[Bug]: devcontainer setup failing

[csuich2]

Checklist

• I have updated to the latest available Frigate version.
• I have cleared the cache of my browser.
• I have tried a different browser to see if it is related to my browser.
• I have tried reproducing the issue in incognito mode to rule out problems with any third party extensions or plugins I have installed.
• I have asked the AI at https://docs.frigate.video about my issue.

Describe the problem you are having

I began setting up my dev environment to make some contributions by following the steps in contributing.md. My devcontainer is failing to build with the error below.

I'm not super familiar with Python's build ecosystem so I asked Copilot to investigate. This change did resolve the issue, but this doesn't look like a great change to me, but for reference: dev...csuich2:frigate:devcontainer-copilot-fix

I'm also not sure if creating a discussion is the right place to report this, but since creating issues is limited to feature suggestions this seemed more appropriate.

=> ERROR [wheels  6/11] RUN pip3 install -r /requirements.txt             4.8s
------
 > [wheels  6/11] RUN pip3 install -r /requirements.txt:
0.961 Collecting scikit-build==0.18.* (from -r /requirements.txt (line 1))
1.092   Downloading scikit_build-0.18.1-py3-none-any.whl.metadata (18 kB)
1.160 Collecting nvidia-pyindex (from -r /requirements.txt (line 2))
1.180   Downloading nvidia-pyindex-1.0.9.tar.gz (10 kB)
1.195   Installing build dependencies: started
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.912Z] 2.469   Installing build dependencies: finished with status 'done'
2.472   Getting requirements to build wheel: started
2.837   Getting requirements to build wheel: finished with status 'done'
2.841   Installing backend dependencies: started
3.651   Installing backend dependencies: finished with status 'done'
3.653   Preparing metadata (pyproject.toml): started
3.927   Preparing metadata (pyproject.toml): finished with status 'done'
3.964 Collecting distro (from scikit-build==0.18.*->-r /requirements.txt (line 1))
3.999   Downloading distro-1.9.0-py3-none-any.whl.metadata (6.8 kB)
4.059 Collecting packaging (from scikit-build==0.18.*->-r /requirements.txt (line 1))
4.129   Downloading packaging-25.0-py3-none-any.whl.metadata (3.3 kB)
4.141 Requirement already satisfied: setuptools>=42.0.0 in /usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages (from scikit-build==0.18.*->-r /requirements.txt (line 1)) (77.0.3)
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.912Z] 
4.142 Requirement already satisfied: wheel>=0.32.0 in /usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages (from scikit-build==0.18.*->-r /requirements.txt (line 1)) (0.45.1)
4.189 Downloading scikit_build-0.18.1-py3-none-any.whl (85 kB)
4.270 Downloading distro-1.9.0-py3-none-any.whl (20 kB)
4.295 Downloading packaging-25.0-py3-none-any.whl (66 kB)
4.314 Building wheels for collected packages: nvidia-pyindex
4.316   Building wheel for nvidia-pyindex (pyproject.toml): started
4.653   Building wheel for nvidia-pyindex (pyproject.toml): finished with status 'error'
4.668   error: subprocess-exited-with-error
4.668   
4.668   × Building wheel for nvidia-pyindex (pyproject.toml) did not run successfully.
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.912Z] 
4.668   │ exit code: 1
4.668   ╰─> [99 lines of output]
4.668       /tmp/pip-build-env-1pek14ly/overlay/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/setuptools/dist.py:759: SetuptoolsDeprecationWarning: License classifiers are deprecated.
4.668       !!
4.668       
4.668               ********************************************************************************
4.668               Please consider removing the following classifiers in favor of a SPDX license expression:
4.668       
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.912Z] 
4.668               License :: OSI Approved :: Apache Software License
4.668       
4.668               See https://packaging.python.org/en/latest/guides/writing-pyproject-toml/#license for details.
4.668               ********************************************************************************
4.668       
4.668       !!
4.668         self._finalize_license_expression()
4.668       running bdist_wheel
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.912Z] 4.668       running build
4.668       running build_py
4.668       creating build/lib/nvidia_pyindex
4.668       copying nvidia_pyindex/__init__.py -> build/lib/nvidia_pyindex
4.668       copying nvidia_pyindex/cmdline.py -> build/lib/nvidia_pyindex
4.668       copying nvidia_pyindex/utils.py -> build/lib/nvidia_pyindex
4.668       running egg_info
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.912Z] 4.668       writing nvidia_pyindex.egg-info/PKG-INFO
4.668       writing dependency_links to nvidia_pyindex.egg-info/dependency_links.txt
4.668       writing entry points to nvidia_pyindex.egg-info/entry_points.txt
4.668       writing top-level names to nvidia_pyindex.egg-info/top_level.txt
4.668       reading manifest file 'nvidia_pyindex.egg-info/SOURCES.txt'
4.668       reading manifest template 'MANIFEST.in'
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.912Z] 
4.668       adding license file 'LICENSE.md'
4.668       writing manifest file 'nvidia_pyindex.egg-info/SOURCES.txt'
4.668       installing to build/bdist.linux-x86_64/wheel
4.668       running install
4.668       %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
4.668       COMMAND: InstallCommand
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.912Z] 4.668       %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
4.668       Traceback (most recent call last):
4.668         File "/tmp/pip-install-8go11kym/nvidia-pyindex_019ef3c6db74485ebe92e5c3f21d3c2a/nvidia_pyindex/utils.py", line 20, in get_configuration_files
4.668           output = subprocess.check_output(command, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
4.668                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.912Z] 4.668         File "/usr/lib/python3.11/subprocess.py", line 466, in check_output
4.668           return run(*popenargs, stdout=PIPE, timeout=timeout, check=True,
4.668                  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4.668         File "/usr/lib/python3.11/subprocess.py", line 571, in run
4.668           raise CalledProcessError(retcode, process.args,
4.668       subprocess.CalledProcessError: Command '['/usr/bin/python3', '-c', 'from pip._internal.configuration import get_configuration_files; print(get_configuration_files())']' returned non-zero exit status 1.
4.668       
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.912Z] 
4.668       The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:
4.668       
4.668       Traceback (most recent call last):
4.668         File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/pip/_vendor/pyproject_hooks/_in_process/_in_process.py", line 389, in <module>
4.668           main()
4.668         File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/pip/_vendor/pyproject_hooks/_in_process/_in_process.py", line 373, in main
4.668           json_out["return_val"] = hook(**hook_input["kwargs"])
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.912Z] 
4.668                                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4.668         File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/pip/_vendor/pyproject_hooks/_in_process/_in_process.py", line 280, in build_wheel
4.668           return _build_backend().build_wheel(
4.668                  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4.668         File "/tmp/pip-build-env-1pek14ly/overlay/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/setuptools/build_meta.py", line 435, in build_wheel
4.668           return _build(['bdist_wheel', '--dist-info-dir', str(metadata_directory)])
4.668                  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4.668         File "/tmp/pip-build-env-1pek14ly/overlay/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/setuptools/build_meta.py", line 423, in _build
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.912Z] 
4.668           return self._build_with_temp_dir(
4.668                  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4.668         File "/tmp/pip-build-env-1pek14ly/overlay/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/setuptools/build_meta.py", line 404, in _build_with_temp_dir
4.668           self.run_setup()
4.668         File "/tmp/pip-build-env-1pek14ly/overlay/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/setuptools/build_meta.py", line 512, in run_setup
4.668           super().run_setup(setup_script=setup_script)
4.668         File "/tmp/pip-build-env-1pek14ly/overlay/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/setuptools/build_meta.py", line 317, in run_setup
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.912Z] 4.668           exec(code, locals())
4.668         File "<string>", line 238, in <module>
4.668         File "/tmp/pip-build-env-1pek14ly/overlay/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/setuptools/__init__.py", line 115, in setup
4.668           return distutils.core.setup(**attrs)
4.668                  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4.668         File "/tmp/pip-build-env-1pek14ly/overlay/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/setuptools/_distutils/core.py", line 186, in setup
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.912Z] 4.668           return run_commands(dist)
4.668                  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4.668         File "/tmp/pip-build-env-1pek14ly/overlay/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/setuptools/_distutils/core.py", line 202, in run_commands
4.668           dist.run_commands()
4.668         File "/tmp/pip-build-env-1pek14ly/overlay/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/setuptools/_distutils/dist.py", line 1002, in run_commands
4.668           self.run_command(cmd)
4.668         File "/tmp/pip-build-env-1pek14ly/overlay/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/setuptools/dist.py", line 1102, in run_command
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.912Z] 
4.668           super().run_command(command)
4.668         File "/tmp/pip-build-env-1pek14ly/overlay/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/setuptools/_distutils/dist.py", line 1021, in run_command
4.668           cmd_obj.run()
4.668         File "/tmp/pip-build-env-1pek14ly/overlay/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/setuptools/command/bdist_wheel.py", line 405, in run
4.668           self.run_command("install")
4.668         File "/tmp/pip-build-env-1pek14ly/overlay/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/setuptools/_distutils/cmd.py", line 357, in run_command
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.912Z] 
4.668           self.distribution.run_command(command)
4.668         File "/tmp/pip-build-env-1pek14ly/overlay/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/setuptools/dist.py", line 1102, in run_command
4.668           super().run_command(command)
4.668         File "/tmp/pip-build-env-1pek14ly/overlay/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/setuptools/_distutils/dist.py", line 1021, in run_command
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.912Z] 
4.668           cmd_obj.run()
4.668         File "<string>", line 172, in run
4.668         File "<string>", line 71, in _install_nvidia_pypi_index
4.668         File "/tmp/pip-install-8go11kym/nvidia-pyindex_019ef3c6db74485ebe92e5c3f21d3c2a/nvidia_pyindex/utils.py", line 24, in get_configuration_files
4.668           raise RuntimeError(output) from e
4.668       RuntimeError: Traceback (most recent call last):
4.668         File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
4.668       ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pip'
4.668       
4.668       [end of output]
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.912Z] 
4.668   
4.668   note: This error originates from a subprocess, and is likely not a problem with pip.
4.668   ERROR: Failed building wheel for nvidia-pyindex
4.669 Failed to build nvidia-pyindex
4.675 error: failed-wheel-build-for-install
4.675 
4.675 × Failed to build installable wheels for some pyproject.toml based projects
4.675 ╰─> nvidia-pyindex
------
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.923Z] failed to solve: process "/bin/sh -c pip3 install -r /requirements.txt" did not complete successfully: exit code: 1

[2025-10-25T16:06:37.932Z] Stop (12419 ms): Run: docker compose --project-name frigate -f /Users/chris/Source/frigate/docker-compose.yml -f /Users/chris/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers/data/docker-compose/docker-compose.devcontainer.build-1761408385512.yml build
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.934Z] Error: Command failed: docker compose --project-name frigate -f /Users/chris/Source/frigate/docker-compose.yml -f /Users/chris/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers/data/docker-compose/docker-compose.devcontainer.build-1761408385512.yml build
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.934Z]     at lw (/Users/chris/.vscode/extensions/ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers-0.427.0/dist/spec-node/devContainersSpecCLI.js:432:525)
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.934Z]     at async l6 (/Users/chris/.vscode/extensions/ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers-0.427.0/dist/spec-node/devContainersSpecCLI.js:432:2475)
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.934Z]     at async c6 (/Users/chris/.vscode/extensions/ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers-0.427.0/dist/spec-node/devContainersSpecCLI.js:412:3860)
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.934Z]     at async Y6 (/Users/chris/.vscode/extensions/ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers-0.427.0/dist/spec-node/devContainersSpecCLI.js:484:4015)
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.934Z]     at async BC (/Users/chris/.vscode/extensions/ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers-0.427.0/dist/spec-node/devContainersSpecCLI.js:484:4957)
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.935Z]     at async p7 (/Users/chris/.vscode/extensions/ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers-0.427.0/dist/spec-node/devContainersSpecCLI.js:665:202)
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.935Z]     at async d7 (/Users/chris/.vscode/extensions/ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers-0.427.0/dist/spec-node/devContainersSpecCLI.js:664:14804)
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.935Z]     at async /Users/chris/.vscode/extensions/ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers-0.427.0/dist/spec-node/devContainersSpecCLI.js:484:1188
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.945Z] Stop (15088 ms): Run: /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Frameworks/Code Helper (Plugin).app/Contents/MacOS/Code Helper (Plugin) /Users/chris/.vscode/extensions/ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers-0.427.0/dist/spec-node/devContainersSpecCLI.js up --user-data-folder /Users/chris/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers/data --container-session-data-folder /tmp/devcontainers-0238a9b7-6202-4146-9752-047f482cc73b1761408381121 --workspace-folder /Users/chris/Source/frigate --workspace-mount-consistency cached --gpu-availability detect --id-label devcontainer.local_folder=/Users/chris/Source/frigate --id-label devcontainer.config_file=/Users/chris/Source/frigate/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json --log-level debug --log-format json --config /Users/chris/Source/frigate/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json --default-user-env-probe loginInteractiveShell --mount type=volume,source=vscode,target=/vscode,external=true --skip-post-create --update-remote-user-uid-default on --mount-workspace-git-root --include-configuration --include-merged-configuration
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.946Z] Exit code 1
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.952Z] Command failed: /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Frameworks/Code Helper (Plugin).app/Contents/MacOS/Code Helper (Plugin) /Users/chris/.vscode/extensions/ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers-0.427.0/dist/spec-node/devContainersSpecCLI.js up --user-data-folder /Users/chris/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers/data --container-session-data-folder /tmp/devcontainers-0238a9b7-6202-4146-9752-047f482cc73b1761408381121 --workspace-folder /Users/chris/Source/frigate --workspace-mount-consistency cached --gpu-availability detect --id-label devcontainer.local_folder=/Users/chris/Source/frigate --id-label devcontainer.config_file=/Users/chris/Source/frigate/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json --log-level debug --log-format json --config /Users/chris/Source/frigate/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json --default-user-env-probe loginInteractiveShell --mount type=volume,source=vscode,target=/vscode,external=true --skip-post-create --update-remote-user-uid-default on --mount-workspace-git-root --include-configuration --include-merged-configuration
[2025-10-25T16:06:37.952Z] Exit code 1

(truncated due to log size)

Steps to reproduce

1. Fork frigate
2. Open in VSCode
3. Reopen in devcontainer
4. devcontainer build fails

Version

dev & master branch

In which browser(s) are you experiencing the issue with?

n/a

Frigate config file

n/a

docker-compose file or Docker CLI command

n/a

Relevant Frigate log output

n/a

Relevant go2rtc log output

n/a

Operating system

Other

Install method

Docker Compose

Network connection

Wired

Camera make and model

n/a

Screenshots of the Frigate UI's System metrics pages

n/a

Any other information that may be helpful

n/a

[inkeep-ai-assistant[bot]]

The devcontainer build is failing due to an issue with the nvidia-pyindex package during the pip installation step(1). The error shows:

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pip'

This occurs when nvidia-pyindex tries to access pip's internal configuration during its installation process(1).

Based on a similar issue in the discussion thread, here are the steps to resolve this:

1. Clean your environment first(1):

   git clean -fdx

2. Clone the repository in WSL2 (if you're on Windows/Mac)(1). The discussion indicates that devcontainers may not work properly when cloned directly on Windows(1).

3. Open in VSCode from WSL2(1):

   • Open the folder in VSCode
   • When prompted in the bottom right, select to reopen in devcontainer(1)

4. Wait for initialization(1):

   • Let the initialize.sh script complete(1)
   • Wait for post_create.sh to finish executing(1)

If you continue experiencing issues, the problem might be related to VS Code's updateRemoteUserUID not working correctly(1).

The discussion also mentions that after the container builds successfully, you'll need to run make version to generate the required version file before running Frigate(1).

For more help, visit GitHub.

📚 Sources:

1. [Support]: Dev-Container setup | s6-rc error

---

Have another question? Just tag @inkeep.

[csuich2]

1. This was a fresh clone of the repo.
2. I am using MacOS, so WSL is not an option.
3. See 2
4. Those scripts are run as part of the devcontainer setup lifecycle, not under my control.

[csuich2]

@inkeep see above

[hawkeye217]

This is a known issue with an upstream package that just started occurring within the last day and probably has to do with the version of pip, We plan to investigate later.

[hawkeye217]

This was from a successful build yesterday:

#46 2.520   DEPRECATION: Building 'nvidia-pyindex' using the legacy setup.py bdist_wheel mechanism, which will be removed in a future version. pip 25.3 will enforce this behaviour change. A possible replacement is to use the standardized build interface by setting the `--use-pep517` option, (possibly combined with `--no-build-isolation`), or adding a `pyproject.toml` file to the source tree of 'nvidia-pyindex'. Discussion can be found at https://github.com/pypa/pip/issues/6334

I haven't investigated yet, but maybe pip was updated and now the build for nvidia-pyindex is failing.

[blakeblackshear]

You can remove the dependency in requirements.txt for now and it should build.

[csuich2]

Yeah, that's what I'm doing in the mean time. Thanks for the quick, responses!!

[hawkeye217]

This should be fixed in #20666

[MingdongHe]

pip install pip==25.1 can fix

[inkeep-ai-assistant[bot]]

You're encountering a build failure in the nvidia-pyindex package during the devcontainer setup. Since you're on macOS and WSL2 isn't an option, here are alternative approaches:

The core issue is that nvidia-pyindex is failing to build because it cannot find pip's internal modules during its wheel-building process(1). This is a known compatibility issue with certain pip versions and the nvidia-pyindex package.

Potential Solutions:

1. Try using Docker Desktop's built-in virtualization instead of relying on devcontainer's default behavior. The documentation mentions that devcontainers should work on macOS with Docker Desktop properly configured(2).

2. Check your Docker Desktop settings:

   • Ensure Docker Desktop is running and properly configured
   • Verify you have sufficient resources allocated (memory, CPU)
   • Check that file sharing permissions are correctly set for your project directory

3. Temporarily remove the problematic dependency:
   Since the error occurs specifically with nvidia-pyindex, and you're likely not using NVIDIA hardware on macOS anyway, you could try commenting out line 2 in docker/main/requirements.txt (the nvidia-pyindex line) temporarily to see if the rest of the devcontainer builds successfully(2).

4. Use the standard devcontainer target instead of devcontainer-trt:
   The documentation shows that there are different build targets. The TRT (TensorRT) target specifically requires NVIDIA components. Make sure your docker-compose.yml is using target: devcontainer and not target: devcontainer-trt(2)(3).

5. Try building with a clean Docker cache:

   docker system prune -a

   Then try reopening in the devcontainer again.

If none of these work, you might need to wait for an upstream fix to the nvidia-pyindex package or consider developing outside of the devcontainer environment by manually installing dependencies on your macOS system following the prerequisites listed in the contributing documentation(2).

For additional support, visit GitHub.

📚 Sources:

1. [Support]: Dev-Container setup | s6-rc error
2. Contributing To The Main Code Base
3. [Support]: TRT Development environment/devcontainer fails to setup with "pull access denied" error

---

Have another question? Just tag @inkeep.

[Mosharaf456]

solution is:

--- Install base Python tools ---

RUN apt update &&
apt install -y --no-install-recommends
python3-pip
python3-setuptools
python3-wheel
wget &&
rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

--- Upgrade pip and wheel ---

RUN python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel --break-system-packages

--- Configure NVIDIA PyPI index manually ---

RUN python3 -m pip config set global.extra-index-url https://pypi.ngc.nvidia.com

--- Install main dependencies ---

COPY docker/main/requirements.txt /requirements.txt
RUN python3 -m pip install --no-cache-dir --break-system-packages -r /requirements.txt

--- Optional: Try installing nvidia-pyindex from specific release ---

RUN wget https://github.com/NVIDIA/nvidia-pyindex/archive/refs/tags/v1.0.9.tar.gz -O nvidia-pyindex.tar.gz &&
tar -xzf nvidia-pyindex.tar.gz &&
cd nvidia-pyindex-1.0.9 &&
python3 -m pip install . --no-build-isolation --break-system-packages &&
cd .. &&
rm -rf nvidia-pyindex-1.0.9 nvidia-pyindex.tar.gz ||
echo "nvidia-pyindex installation failed, but NVIDIA repository is already configured"