Add an experiment to disable pip build isolation by shunping · Pull Request #37331 · apache/beam

shunping · 2026-01-16T19:18:59Z

Background:

Pip 25.3 removed non-PEP 517 package build support(https://discuss.python.org/t/announcement-pip-25-3-release/104550), meaning that by default installing a source distribution will first build the wheel in an isolated environment and then install the wheel.

Some users reported problems when using Beam Python SDK docker container in an environment that have no internet access, because building the wheel requires downloading pacakages from pip.

Solution:

This PR proposes an experiment option pip_no_build_isolation to disable build isolation when installing package with pip.

Affected users can do either of the following options:

Install pip==25.2 in their pipeline runtime environment.
If the customer uses the pipeline setup file and a custom container, they can install their pipeline package in the container directly. See an example that follows this suggestion.
Upgrade to Beam 2.72.0 and provide the --experiments=pip_no_build_isolation pipeline option (added in this PR) . When this experiment is used, we will append --no-build-isolation to the pip install command.

Internal bug id: 475376468

…ar to enable it if needed.

gemini-code-assist · 2026-01-16T19:19:15Z

Summary of Changes

Hello @shunping, I'm Gemini Code Assist¹! I'm currently reviewing this pull request and will post my feedback shortly. In the meantime, here's a summary to help you and other reviewers quickly get up to speed!

This pull request modifies the Python container's boot logic to adjust how Python packages are installed, specifically targeting workflow tarballs. The primary goal is to disable pip's build isolation feature by default for these installations, which can sometimes cause issues or overhead. To maintain configurability, an environment variable has been added, allowing users to easily re-enable build isolation if their specific workflow requires it. This change provides a more controlled and potentially more efficient installation environment for Python workflows.

Highlights

Default Build Isolation Change: Build isolation for workflow tarball installations is now disabled by default, aiming to streamline the installation process.
Environment Variable for Override: An environment variable, USE_BUILD_ISOLATION_FOR_WORKFLOW, has been introduced. Setting this variable will re-enable build isolation for workflow tarball installations, providing flexibility for specific use cases.
Refactored pipInstallPackage: The pipInstallPackage function now accepts a useBuildIsolation boolean parameter, allowing explicit control over whether the --no-build-isolation flag is passed to pip install commands. Other pip install calls (for extra packages and SDK) explicitly enable build isolation.

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shunping · 2026-01-16T19:19:54Z

R: @tvalentyn

github-actions · 2026-01-16T19:20:58Z

Stopping reviewer notifications for this pull request: review requested by someone other than the bot, ceding control. If you'd like to restart, comment assign set of reviewers

sdks/python/container/piputil.go

tvalentyn · 2026-01-20T13:47:05Z

Thought a bit more about this, people who use --extra_package might also be affected by pip forcing build isolation. I'll run some queries to see usage patterns.

shunping · 2026-01-20T20:47:12Z

Thought a bit more about this, people who use --extra_package might also be affected by pip forcing build isolation. I'll run some queries to see usage patterns.

Good point. Given build isolation primarily affects non-wheel packages, users passing source tarballs / zip files through --extra_package could definitely see the same problem here.

…ment to control.

tvalentyn · 2026-01-22T19:50:21Z

sdks/python/container/boot.go

 	}

+	pipNoBuildIsolation = false
+	if strings.Contains(options, "pip_no_build_isolation") {


should we make the check more narrow (e.g. to find experiments, and check the experiments) instead of finding substrings in the entire blob of options? I worry this pattern might be repeated in some other context where it might cause a collision.

Sure, please see the latest commit.

However, I should note that the previous method is already used in a few other boot.go files. For example:

beam/sdks/java/container/boot.go

Line 147 in 672b888

if strings.Contains(options, "use_custom_logging_libraries") {

beam/sdks/go/container/boot.go

Line 209 in 52b9910

enableGoogleCloudProfiler := strings.Contains(options, enableGoogleCloudProfilerOption)

shunping · 2026-01-27T23:47:58Z

Verified the new feature using a custom container

tvalentyn · 2026-02-02T20:32:39Z

sdks/python/container/boot.go

 		logger.Fatalf(ctx, "Failed to convert pipeline options: %v", err)
 	}

+	experiments := getExperiments(options)


do you think there might be a better home for the getExperiments helper than boot.go?

maybe in github.com/apache/beam/sdks/v2/go/pkg/beam/util/optionsx ?

Overtime people might add other helpers like this

beam/sdks/python/apache_beam/options/pipeline_options.py

Line 1573 in 953f70c

def lookup_experiment(self, key, default=None):

, and use it in other boot.go files.

Sure. Let's do that in a separate PR. We will do another round of refactoring on other boot.go in there.

On a second thought, I think we may put that into https://github.com/apache/beam/blob/master/sdks/go/container/tools/pipeline_options.go.

The parsing of pipeline options in json format seems to be only used in boot.go for different SDKs.

tvalentyn · 2026-02-02T20:37:26Z

LGTM, thank you!

tvalentyn · 2026-02-11T00:17:17Z

@shunping Could you please add a note to CHANGES.md with your improvement, as well as 'BREAKING CHANGE' note to the release that upgraded pip to alert that people might see certain errors? Thanks!

shunping · 2026-02-13T19:55:13Z

@shunping Could you please add a note to CHANGES.md with your improvement, as well as 'BREAKING CHANGE' note to the release that upgraded pip to alert that people might see certain errors? Thanks!

Sure. Sent out #37599.

Disable build isolation for workflow tarball by default. Add an env v…

7b9931e

…ar to enable it if needed.

github-actions bot added python docker labels Jan 16, 2026

tvalentyn approved these changes Jan 16, 2026

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sdks/python/container/piputil.go Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

tvalentyn mentioned this pull request Jan 16, 2026

Fix PostCommit Python Arm job #35962

Merged

3 tasks

Apply build isolation setting to all pip install commands. Use experi…

42768bd

…ment to control.

shunping changed the title ~~Disable build isolation for workflow tarball by default~~ Add an experiment to disable pip build isolation Jan 21, 2026

tvalentyn reviewed Jan 22, 2026

View reviewed changes

Only search experiment in experiment options.

a6ece8d

shunping requested a review from tvalentyn January 27, 2026 23:50

Merge branch 'master' into workflow-build-isolation

7de2527

tvalentyn reviewed Feb 2, 2026

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shunping merged commit 7052f01 into apache:master Feb 2, 2026
107 of 111 checks passed

shunping mentioned this pull request Feb 13, 2026

Update CHANGES.md for PR 37331 #37599

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Summary of Changes

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shunping commented Jan 16, 2026 •

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