ImportError: cannot import name 'FeatherReader' from 'pyarrow.feather'

TL;DR: your pyscenic is too old for your pyarrow. pyarrow removed FeatherReader, so upgrade pyscenic to a compatible release, or pin an older pyarrow.

The error

ImportError: cannot import name 'FeatherReader' from 'pyarrow.feather'

Fix it

1. Upgrade pyscenic:

   pip install -U pyscenic

   Expected: installs a release that works with your pyarrow.

2. Verify:

   python -c "import pyscenic; print('ok')"

   Expected: imports cleanly.

3. Workaround if you cannot upgrade pyscenic: pin pyarrow to a version that still ships FeatherReader:

   pip install "pyarrow<8"

   Expected: the old class exists again.

When this applies

Use this when import pyscenic raises this error with a recent pyarrow.

When it does not apply

If your own code uses FeatherReader, switch to pyarrow.feather.readfeather / readtable instead. If pyscenic is current, reinstall it.

Compatibility

pyscenic releases before the pyarrow-compat fix; pyarrow 8+ where FeatherReader is gone.

Root cause

FeatherReader was an internal class in pyarrow.feather that pyarrow removed during API cleanup. pyscenic imported it directly, so the removal broke pyscenic at import time.

Edge cases

Pinning old pyarrow can break pandas parquet IO that wants new pyarrow; upgrading pyscenic is the cleaner path. Check the pyscenic changelog for the minimum version supporting your pyarrow.

GitHub issue aertslab/pyscenic#164 reports ImportError: cannot import name 'FeatherReader' from 'pyarrow.feather' with a modern pyarrow installed. The verified resolution: FeatherReader was removed from pyarrow.feather, so old pyscenic broke at import; the fix is upgrading pyscenic to a release compatible with modern pyarrow (or pinning an older pyarrow as a workaround). Full thread: https://github.com/aertslab/pyscenic/issues/164