How to run a python program packaged with distutils from source in PyCharm?

Question

I cloned a repo that has a python project such as gitlabber that is supposed to be packaged with distutils. If I pick what looks to be the entry point, I just get a module resolution error.

gitlabber/gitlabber/__main__.py
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "__main__.py", line 1, in <module>
    from .cli import main

ImportError: attempted relative import with no known parent package

I can run it by

pip install. and then running it as a command.

pip install .
gitlabber -t -i

But I want to change the source code, run in debug mode, and run without installing it with pip every time, like a normal python developer. How do I do that?

I seriously did google this and did not find any good material. Probably because it's assumed to be too basic.

Answer 1

To install with a setup.py file:

python setup.py install

To install with pip in edit mode use -e. I think this is what you are looking for.

pip install -e .