Python 3.12 build error "No module named 'distutils'" - Rev2

[MikeMcC399]

• Revival of Python 3.12 build error "No module named 'distutils'" #28695

Current behavior

• There has been a regression in the develop branch and Python 3.11 is required once again to build Cypress from source without error on Ubuntu. This means also that Ubuntu 24.10 cannot be used because it doesn't have access to Python 3.11. Ubuntu 24.10 only supports the default Python 3.12 version.

The yarn install log contains the error message:

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'distutils'

• dependency: update @electron/rebuild to 3.7.1 #30633 bumped @electron/rebuild to 3.7.1.
  This met the requirement of minimum @electron/[email protected] to allow Python 3.12 usage.

• Subsequently, dependency: electron 33 upgrade #30716 bumped Electron to 33. This bumped "electron-builder": "^23.6.0" to "electron-builder": "^25.1.8" (released Oct 6, 2024) and introduced @electron/[email protected] which is not compatible with Python 3.12

  └─┬ [email protected]
    └─┬ [email protected]
      └─┬ @electron/[email protected]
        └── [email protected]
  

Desired behavior

• Revert docs: remove node-gyp contributor workarounds / restrictions #30671 to put back the Python 3.11 workarounds and instructions OR

• Update to minimum electron-builder@^26. This is in "pre-release" status as [email protected] since Jan 26, 2025, so possibly too early for adoption at this time. [email protected] depends on @electron/[email protected] which meets the Python 3.12 compatibility requirement.

Test code to reproduce

git clone https://github.com/cypress-io/cypress
cd cypress
npm install yarn@latest -g
yarn

Cypress Version

First reported on Cypress version: 14.0.0
Reproducible also on Cypress version: 14.0.3

Node version

v20.18.1 LTS

Operating System

Ubuntu 24.10

Debug Logs

Failure logs are basically the same as for #28695

node-gyp@9 has come back:

$ yarn why node-gyp
yarn why v1.22.22
[1/4] Why do we have the module "node-gyp"...?
[2/4] Initialising dependency graph...
warning Resolution field "[email protected]" is incompatible with requested version "pretty-format@^29.7.0"
warning Resolution field "@wdio/[email protected]" is incompatible with requested version "@wdio/logger@^8.38.0"
warning Resolution field "[email protected]" is incompatible with requested version "[email protected]"
warning Resolution field "@types/[email protected]" is incompatible with requested version "@types/react@^16"
warning Resolution field "[email protected]" is incompatible with requested version "[email protected]"
warning Resolution field "[email protected]" is incompatible with requested version "pretty-format@^27.0.2"
warning Resolution field "[email protected]" is incompatible with requested version "vue-template-compiler@^2.7.14"
[3/4] Finding dependency...
[4/4] Calculating file sizes...
=> Found "[email protected]"
info Has been hoisted to "node-gyp"
info Reasons this module exists
   - "workspace-aggregator-1c2bd76a-9823-44e1-a258-533b690a1802" depends on it
   - Hoisted from "_project_#@npmcli#run-script#node-gyp"
   - Hoisted from "_project_#@npmcli#arborist#@npmcli#run-script#node-gyp"
   - Hoisted from "_project_#semantic-release#@semantic-release#npm#npm#node-gyp"
   - Hoisted from "_project_#@npmcli#arborist#@npmcli#metavuln-calculator#pacote#@npmcli#run-script#node-gyp"
info Disk size without dependencies: "4.1MB"
info Disk size with unique dependencies: "5.2MB"
info Disk size with transitive dependencies: "10.47MB"
info Number of shared dependencies: 59
=> Found "app-builder-lib#[email protected]"
info Reasons this module exists
   - "_project_#electron-builder#app-builder-lib#@electron#rebuild" depends on it
   - Hoisted from "_project_#electron-builder#app-builder-lib#@electron#rebuild#node-gyp"
info Disk size without dependencies: "2.06MB"
info Disk size with unique dependencies: "4.95MB"
info Disk size with transitive dependencies: "11.14MB"
info Number of shared dependencies: 83

[MikeMcC399]

This is probably not an urgent issue judging by the fact that it hasn't been otherwise reported and the problem would have been apparent from early Dec 2024.

[MikeMcC399]

Whilst this issue is unresolved, the Python 3.11 instructions for Ubuntu 24.04 can be viewed under

https://github.com/cypress-io/cypress/blob/8dc09ea5165bb80babf32fc4af990fe9d993df24/CONTRIBUTING.md#requirements

[MikeMcC399]

I did a smoke test build, updating to [email protected]. If there is a need for a PR, I can submit one, otherwise I will hold back.

[MikeMcC399]

[email protected] has been released - this is also tagged with pre-release. I will continue to monitor until they tag a 26.x version with release (instead of pre-release) and they mark it as latest (rather than next)

Edit:

• [email protected] is also still tagged pre-release with alias next