ImportError: cannot import name '_centered' from 'scipy.signal.signaltools'

TL;DR: your kats version imports a private scipy helper (_centered) that newer scipy removed. Upgrade kats to a release that no longer uses it, or pin scipy to an older version as a workaround.

The error

ImportError: cannot import name '_centered' from 'scipy.signal.signaltools'

Fix it

1. Upgrade kats:

   pip install -U kats

   Expected: installs a kats release fixed for modern scipy.

2. Verify:

   python -c "import kats; print(kats.__version__)"

   Expected: imports cleanly.

3. Workaround if you cannot upgrade kats: pin scipy to a version that still ships the private helper:

   pip install "scipy<1.11"

   Expected: the old import path works again.

When this applies

Use this when import kats raises this error and scipy is recent.

When it does not apply

If your own code imports _centered, copy the tiny helper into your project instead of depending on scipy internals. If kats is already current, reinstall it.

Compatibility

kats releases before the scipy-compat fix; scipy 1.11+ where the private helper is gone.

Root cause

_centered was a private (underscore-prefixed) helper inside scipy.signal.signaltools, never public API. scipy removed it during cleanup, and kats imported it directly, so kats broke at import time on new scipy.

Edge cases

Pinning old scipy can break other packages that need new scipy; upgrading kats is the durable fix. Private-name imports (leading underscore) are always at risk; treat any of them as a bug in the importing package.

GitHub issue facebookresearch/kats#340 reports ImportError: cannot import name 'centered' from 'scipy.signal.signaltools' when importing kats with a modern scipy. The verified resolution: centered was a private scipy helper that scipy removed, so kats had to stop importing it; the fix is upgrading kats to a release that no longer uses the private name (or patching the import locally as a workaround). Full thread: https://github.com/facebookresearch/kats/issues/340