fix: pin lance-namespace to <0.7 in pylance#6602
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## Summary
Unblock the `Compatibility Tests` job, which has failed on every PR
since 2026-04-21 23:43 UTC.
## Root cause
- `python/python/tests/compat/venv_manager.py` installs
`pylance=={version}` into per-version test venvs but does **not** pin
`lance-namespace`, so pip resolves the latest release.
- `lance-namespace 0.7.0` was uploaded to PyPI on **2026-04-21 23:43
UTC** and removed public symbols `CreateEmptyTableRequest` /
`CreateEmptyTableResponse` from `lance_namespace/__init__.py` (the
previous release `0.6.1` still exports them).
- Released Lance wheels `pylance==2.0.1` and `pylance==4.0.0b1` contain
a `lance/namespace.py` that does `from lance_namespace import
CreateEmptyTableRequest, CreateEmptyTableResponse, …`. With
`lance-namespace==0.7.0` installed in the compat venv, `import lance`
now fails:
```
ImportError: cannot import name 'CreateEmptyTableRequest' from
'lance_namespace'
(venv_2.0.1/.../lance_namespace/__init__.py). Did you mean:
'CreateTableRequest'?
```
- Verified against the published wheels on PyPI: `0.6.1` exports the
removed symbols; `0.7.0` does not. Last green `main` Python CI run
(`24689949602`, 2026-04-20 20:55 UTC) predates the `0.7.0` upload.
- This is **not** a regression introduced by any PR — `main` would hit
the same failure on a rerun today.
## Fix
Add `lance-namespace<0.7` to the `pip install` invocation in the compat
venv setup so old Lance wheels resolve a compatible transitive dep.
```diff
f"pylance=={self.version}",
+ # Released Lance wheels (e.g. 2.0.1, 4.0.0b1) import
+ # CreateEmptyTableRequest from lance_namespace, which was
+ # removed in lance-namespace 0.7.0. Pin to <0.7 so old wheels
+ # resolve a compatible transitive dep.
+ "lance-namespace<0.7",
"pytest",
```
Current `main` Lance builds are unaffected — they install
`lance-namespace` from the workspace, not from PyPI.
## Out of scope
- Per-Lance-version pinning (e.g. narrower `==0.6.1` for
`2.0.1`/`4.0.0b1`). The simple ceiling is sufficient until new wheels
are published with namespace bindings that target
`lance-namespace>=0.7`.
- Upstream `lance-namespace` should either re-export the removed names
as deprecated shims or bump to `1.0.0` with release notes. Worth a
follow-up in that repo.
## Test plan
- [ ] `Compatibility Tests` job passes in CI after this patch.
- [ ] All other Python jobs remain green.
![claude[bot]](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/in/1236702?s=60&v=4){kind=small}
There was a problem hiding this comment.
Mechanical backport of the already-merged pin from #6597 — CI-only dep pin.
Extended reasoning...
Overview
Single-line addition to python/python/tests/compat/venv_manager.py that appends lance-namespace<0.7 to the pip install list used when creating per-version compat test venvs. The accompanying comment explains the reason: released pylance wheels import CreateEmptyTableRequest from lance_namespace, which was removed in 0.7.0. This is a backport of PR #6597 to the release/v4.0 branch.
Security risks
None. The change is confined to test venv setup and only constrains a transitive dependency version during compat testing. No production/runtime code paths are affected, no auth/crypto/permission surfaces are touched.
Level of scrutiny
Low. This is a CI-only dependency pin in a test harness, mechanically backported from an already-merged PR on main. The change is a few lines inside an existing pip install subprocess invocation and follows the same format as the other pinned requirements.
Other factors
The upstream PR (#6597, commit 9215160) is already merged on main. No bugs were found by the bug hunting pass. No outstanding reviewer comments on this PR.
jackye1995
changed the title
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
3 participants
Backport of the following PRs:
This PR backports the changes from the original PRs to the release/v4.0 branch.