TypeError: 'module' object is not callable in Python

TypeError: 'module' object is not callable in Python #

The Python "TypeError: 'module' object is not callable" occurs when we import a module as import some_module but try to call it as a function or class. To solve the error, use dot notation to access the specific function or class before calling it, e.g. module.my_func().

Here is an example of how the error occurs. Imagine we have 2 files - another.py and main.py.

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def do_math(a, b):
    return a + b

And here is the content for main.py.

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import another

# ⛔️ TypeError: 'module' object is not callable
another(100, 100)

The issue is that, in the main.py file, we import the another module but call the module as if it were the do_math() function.

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import another

print(another.do_math(100, 100))  # 👉️ 200

We used dot notation to get access to the do_math function from another.py before calling it.

Alternatively, you can import the specific function or class directly.

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from another import do_math

print(do_math(100, 100))  # 👉️ 200

This import statement only imports the do_math function from the another.py module.

A good way to start debugging is to print(dir(your_module)) and see what attributes the imported module has.

Here is what printing the attributes of the another.py module looks like.

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import another

# 👇️ ['__builtins__', '__cached__', '__doc__',
#  '__file__', '__loader__', '__name__',
#  '__package__', '__spec__', 'do_math'] # 👈️ notice 'do_math'
print(dir(another))

If you pass a module object to the dir() function, it returns a list of names of the module's attributes.

Notice the do_math attribute at the end of the list.

This means that we have to access the attribute as another.do_math to get a reference to the function.

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import another

print(another.do_math(50, 50))  # 👉️ 100

Alternatively, you can import the do_math function directly.

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from another import do_math

print(do_math(50, 50))  # 👉️ 100

The "TypeError: 'module' object is not callable" means that we are trying to call a module object instead of a function or a class.

To solve the error, we have to access an attribute on the module object that points to the specific function or class.

Conclusion #

The Python "TypeError: 'module' object is not callable" occurs when we import a module as import some_module but try to call it as a function or class. To solve the error, use dot notation to access the specific function or class before calling it, e.g. module.my_func().