[Bug]: pip._vendor.pyproject_hooks._impl.BackendUnavailable: Cannot import 'setuptools.build_meta'
Author: royaldarkCreated Oct 27, 2025Updated Jul 29, 2026
Labelsbug-report
Checklist
- The issue exists after disabling all extensions
- The issue exists on a clean installation of webui
- The issue is caused by an extension, but I believe it is caused by a bug in the webui
- The issue exists in the current version of the webui
- The issue has not been reported before recently
- The issue has been reported before but has not been fixed yet
What happened?
run.bat fails while installing Clip with message pip._vendor.pyproject_hooks._impl.BackendUnavailable: Cannot import 'setuptools.build_meta'. Fresh install of webui.
Steps to reproduce the problem
Download webui, run update.bat, then run.bat
What should have happened?
It should run
What browsers do you use to access the UI ?
No response
Sysinfo
Python 3.10.6 (tags/v3.10.6:9c7b4bd, Aug 1 2022, 21:53:49) [MSC v.1932 64 bit (AMD64)] Version: v1.10.1 Commit hash: 82a973c04367123ae98bd9abdf80d9eda9b910e2
Console logs
Installing clip
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\webui\launch.py", line 48, in <module>
main()
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\webui\launch.py", line 39, in main
prepare_environment()
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\webui\modules\launch_utils.py", line 394, in prepare_environment
run_pip(f"install {clip_package}", "clip")
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\webui\modules\launch_utils.py", line 144, in run_pip
return run(f'"{python}" -m pip {command} --prefer-binary{index_url_line}', desc=f"Installing {desc}", errdesc=f"Couldn't install {desc}", live=live)
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\webui\modules\launch_utils.py", line 116, in run
raise RuntimeError("\n".join(error_bits))
RuntimeError: Couldn't install clip.
Command: "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\python.exe" -m pip install https://github.com/openai/CLIP/archive/d50d76daa670286dd6cacf3bcd80b5e4823fc8e1.zip --prefer-binary
Error code: 2
stdout: Collecting https://github.com/openai/CLIP/archive/d50d76daa670286dd6cacf3bcd80b5e4823fc8e1.zip
Using cached https://github.com/openai/CLIP/archive/d50d76daa670286dd6cacf3bcd80b5e4823fc8e1.zip (4.3 MB)
Installing build dependencies: started
Installing build dependencies: finished with status 'done'
Getting requirements to build wheel: started
Getting requirements to build wheel: finished with status 'done'
stderr: ERROR: Exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\cli\base_command.py", line 107, in _run_wrapper
status = _inner_run()
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\cli\base_command.py", line 98, in _inner_run
return self.run(options, args)
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\cli\req_command.py", line 85, in wrapper
return func(self, options, args)
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\commands\install.py", line 388, in run
requirement_set = resolver.resolve(
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\resolution\resolvelib\resolver.py", line 79, in resolve
collected = self.factory.collect_root_requirements(root_reqs)
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\resolution\resolvelib\factory.py", line 538, in collect_root_requirements
reqs = list(
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\resolution\resolvelib\factory.py", line 494, in _make_requirements_from_install_req
cand = self._make_base_candidate_from_link(
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\resolution\resolvelib\factory.py", line 226, in _make_base_candidate_from_link
self._link_candidate_cache[link] = LinkCandidate(
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\resolution\resolvelib\candidates.py", line 318, in __init__
super().__init__(
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\resolution\resolvelib\candidates.py", line 161, in __init__
self.dist = self._prepare()
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\resolution\resolvelib\candidates.py", line 238, in _prepare
dist = self._prepare_distribution()
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\resolution\resolvelib\candidates.py", line 329, in _prepare_distribution
return preparer.prepare_linked_requirement(self._ireq, parallel_builds=True)
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\operations\prepare.py", line 543, in prepare_linked_requirement
return self._prepare_linked_requirement(req, parallel_builds)
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\operations\prepare.py", line 658, in _prepare_linked_requirement
dist = _get_prepared_distribution(
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\operations\prepare.py", line 77, in _get_prepared_distribution
abstract_dist.prepare_distribution_metadata(
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\distributions\sdist.py", line 55, in prepare_distribution_metadata
self._install_build_reqs(build_env_installer)
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\distributions\sdist.py", line 132, in _install_build_reqs
build_reqs = self._get_build_requires_wheel()
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\distributions\sdist.py", line 107, in _get_build_requires_wheel
return backend.get_requires_for_build_wheel()
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\\\utils\misc.py", line 694, in get_requires_for_build_wheel
return super().get_requires_for_build_wheel(config_settings=cs)
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\lib\site-packages\pip\_vendor\pyproject_hooks\_impl.py", line 196, in get_requires_for_build_wheel
return self._call_hook(
File "C:\Users\josep\Downloads\sd.webui\system\python\lib\site-packages\pip\_vendor\pyproject_hooks\_impl.py", line 402, in _call_hook
raise BackendUnavailable(
pip._vendor.pyproject_hooks._impl.BackendUnavailable: Cannot import 'setuptools.build_meta'
Additional information
No response
Source: AUTOMATIC1111/stable-diffusion-webui