> IMO, the most direct way to resolve the problem is by enabling "loader snaps" for python.exe via gflags and attaching a native debugger to the process ...

This is indeed the best way to go about solving it, so you can see why we don't put it in an error message or take responsibility for documenting the process. It's not for the faint-hearted :)

Also, the recommended releases of WinDBG (from the Microsoft Store) no longer include gflags, though I believe once you're in the debugger it will just break at the point where the DLL can't be loaded and it's "simple" to get its expected name.

I wouldn't refuse a docs PR to add a short section pointing to this page and explaining its relevance: https://docs.microsoft.com/cpp/build/reference/dependents

I *would* stop short of writing a whole tutorial on how to do it. That's a great topic for someone's blog, and will likely get better SEO and social attention from not being in the docs.