`PyImport_CreateModuleFromInitfunc()`: wrong `__name__` for submodules, non-ASCII names rejected, inittab name clashes
Nobody has claimed this yet.
- Dominant language
- Python
- Stars
- 77.2k
- Forks
- 35.9k
- PR merge metrics
- PR metrics pending
Description
Bug report
Bug description:
Since PyImport_CreateModuleFromInitfunc() was added (in 3.15, gh-116146), I ran into some issues from real world use internally at Meta (with 3.15+, as well as our 3.14 fork, which has this backported). Collected here as a single issue for convenience - let me know if splitting is preferred.
The API is built on the internal create_builtin() helper, and inherits a few inittab behaviors that don't make sense for an explicitly-passed init function.
- Single-phase submodules get the short name. The package context is never set while
initfuncruns, so a single-phase init that creates its module assub(what pybind11'sPYBIND11_MODULE(sub, m)does) ends up with__name__ == 'sub'while the spec sayspkg.sub. The original impl handled that, but it was lost somewhere on the way. - Non-ASCII spec names raise
UnicodeEncodeError, even for multi-phase modules, which the dynamic loader accepts. - Names registered in
PyImport_Inittabare handled silently. Depending on the state of the builtin,initfuncis ignored, or the module created here replaces the builtin for later imports, or (multi-phase builtin)initfunc's module overwrites the real one insys.modules.sysandbuiltinsfall in the first bucket. - Undocumented semantics. Single-phase modules are added to
sys.modulesby the call itself, multi-phase ones aren't. The spec name is the module's identity, so a second call with the same name and a differentinitfuncreturns the cached module and never calls the new function.
The existing test only covers one top-level single-phase and one top-level multi-phase module, so none of this was caught.
AI disclosure: I ran into the first issue in production, used Claude Opus 5 and Fable 5.1 to root cause, which flagged the other issues while investigating. Fable 5.1 prepared the fixes.
Demo output before any fix:
pkg.sub: repr=<module 'sub'> __name__=sub
non-ASCII name: UnicodeEncodeError: 'ascii' codec can't encode character '\xf6'
same name, initfunc B after A: which=A calls_a=1 calls_b=0
'_random' via custom initfunc, then `import _random`: <module 'same'> hasattr(Random)=False
Tests demonstrating all of the above: https://github.com/itamaro/cpython/tree/gh-116146-initfunc-tests-only
Plan
One PR each:
- Set the package context while calling
initfunc, like the dynamic loader does (1) - Accept non-ASCII names for multi-phase init; single-phase gets the same
SystemErroras dynamic loading (2) - Raise
ImportErrorfor names registered inPyImport_Inittab(3) - Document the
sys.modulesand name-identity behavior (4)
CPython versions tested on:
CPython main branch, 3.15
Operating systems tested on:
Linux, macOS
Linked PRs
- gh-157387
- gh-157388
- gh-157389
- gh-157390
- gh-157758
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start with PyImport_CreateModuleFromInitfunc(), the existing tests for top-level single- and multi-phase modules, and the linked gh-116146-initfunc-tests-only test branch. Compare its behavior with PyImport_Inittab and the dynamic loader. Done means the four checklist items are addressed, including documented sys.modules and name-identity semantics; linked PRs gh-157387 through gh-157390 and gh-157758 show work is already underway.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- backend
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 25/100