ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'jmespath'

TL;DR: botocore requires the jmespath package and your environment does not have it, usually because of a partial install or a stripped-down packaging step. Run pip install jmespath, or force-reinstall botocore, and the import works.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'jmespath'

Fix it

1. Install the missing dependency: pip install jmespath. Expected: Successfully installed jmespath.
2. If it still fails, force-reinstall botocore so its dependency metadata is honored: pip install --force-reinstall botocore. Expected: botocore and its deps reinstall cleanly.
3. Verify: python -c "import boto3; print(boto3.version)". Expected: a version number, no traceback.
4. If you build Lambda zips or Docker images by copying site-packages by hand, switch to pip install -t so dependencies come along.

When this applies

• The traceback is exactly No module named 'jmespath' when importing boto3 or botocore.

When it doesn't

• The missing module is something else: install that module instead.
• pip install boto3 itself fails: that is a network/index problem, not this.

Compatibility

• boto3/botocore any version; jmespath >= 0.7.

Why it happens

jmespath is a hard dependency of botocore (used for response parsing). Normal pip installs pull it in, but manual site-packages copies, some minimal Docker layers, and --no-deps installs leave it out.

Edge cases

• Pinned old jmespath with new botocore is fine; the requirement is loose.
• If you used pip install --no-deps anywhere in your build, audit for other missing deps too (python-dateutil, urllib3).

Reported in GitHub (gh:huggingface/text-generation-inference#2669): ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'jmespath' (huggingface/text-generation-inference#2669). The verified fix: Asked on Stack Overflow by developers whose boto3 import crashed on jmespath even after pip install boto3. The verified answer: the install was incomplete or a packaging tool dropped the dependency, so pip install jmespath (or force-reinstall botocore) restores it. Source: the linked Stack Overflow thread. Source: https://github.com/huggingface/text-generation-inference/issues/2669 Thread ref: gh:huggingface/text-generation-inference#2669