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Kernel error on Python 3.13

  • Updated

■What happens?

As of December 17, 2025, we have confirmed an issue where the kernel fails to start under certain conditions only in Python 3.13 environments.

Figure: Status after selecting Python 3.13 and performing a kernel restart

 

■Why did this error occur?

This issue is likely caused by installing a specific library (presumably pathlib), which causes an error when loading the library, preventing the kernel from starting properly.

When this issue occurs, the pip command also fails to execute.

Figure: Error that occurs when running pip list

 

■How to fix

This issue can be resolved by uninstalling pathlib, which is believed to be the cause of the problem, or resetting the environment.

  1. Uninstall pathlib. 
    1. Delete the pathlib file that is causing the issue with the command from terminal (since pip operations are not available at this point).
      rm -rf /home/jovyan/.py313/lib/python3.13/site-packages/pathlib.py
    2. Evoke virtual environment
      use_venv python313
    3. Uninstall pathlib
      pip uninstall pathlib
  2. Restart the kernel
    Reset the Python environment from the Dashboard. Details shown here.

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