ModuleNotFoundError when trying to build the app using a .spec file and GitHub Actions

[DeepThoughtt]

Hi! I have an issue when trying to build my PyGame application using a .spec file. I have all of my .py files in a folder called "src" which is a sub-folder of the project directory, which contains the .spec file. The src folder contains the main.py file which loads more code from other subfolders.

My .spec file is this one:

# -*- mode: python ; coding: utf-8 -*-

import os
from PyInstaller.utils.hooks import collect_data_files, collect_submodules

project_root = os.path.abspath(".")

datas = []
datas += collect_data_files("assets/cfg", include_py_files=False)
datas += collect_data_files("assets/fonts", include_py_files=False)
datas += collect_data_files("assets/imgs", include_py_files=False)
datas += collect_data_files("l10n", include_py_files=False)

a = Analysis(
    ['src/main.py'],
    pathex=[project_root],
    binaries=[],
    datas=datas,
    hiddenimports=collect_submodules('src'),
    hookspath=[],
    hooksconfig={},
    runtime_hooks=[],
    excludes=[],
    noarchive=False,
    optimize=0,
)

pyz = PYZ(a.pure)

exe = EXE(
    pyz,
    a.scripts,
    a.binaries,
    a.datas,
    [],
    name='MyApp',
    debug=False,
    bootloader_ignore_signals=False,
    strip=False,
    upx=True,
    upx_exclude=[],
    runtime_tmpdir=None,
    console=False,
)

And my main is:

import pygame

from src.scenes.main_menu_scene import MainMenuScene
from src.consts.scenes import Scenes
from src.singletons.localization import localization
from src.singletons.settings import settings
from src.singletons.assets import assets
from src.utils.files import Files

def main():
    pygame.init()

    def goto(scene_name):
        nonlocal scene
        scene = scenes_dict[scene_name](display, goto)

    scenes_dict = {
        Scenes.MAIN_MENU: MainMenuScene,
        # Other scenes...
    }

    display = pygame.display.set_mode((0, 0), pygame.NOFRAME)
    localization.set_language(settings["language"])
    pygame.display.set_caption("MyApp")

    default_settings = Files.read_default_settings()
    settings["version"] = default_settings["version"]
    Files.write_settings(settings)
    del default_settings 

    assets.load_assets({
        "images": {
            # Images...
        },
        "sounds": {
            # Sounds...
        },
    })

    scene = MainMenuScene(display, goto)
    pygame.display.set_icon(assets.images["Image"])
    
    while True:
        events = pygame.event.get()
        scene.handle_events(events)
        scene.draw()
        pygame.display.flip()
        

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

I am trying to build it using Github actions:

name: Build and Release

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - '*'

jobs:

  # ============================
  # WINDOWS BUILD
  # ============================
  build-windows:
    runs-on: windows-latest

    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Set up Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
        with:
          python-version: "3.11"

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          python -m pip install --upgrade pip
          pip install -r requirements.txt
          pip install pyinstaller

      - name: Build Windows executable
        run: |
          pyinstaller main.spec

      - name: Upload Windows artifact
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: MyApp-Windows
          path: ./dist/


  # ============================
  # LINUX BUILD
  # ============================
  build-linux:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Set up Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
        with:
          python-version: "3.11"

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          python -m pip install --upgrade pip
          pip install -r requirements.txt
          pip install pyinstaller

      - name: Build Linux binary
        run: |
          pyinstaller main.spec

      - name: Upload Linux artifact
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: MyApp-Linux
          path: ./dist/


  # ============================
  # RELEASE
  # ============================
  release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: [build-windows, build-linux]
    permissions:
      contents: write

    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Download Windows artifact
        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: MyApp-Windows
          path: release-files/windows

      - name: Download Linux artifact
        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: MyApp-Linux
          path: release-files/linux

      - name: Create GitHub Release
        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
        with:
          files: |
            release-files/windows/*
            release-files/linux/*
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

The issue I'm having is that when I build the game through Github Actions and try to execute it I get this error:

 File "main.py", line 4, in <module>
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1140, in _find_and_load_unlocked
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'scenes.main_menu_scene'
[PYI-7112:ERROR] Failed to execute script 'main' due to unhandled exception!
[PYI-7112:DEBUG] LOADER: ERROR.

What am I doing wrong? Thanks in advance for the help!

[rokm]

Is the build that produced the error message actually in sync with the main.py that you have shown us?

Because the module name in error message,

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'scenes.main_menu_scene'

does not match what is shown in your code, i.e.,

from src.scenes.main_menu_scene import MainMenuScene

[rokm]

Hmm, could you include the contents of the build directory in the artifact, and then look if Analysis-00.toc and/or PYZ-00.toc contains any references to modules in the src directory? Also, what are the contents of src/scenes? It this a regular sub-package (has an __init__.py) or a namespace sub-package (without an __init__.py)?

[rokm]

Or maybe from a different angle: if you rearrange the order of these imports

from src.scenes.main_menu_scene import MainMenuScene
from src.consts.scenes import Scenes
from src.singletons.localization import localization
from src.singletons.settings import settings
from src.singletons.assets import assets
from src.utils.files import Files

for example, by putting the from src.scenes.main_menu_scene import MainMenuScene at the end, does the error change to for example src.consts.scenes, or is it still about src.scenes.main_menu_scene?

[DeepThoughtt]

I found these at the very beginning of the Analysis-00.toc file:

(['D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\main.py'],
 ['D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp'],
 ['src',
  'src.consts',
  'src.consts.alterations',
  'src.consts.colors',
  'src.consts.difficulties',
  'src.consts.durations',
  'src.consts.fonts',
  'src.consts.game_modes',
  'src.consts.images',
  'src.consts.languages',
  'src.consts.scenes',
  'src.consts.staff_notes',
  'src.consts.staff_types',
  'src.entities',
  'src.entities.note',
  'src.main',
  'src.models',
  'src.models.highest_score',
  'src.repository',
  'src.repository.repository',
  'src.scenes',
  'src.scenes.difficulty_selection_scene',
  'src.scenes.game_mode_selection_scene',
  'src.scenes.language_selection_scene',
  'src.scenes.leaderboard_scene',
  'src.scenes.main_menu_scene',
  'src.scenes.single_note_game_mode_scene',
  'src.scenes.testing_scene',
  'src.singletons',
  'src.singletons.assets',
  'src.singletons.localization',
  'src.singletons.repository',
  'src.singletons.settings',
  'src.utils',
  'src.utils.date',
  'src.utils.files',
  'src.utils.math',
  'src.utils.randomizer',
  'src.widgets',
  'src.widgets.bass_staff',
  'src.widgets.grand_staff',
  'src.widgets.icon_button',
  'src.widgets.input_box',
  'src.widgets.label',
  'src.widgets.multiline_label',
  'src.widgets.text_button',
  'src.widgets.treble_staff'],

And found these in the PYZ-00.toc file:

  ('src', 'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\__init__.py', 'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.consts',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\consts\\__init__.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.consts.alterations',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\consts\\alterations.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.consts.colors',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\consts\\colors.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.consts.difficulties',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\consts\\difficulties.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.consts.durations',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\consts\\durations.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.consts.fonts',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\consts\\fonts.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.consts.game_modes',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\consts\\game_modes.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.consts.images',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\consts\\images.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.consts.languages',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\consts\\languages.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.consts.scenes',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\consts\\scenes.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.consts.staff_notes',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\consts\\staff_notes.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.consts.staff_types',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\consts\\staff_types.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.entities',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\entities\\__init__.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.entities.note',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\entities\\note.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.main', 'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\main.py', 'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.models',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\models\\__init__.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.models.highest_score',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\models\\highest_score.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.repository',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\repository\\__init__.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.repository.repository',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\repository\\repository.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.scenes',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\scenes\\__init__.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.scenes.difficulty_selection_scene',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\scenes\\difficulty_selection_scene.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.scenes.game_mode_selection_scene',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\scenes\\game_mode_selection_scene.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.scenes.language_selection_scene',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\scenes\\language_selection_scene.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.scenes.single_note_game_mode_scene',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\scenes\\single_note_game_mode_scene.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.scenes.testing_scene',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\scenes\\testing_scene.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.singletons',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\singletons\\__init__.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.singletons.assets',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\singletons\\assets.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.singletons.localization',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\singletons\\localization.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.singletons.repository',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\singletons\\repository.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.singletons.settings',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\singletons\\settings.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.utils',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\utils\\__init__.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.utils.date',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\utils\\date.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.utils.files',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\utils\\files.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.utils.math',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\utils\\math.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.utils.randomizer',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\utils\\randomizer.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.widgets',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\widgets\\__init__.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.widgets.bass_staff',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\widgets\\bass_staff.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.widgets.grand_staff',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\widgets\\grand_staff.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.widgets.icon_button',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\widgets\\icon_button.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.widgets.input_box',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\widgets\\input_box.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.widgets.label',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\widgets\\label.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.widgets.multiline_label',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\widgets\\multiline_label.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.widgets.text_button',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\widgets\\text_button.py',
   'PYMODULE'),
  ('src.widgets.treble_staff',
   'D:\\a\\MyApp\\MyApp\\src\\widgets\\treble_staff.py',
   'PYMODULE'),

The src/scenes folder contains classes (every scene is a class in a separate file), and the folder has a __init__.py file, every sub-folder in src has it.
Swapping the imports doesn't change the error, which is odd:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "main.py", line 10, in <module>
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'src.scenes.main_menu_scene'

[rokm]

Swapping the imports doesn't change the error, which is odd:

Traceback (most recent call last):
 File "main.py", line 10, in <module>
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'src.scenes.main_menu_scene'

Indeed. It means that the issue is not search path (since other modules imported there were collected), but there is something wrong with this particular module. Is the source file corrupted, or does it contain a syntax error (perhaps a construct that does not work in python 3.11 that you're building with on CI, but works with whatever version you are using to develop locally)?

If I recall correctly, we raise errors only for syntax errors in the entry-point script, but not in the imported modules; those are then just silently ignored, as seems to be the case here.

You could also try adding a CI step that tries to import that module, and see if it is importable:

python -c "import src.scenes.main_menu_scene; print(src.scenes.main_menu_scene)"

The list that you found at the top of Analysis-00.toc are actually hiddenimports that you obtained via collect_submodules('src'); it shows that the module file is present. But its absence from PYZ-00.toc indicates that it was not collected; and looks like src.scenes.leaderboard_scene has a similar problem.

[DeepThoughtt]

I tried updating the Python version used in my build.yaml file and that seems to have fixed the issue. Locally I am using Python 3.13.3. The syntax in the MainMenuScene doesn't look that "fancy" to me, but apparently it was enough to not work with Python 3.11, odd. Now I can move through the scenes and the assets are being loaded correctly as well, so I would say the problem is solved. Thank you very much for your help, I have been stuck on this for too long