Issue with Path in Github Actions using Python

Question

I have a github actions workflow where I run many different files, for which I append to the PYTHONPATH all the paths I need for the scripts to work. To do so, I created another program called workflow_import.py in the same directory as my main scripts where I simply add a function of this sort:

def load_modules():
    if 'SOURCES_PATH' in os.environ:
        print('SOURCES_PATH') # debug line
        sources_path_list = eval(os.environ['SOURCES_PATH'])
        sys.path.extend(sources_path_list)

I add this function to each of my scripts as in

from workflow_import import load_modules

Herein, I work with a environment variable called 'SOURCES_PATH' (aka. variables.SOURCES_PATH, don't know if saving it as a secret is more convenient) storing all the modules' location. Running the main script doesn't invoke any ModuleNotFindError. However, one of my scripts generates a new subfolder called \ref, and since it most certainly changes to that directory all of the subsequent scripts fail to find workflow_import.py or any other module from load_modules().

I thought this was due to the sys.path() changing once \ref is created, but I don't know how to make it so it stays consistent within the workflow. As an example, I run the scripts in this manner:

    - name: Library Test
      shell: powershell
      run: |
        & $env:PYTHON_ENV_PATH ./libraries/library/tests/generate_reffiles.py

Where PYTHON_ENV_PATH is another secret containing the python.exe path of my desired environment.

Edit:

An example of SOURCES_PATH:

[
'C:\\actions-runner\\_work\\repo\\module1', 
'C:\\actions-runner\\_work\\repo\\module2', 
...
]

Update

I think I managed to solve the issue. In my case, as I was working with a conda-environment I had to activate first the environment and then update the PYTHONPATH with:

"PYTHONPATH=${env:SOURCES_PATH}" >> $env:RUNNER_ENV

However, as I run a cmd routine containing a python script each time, there is another solution consisting in prepending sys.path.extend(sources_path_list), in a way like PyCharm does it.

eval() around os.environ does not make any sense - that most likely will SyntaxError — rasjani
– rasjani, Commented May 22 at 9:30
@rasjani I suspect his SOURCES_PATH looks like a python list such as ['./foo','./bar'] which eval() will process correctly.. it's a huge security risk though as anyone who can modify that env variable can make the script do whatever they want. — vaizki
– vaizki, Commented May 22 at 9:52
Probably the best way forward is to change the SOURCES_PATH items into only absolute paths, that way it will not matter what the current working directory is. You could for example have a pre-process step which writes an env file to /tmp with absolute paths and then have each script load the env file. Or a dozen other options. — vaizki
– vaizki, Commented May 22 at 9:57
@vaizki that's precisely the case. Let me edit the post to show an example of SOURCES_PATH's content. Is it risky if the env var can only be modified by repo's admins? Anyway, I presume these paths are absolute within the C: drive, so that's why I don't get the nature of the issue. Ussing sys.expand() on a local python runner doesn't present any errors. — scatbeam
– scatbeam, Commented May 22 at 12:12

Igors Dubanevics · Accepted Answer · 2025-07-10 05:31:47Z

Suggestion: Add __init__.py files to all your package directories and use absolute imports for cleaner module resolution.

Here’s a minimal example using the src layout:

.
├── .github
├── environment.yml
├── README.md
├── src
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── hello.py
└── tests
    ├── __init__.py
    └── test_hello.py

src/hello.py

def hello():
    return "Hello!"

tests/test_hello.py

from src.hello import hello

def test_hello():
    assert hello() == "Hello!"

When running pytest, the test environment will treat src and tests as packages, avoiding import errors. Without __init__.py, imports work on my local machine but fail in CI environments. For example I was getting the following error:

ImportError while importing test module '/home/runner/work/python-testing/python-testing/tests/test_hello.py'.
Hint: make sure your test modules/packages have valid Python names.
Traceback:
.pixi/envs/default/lib/python3.12/importlib/__init__.py:90: in import_module
    return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:], package, level)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
tests/test_hello.py:1: in <module>
    from src.hello import hello
E   ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'src'

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