macOS arm64: kernel dies on import mlfinlab

[sachin80]

Hi team,

I'm trying to run mlfinlab and the supporting notebooks. So far, importing mlfinlab on macos (Apple Silicon, arm64) consistently kills Python. The import log shows the last line as:

import 'mlfinlab.pytransform' ...

After that, the Python interpreter terminates with no traceback.

Environment:

• MacBook Pro, Apple Silicon (arm64)
• macOS 15 (Sequoia)
• Conda distro: Miniforge at ~/miniforge3
• Python versions of mlfinlab tried in clean envs: 3.8, 3.9 (primary), 3.10, 3.11
• Install wheels for matching Python versions (py38 / py39 / py310 / py311)
• MLFINLAB_API_KEY is exported and visible to Python

What works:

• Core libraries import fine: numpy, pandas, scikit-learn, numba, llvmlite, statsmodels
• Solvers import fine: cvxpy, scs, osqp, ecos
• The crash happens only on import mlfinlab

Short reproduction

conda create -n mlfinlab39 python=3.9 -y
conda activate mlfinlab39
# Used conda-forge in this env only and set strict priority.
# Rationale: on Apple Silicon (arm64), conda-forge provides the most up to date numerical libraries. 
# Strict priority avoids mixing up with defaults that cause mismatches and import crashes
conda config --env --add channels conda-forge
conda config --env --set channel_priority strict
conda install -c conda-forge numpy pandas scipy scikit-learn statsmodels numba llvmlite cython cmake pkg-config -y
export MLFINLAB_API_KEY="<redacted>"
# Install wheel matching Python 3.9
python -m pip install "mlfinlab @ <py39-wheel-url>"
# Show the last imports before the Python interpreter terminates
python -X faulthandler -v -c "import mlfinlab" 2>&1 | tail -n 80

Key tail from -v

# ... stdlib imports ...
# /.../site-packages/mlfinlab/__init__.py
# /.../site-packages/mlfinlab/pytransform/__init__.py
import 'mlfinlab.pytransform' # <_frozen_importlib_external.SourceFileLoader ...>
# <-- process is killed here (no Python traceback)

• Also reproducible in the tutorial notebook. Launching Getting_Started.ipynb in VS Code and running import mlfinlab immediately crashes the kernel (screenshot attached).

Additionally

• Tried with and without mlfinlab extras
• Tried NUMBA_DISABLE_JIT=1, OMP_NUM_THREADS=1, VECLIB_MAXIMUM_THREADS=1
• Miniconda vs Miniforge

I was told that Linux works fine with the same wheel, which seems to point to potentially a macOS arm64 packaging/runtime issue (pytransform?) rather than my environment.

Could you provide a working wheel for macOS 15 (Sequoia) on arm64, or guidance on how to correctly install mlfinlab?

Thanks,
Sachin