Feature: Lazy loading of cloud provider dependencies

[dguido]

Problem

Currently, Algo installs all cloud provider dependencies upfront, even when users only deploy to one provider. This increases:

• Installation time and disk space usage
• Dependency complexity and potential conflicts
• Attack surface with unused libraries

Example: A user deploying only to DigitalOcean still gets AWS boto3, Google Cloud SDK, Azure libraries, etc.

Proposed Solution

Implement lazy loading where cloud provider dependencies are installed only when needed:

algo digitalocean  # Only installs python-digitalocean
algo aws          # Only installs boto3, awscli  
algo gcp          # Only installs google-cloud libraries
algo azure        # Only installs azure libraries
algo local        # No cloud deps needed

Implementation Ideas

Option 1: Dynamic Installation

• Detect cloud provider from user selection
• Install required packages with uv add during deployment
• Cache installed packages for subsequent runs

Option 2: Optional Dependencies Groups

# pyproject.toml
[project.optional-dependencies]
aws = ["boto3>=1.34.0", "awscli>=1.32.0"]
gcp = ["google-cloud-compute>=1.15.0", "google-auth>=2.25.0"]  
azure = ["azure-mgmt-compute>=30.0.0", "azure-identity>=1.15.0"]
digitalocean = ["python-digitalocean>=1.17.0"]

Then: uv sync --extra aws or uv sync --extra gcp

Option 3: Provider Detection

• Auto-detect from config.cfg provider selection
• Install dependencies just-in-time during deployment
• Provide clear error messages if packages missing

Benefits

1. Faster installation - Only install what you need
2. Smaller footprint - Reduce disk usage and memory consumption
3. Better security - Fewer dependencies = smaller attack surface
4. Cleaner UX - Users see only relevant provider-specific prompts/errors

Considerations

• Backward compatibility with existing workflows
• Graceful handling of network issues during dynamic installation
• Clear documentation for offline/airgapped deployments
• CI/CD pipeline adjustments for testing all providers

Related

This aligns with modern package management best practices (see npm's optional dependencies, Python's extras, Go's module system).

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This issue was created as part of AlgoVPN 2.0 packaging improvements.