parsel is not installed in the running Python. Run `python -m pip install parsel` and the import works. If it still fails, `pip` and `python` are different installations, so the `python -m pip` spelling matters.

## The error

```text
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'parsel'
```

## Fix it

1. **Install parsel**

```
python -m pip install parsel
```
Expected: `Successfully installed parsel-...` with w3lib, lxml, and cssselect.

2. **Confirm**

```
python -c "from parsel import Selector; print(Selector('hi').xpath('string()').get())"
```
Expected: prints `hi`.

3. **If it still fails, check the interpreter split**

```
python --version
pip --version
```
Expected: matching paths. Redo step 1 with `python -m pip` if they differ.

## When this applies

- any parsel import fails naming `parsel`
- a fresh env, container, or CI runner
- you installed Scrapy but use parsel standalone elsewhere

## When it does NOT apply

- `No module named 'w3lib'` / `'lxml'` mean parsel is there but a dependency is not
- Scrapy-only users get parsel transitively; this is for direct parsel use

## Compatibility

parsel 1.x, Python 3.8+. Note parsel is also the selector engine inside Scrapy, so Scrapy installs already include it.

## Why it happens

The package was never installed into the active interpreter. People hit this most often when a script runs under a different Python than the one they pip-installed into (system vs venv vs IDE-managed).

## Edge cases

- Inside a Scrapy project you do not need to install parsel separately. If the import fails there anyway, the env itself is broken, not the package list.
- Older tutorials `pip install parsel-selector`. The package was renamed to `parsel` long ago; install the current name.