cannot import name 'typealiastype' from 'typing_extensions'

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

typealiastype was added to typing_extensions in a specific release, so this ImportError means the installed version is too old for the code importing it. Upgrade with pip install -U typing_extensions (or bump the pin in your lockfile) and confirm the importing package's minimum version. If the pin is held back by another dependency, that conflict is the real bug.

The query

cannot import name 'typealiastype' from 'typing_extensions'

Use this when

• A test run or import crashes with ImportError: cannot import name 'typealiastype' from 'typing_extensions'.
• CI fails on this import while it works on your machine (stale lockfile or cached env).
• A library upgrade started requiring a newer typing_extensions.

Not for

• Other typing_extensions import errors; the fix depends on which name is missing.
• Runtime type errors in test assertions; this is purely an import-time version problem.
• Vendored or forked copies of typing_extensions; check your import path first.

Steps

1. Check the installed version: run python -c "import typing_extensions; print(typing_extensions.__version__)". Expected output: a version number; if it is older than the release that introduced typealiastype, that is the cause.
2. Upgrade in the failing environment: run pip install -U typing_extensions (or the equivalent for your package manager) and re-run the import. Expected output: the import succeeds with no ImportError.
3. If the upgrade does not stick, find who pins it: run pip show typing_extensions and check which package requires the old version, then look at your lockfile. Expected output: the conflicting dependent identified; the fix is to bump that dependent or loosen its pin.
4. Reproduce the CI environment locally: delete the venv or container layer cache and reinstall from the lockfile, then run the test suite. Expected output: the same failure locally, proving it is a dependency problem, not a machine problem.
5. Pin defensively: add typing_extensions>=[the version that introduced typealiastype] to your test requirements so CI cannot regress. Expected output: future installs always satisfy the import.

Provenance

(appended by publisher)

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_vb2LSwdhrHUYNVWmm1n5Ow

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_vb2LSwdhrHUYNVWmm1n5Ow

Thread query: cannot import name 'typealiastype' from 'typing_extensions'

TL;DR: typealiastype was added to typing_extensions in a specific release, so this ImportError means the installed version is too old for the code importing it. Upgrade with pip install -U typing_extensions (or bump the pin in your lockfile) and confirm the importing package's minimum version. If the pin is held back by another dependency, that conflict is the real bug.

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Confirmed workarounds: pin pydantic==1.10.11 with typingextensions==4.7.0, or upgrade to pydantic>=2.5.0 with typingextensions>=4.6.0 and restart the kernel.

Steps

1. What was reported:

Issue openai/openai-python#816 (closed, 21 comments): ### Confirm this is an issue with the Python library and not an underlying OpenAI API

2. - [X] This is an issue with the Python library
3. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

ImportError Traceback (most recent call last)
Cell In[38], line 1
----> 1 import openai
 2 import os
 4 opai.api_key value [redacted]

4. File D:\Anaconda\envs\py38\lib\site-packages\openai\__init__.py:8
 5 import os as _os
 6 from typing_extensions import override
----> 8 from . import types
 9...

5. What works:
[Marwen94 (commenter)]: The TypeAliasType import error when importing openai comes from a typing_extensions/pydantic version mismatch. Confirmed workarounds: pin pydantic==1.10.11 with typing_extensions==4.7.0, or upgrade to pydantic>=2.5.0 with typing_extensions>=4.6.0 and restart the kernel.

## When to use

You are seeing this: What was reported: Issue openai/openai-python#816 (closed, 21 comments): ### Confirm this is an issue with the Python library and not an underlying OpenAI API - [X] This is an issue with the Python library Use this skill when you run into "Error "cannot import name 'TypeAliasType' from 'typing_extensions'" when importing openai just after installation".

## When not to use

If your error message or symptom does not match what is described above, this is probably not your fix. Search for your exact error text instead of forcing this one to fit.

## Versions

Versions mentioned in the source: pydantic 1.10.11, typing_extensions 4.7.0, pydantic 2.5.0, typing_extensions 4.6.0. If you are on something much newer or older, the details may have shifted.

## Why this happens

The original report does not dig into a root cause. It documents the symptom and the fix that resolved it.

In the GitHub issue, the reporter asked: Error "cannot import name 'TypeAliasType' from 'typingextensions'" when importing openai just after installation. The working answer that came out of the thread: [Marwen94 (commenter)]: The TypeAliasType import error when importing openai comes from a typingextensions/pydantic version mismatch. Confirmed workarounds: pin pydantic==1.10.11 with typingextensions==4.7.0, or upgrade to pydantic>=2.5.0 with typingextensions>=4.6.0 and restart the kernel. Source: https://github.com/openai/openai-python/issues/816

Not specified by the original author.

Short answer: you are running Python older than 3.12. Either upgrade the interpreter to 3.12+, or import override from typingextensions instead of typing. `` ImportError: cannot import name 'override' from 'typing' 1. Confirm the interpreter: python --version. Anything below 3.12 explains the error completely; no package install adds names to the stdlib typing module. Expected: you know which side of 3.12 you are on. 2. Fix for your own code on older Python: install the backport with python -m pip install typingextensions (4.5.0 or newer carries override) and change the import to from typingextensions import override`. A version-portable pattern is a try block that imports from typing first and falls back to typingextensions. Expected: the module imports and the decorator works identically; type checkers accept either source. 3. Fix when the failing import is inside a library you installed: upgrade that library, or upgrade typingextensions, since several packages (the OpenAI Python SDK among them) import override from typingextensions and fail the same way when an old typingextensions shadows the new one. Check with `python -m pip show typingextensions` and upgrade it, then restart the process or notebook kernel. 4. Fix by upgrading Python: move the environment to 3.12+ and keep the typing import as written. In a virtualenv that means recreating the env with the new interpreter and reinstalling dependencies, not just installing a second Python alongside. Root cause: override was standardized by PEP 698 and added to typing in 3.12. On earlier versions the name simply is not there, so the import fails at module load regardless of what else is installed, unless the code uses the typingextensions backport. When to use: ImportError for override on Python 3.8 to 3.11, in your code or in a freshly installed library. When NOT to use: on Python 3.12+ this exact import works; if it still fails there, you are not running the interpreter you think you are (check sys.executable) or a local file named typing.py is shadowing the stdlib module. Variant phrasings: "importerror cannot import name override from typing python 3.11", "typing override import error", "cannot import name override from typingextensions". Edge cases: in Databricks and hosted notebooks the preinstalled typing_extensions is often old; upgrade it in the cluster or notebook and restart before concluding the fix failed. The decorator is a no-op at runtime; all enforcement comes from type checkers such as mypy and pyright.

Context: typing.override, the decorator from PEP 698 that marks a method as intentionally overriding a base-class method, only exists in the standard library from Python 3.12 onward. Code written on 3.12 or newer (or a library that assumes it) fails with this ImportError on Python 3.11 and earlier. Before 3.12 the same decorator lives in the typing_extensions backport package, which is where code supporting older Pythons is supposed to import it from.

Source: typing.override, the decorator from PEP 698 that marks a method as intentionally overriding a base-class method, only exists in the standard library from Python 3.12 onward. Code written on 3.12 or newer (or a library that assumes it) fails with this ImportError on Python 3.11 and earlier. Before 3.12 the same decorator lives in the typing_extensions backport package, which is where code supporting older Pythons is supposed to import it from.

Verified resolution: Short answer: you are running Python older than 3.12. Either upgrade the interpreter to 3.12+, or import override from typingextensions instead of typing. `` ImportError: cannot import name 'override' from 'typing' 1. Confirm the interpreter: python --version. Anything below 3.12 explains the error completely; no package install adds names to the stdlib typing module. Expected: you know which side of 3.12 you are on. 2. Fix for your own code on older Python: install the backport with python -m pip install typingextensions (4.5.0 or newer carries override) and change the import to from typingextensions import override`. A version-portable pattern is a try block that imports from typing first and falls back to typingextensions. Expected: the module imports and the decorator works identically; type checkers accept either source. 3. Fix when the failing import is inside a library you installed: upgrade that library, or upgrade typingextensions, since several packages (the OpenAI Python SDK among them) import override from typingextensions and fail the same way when an old typingextensions shadows the new one. Check with `python -m pip show typingextensions` and upgrade it, then restart the process or notebook kernel. 4. Fix by upgrading Python: move the environment to 3.12+ and keep the typing import as written. In a virtualenv that means recreating the env with the new interpreter and reinstalling dependencies, not just installing a second Python alongside. Root cause: override was standardized by PEP 698 and added to typing in 3.12. On earlier versions the name simply is not there, so the import fails at module load regardless of what else is installed, unless the code uses the typingextensions backport. When to use: ImportError for override on Python 3.8 to 3.11, in your code or in a freshly installed library. When NOT to use: on Python 3.12+ this exact import works; if it still fails there, you are not running the interpreter you think you are (check sys.executable) or a local file named typing.py is shadowing the stdlib module. Variant phrasings: "importerror cannot import name override from typing python 3.11", "typing override import error", "cannot import name override from typingextensions". Edge cases: in Databricks and hosted notebooks the preinstalled typing_extensions is often old; upgrade it in the cluster or notebook and restart before concluding the fix failed. The decorator is a no-op at runtime; all enforcement comes from type checkers such as mypy and pyright.

Source URL: https://realpython.com/python312-typing