                "size": file_path.stat().st_size,
            }
        ]

        return package

    @classmethod
    def get_package_from_directory(cls, directory: Path) -> Package:
        return PackageInfo.from_directory(path=directory).to_package(root_dir=directory)

    def _download_file(self, url: str, dest: Path) -> None:

View on GitHub (pinned to 92b74dcfe3)

Solutions

1. Confirm the file is a well-formed wheel (.whl) or sdist (.tar.gz with PKG-INFO).
2. Re-download or rebuild the artifact: `python -m build` then point at dist/*.{whl,tar.gz}.
3. Prefer adding a directory (poetry add ./pkg_dir/) over a raw archive when you control the source.

Example fix

# before
$ poetry add ./mypkg.zip     # github source zip, not a real sdist
RuntimeError: Unable to determine package info from path: /path/mypkg.zip

# after
$ python -m build            # produces dist/mypkg-1.0-py3-none-any.whl
$ poetry add ./dist/mypkg-1.0-py3-none-any.whl

import pkginfo

def is_valid_archive(path) -> bool:
    try:
        info = pkginfo.get_metadata(str(path))
        return info is not None and bool(getattr(info, 'name', None))
    except Exception:
        return False

from poetry.packages.direct_origin import DirectOrigin

try:
    pkg = DirectOrigin.get_package_from_file(Path(path))
except RuntimeError as e:
    if 'Unable to determine package info' in str(e):
        raise SystemExit(f'{path} is not a valid sdist/wheel; rebuild or re-download.') from e
    raise

When it happens

Trigger: Passing a path that is not a valid Python archive — e.g. a zip that isn't a wheel, a tarball without PKG-INFO, a .py file, or a non-existent/garbled file — to get_package_from_file. Reached via `poetry add ./file` or direct-origin dependency resolution.

Common situations: Pointing Poetry at a downloaded archive that is incomplete or not a real sdist/wheel (e.g. a GitHub 'Source code' zip which lacks proper metadata), a corrupt download, or a wrong file extension.

Related errors

• Unable to create package with no name for {root_dir}
• Unable to retrieve the package version for {name}
• Unsupported VCS dependency {vcs}
• Archive ({file}) does not exist
• Unknown distribution format {exts}

AI-assisted analysis of python-poetry/poetry@92b74dcfe3 (2026-08-04). Data as JSON: /data/errors/e6577cfafe9550eb.json. Report an issue: GitHub.