ImportError: cannot import name 'xxx' after upgrading Streamlit

When you encounter an ImportError: cannot import name 'xxx' immediately after upgrading Streamlit, it is usually because the new version has removed, renamed, or relocated that specific function or class. This is frequently seen during major version jumps where internal APIs are refactored or deprecated features are finally stripped out.

Identifying the Root Cause

The most likely cause is a breaking change in the Streamlit API. For example, older versions of Streamlit used st.cache, now replaced by st.cache_data and st.cache_resource. If your code or a third-party dependency relies on the old name, the upgrade will cause the import to fail because the symbol no longer exists in the module namespace.

Steps to Restore Stability

To recover your environment and fix the error, follow these steps:

1. Identify the version: Determine which version you upgraded from and which version you are currently on.

   pip show streamlit

2. Rollback immediate fix: If you need the app to run immediately, downgrade to the last known stable version:

   pip install streamlit==[previous_version_number]

3. Audit your imports: Search your codebase for the failing name xxx. Check the Streamlit release notes for that specific version jump to find the replacement.
4. Update dependencies: If the error originates from within a library (e.g., a custom Streamlit component), you must upgrade that specific library to a version compatible with the new Streamlit API.

To provide a specific code replacement for xxx, what is the exact name of the failing import and which Streamlit version are you currently running?