ImportError: cannot import name cbook

1. Try to update matplotlib

python -m pip install -U matplotlib

2. Try to reinstall matplotlib

python -m pip uninstall matplotlib
python -m pip install -U matplotlib

What does the following snippet print to the console?

python -c "import matplotlib"

I hit this issue today due to a bad dependency.

If you have both backports.shutil_get_terminal_size and backports.functools_lru_cache installed, you can encounter this.

Matplotlib has a brittle workaround for a cyclic import:

# cbook must import matplotlib only within function
# definitions, so it is safe to import from it here.
from . import cbook

Until PR #10483, matplotlib dependended on backports.functools_lru_cache.

However, ipython depends on backports.shutil_get_terminal_size, and that package doesn't set up a namespace package properly.

If you have this problem, you'll see these symptoms:

>>> import backports
<module 'backports.shutil_get_terminal_size' from '/Users/whughes/miniconda2/envs/scratch/lib/python2.7/site-packages/backports/shutil_get_terminal_size/__init__.pyc'>
>>> >import backports.functools_lru_cache
ImportError: No module named functools_lru_cache

The problem with backports.shutil_get_terminal_size is that it doesn't define a namespace package, so it breaks any other backports.foo packages.

Reinstalling matplotlib fixes this because it changes the order in sys.path, putting backports.functools_lru_cache first, and that package defines a proper namespace.

You can also fix this by reinstalling backports.shutil_get_terminal_size.

I solve the problem uninstalling matplotpli and reinstalling without pip:

$ sudo apt-get install python-matplotlib

Thanks to this README.html.