[Bug]: Docker build fails at runtime with "No module named pip" due to non-portable venv

[yesidc]

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RAGFlow workspace code commit ID

#4471

RAGFlow image version

v0.23.1

Other environment information

Actual behavior

The Docker container fails to start during the execution of entrypoint.sh. The logs show a fatal Python error: /ragflow/.venv/bin/python3: No module named pip.

This error is triggered within the ensure_docling function in entrypoint.sh when it attempts to run the command:

uv pip install ... "docling${DOCLING_PIN}"

The container starts successfully if this block is bypassed by setting the environment variable USE_DOCLING=false

Root Cause Analysis

The core issue stems from the combination of two factors in the Dockerfile:

1. Migration to uv sync: The builder stage now uses uv sync to install Python dependencies. By design, uv sync creates a minimal, production-focused environment and does not install pip or other package management tools by default.

2. Non-Portable Virtual Environment: The production stage copies the entire virtual environment from the builder stage.

Therefore, any command executed at runtime in the final container that attempts to use pip (including the uv pip install wrapper) will fail because the module is not present in the environment. This issue was likely introduced after migrating from poetry (which included pip in its environments) to uv sync.

Expected behavior

It should be able to install python dependencies from entrypoint.sh

Steps to reproduce

set `USE_DOCLING=true`

Additional information

No response

[dosubot]

This is a known issue in RAGFlow v0.23.1 and v0.23.0: the Docker image fails at runtime with "No module named pip" because the builder stage uses uv sync to create a minimal Python 3.12 environment that does not include pip or ensurepip. The production image copies this virtual environment, so any runtime command that needs pip (like uv pip install in ensure_docling) will fail. Setting USE_DOCLING=false bypasses the error, but doesn't fix the missing pip problem. Multiple users and maintainers have confirmed this root cause and the lack of an official workaround in the Dockerfile as of these versions. Suggested workarounds are to use a full Python 3.12 build with pip/ensurepip, manually inject pip into the venv after creation, or revert to Python 3.11 until a fix lands. The issue is tracked and discussed in detail here: #12187, #12440.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[Magicbook1108]

check #12440