Mainak Jas

can you share what happened when you ran those commands? If you don't tell us more, it is hard to help

It seems to be an issue with `numpy`. Can you try installing it separately and then install `alphacsc` again?

try using the `--no-deps` flag when installing `alphacsc`

Did you [try this](https://github.com/alphacsc/alphacsc/issues/30#issuecomment-738662401). I just installed `aphacsc` from within the MNE environment and it worked like a breeze

could we have a function `read_bids_events` ? This can be used internally by `read_raw_bids` but also exposed to the user if they want better control

@AKSoo it sounds like you've spent some time thinking about this. How much work would it be to start a pull request with a prototype?

I'd say ideally without PyBIDS dependency but @hoechenberger is in charge. Why is it easier with PyBIDS? Can you link to specific functions?

yes, the secondary dependencies are what I worry about most. Sometimes, well-maintained packages don't control their dependencies very well and it leads to issues. PyBIDS seems to have come a...

What do you have in mind? Can you be a bit more concrete with an example of such an "optional" field?

@adam2392 what would the API look like? Probably better to start with some [easy issues](https://github.com/mne-tools/mne-bids/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+milestone%3A0.4) first so that you have some experience how to contribute.