What 'Attempted relative import beyond top-level package' error means in Python?

Question

I'm using python 3.7 and ran into a relative import error "Attempted relative import beyond top-level package" with the following folder structure:

├── app
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── services
│   │   └── item_service.py
│   └── views
│       ├── home.py
│       ├── __init__.py

My goal: import variable foo from the top level _init_.py to item_service.py using

from .. import foo

Pylint gives the error when trying this.

However the same exact import statement works in home.py, and if I add a empty _init_.py file to the services folder, the import works.

So my my question is, why? Does python require your module to be in a subpackage in order to relatively import parent package's contents?

Possible duplicate of stackoverflow.com/questions/30669474/… — Emre Sevinç
– Emre Sevinç, Commented Jul 8, 2019 at 13:58
Possible duplicate of beyond top level package error in relative import — Green Cloak Guy
– Green Cloak Guy, Commented Jul 8, 2019 at 13:59
Pylint may parse your code inside the package, while it should stay below the app level. If it's only pylint, I'd ignore it for now. — 9769953
– 9769953, Commented Jul 8, 2019 at 13:59
I think 0 0 is right. I have a project that runs fine, but pylint gives this error too. — Pedro Queiroga
– Pedro Queiroga, Commented May 6, 2020 at 17:15

Simas Joneliunas · Accepted Answer · 2021-07-04 01:15:40Z

-1

For me it got resolved in following ways:

Simas Joneliunas

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answered Jul 3, 2021 at 17:47

arvind kumar

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Comments

Adel · Accepted Answer · 2021-01-14 11:22:07Z

-5

To solve: Add init.py to all directories involved.

Add sys.path.append("..") BEFORE importing from sibling directory.

answered Jan 14, 2021 at 11:22

Adel

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