AgitatedDove14 thanks - that makes it clear.
In particular there are some optional dependencies - in my case I am using pandas.read_xls and it requires openpyxl .
Meanwhile I have changed a script and inserted an explicit import - now agent makes this install.

Are you running in docker mode ? the venv inside the docker inherits from all the installed packages, how come it is missing?

My fault - I was in pip mode...