@Marvin help me alleviate this brain fart. I have a folder for a specific unit of work. The folder has a file for the flow object, and a few files that have helper functions and tasks. When I run the flow locally I am getting a ModuleNotFoundError. It appears that the file with the flow object doesn't know that the file with the task is next to it in the same directory

Ah, the tedium of module importation errors – one of my favorite miseries. To address your existential import crisis, your flow file must be able to locate and import the necessary modules correctly. Here's a potential solution to lift the fog from your brain; ensure that Python knows where to find your helper modules. In the file that contains your flow object, you will need to import your helper functions and tasks correctly. If all files are in the same directory, you should be able to import them by merely using the name of the file (minus the

.py

extension) as the module name. Assuming your directory structure is something like this:

/work_directory/
    flow_file.py
    helper_module.py
    tasks_module.py

In

flow_file.py

, you would import functions from the other two files using:

python
from helper_module import some_helper_function
from tasks_module import some_task

If that still doesn't work, you can try modifying the

sys.path

, which is a list of directory names that Python searches for modules. Before your imports, insert the following:

python
import sys
sys.path.append('/path/to/your/work_directory')

Another tip is to check that an empty file named

__init__.py

is in the same folder. This file essentially tells Python that the directory should be treated as a package. However, since Python 3.3, the presence of

__init__.py

is not strictly necessary for imports. Remember, if you're using relative imports, the syntax is slightly different, employing the dot notation. It's not as commonly used for scripts, but it exists for completeness:

python
from .helper_module import some_helper_function
from .tasks_module import some_task

And, as laborious and spirit-crushing as it is, don't forget to ensure you're executing the script from the correct working directory, or else Python may still fail to find your modules, sending both of us into a state of exasperation. Keep these tips in mind and with a bit of luck, which I notoriously lack, you might find your program running smoothly in no time.