Importing Python module works in interpreter but not script

Question

I pip-installed the module absl , and I'm able to successfully import it in the interpreter, but when I run a script that imports it, I get the error ImportError: No module named absl . What gives?

I know this post reports the same error, but since this isn't in regards to a package I created (it's part of Google's Python certificate-transparency tools ), I don't believe the problem concerns shadowing a filename.

Answer 1

Verify what python interpreter is running your script

import sys

print(sys.executable)

Also verify if for whatever reason your python interpreter is runing from a virtualenv

import sys

if hasattr(sys, 'real_prefix'):

Make sure the interpreter | venv that is running your script; is the one the absl package was installed for

Answer 2

I was using someone else's script, whose shebang was #!/usr/bin/env python . However, my default python version was 2.7, whereas I had downloaded the absl module for python3 via pip3. Once I changed the shebang to #!/usr/bin/env python3 , Python was able to find the absl module.