Python 3.6 and higher for Mac may not come configured to use the standard root certificate authorities. So, some folks may get a ssl error, other error, or just not be able to reach certain web services, such as MongoDB.
Open a terminal window and make sure you are in your home
directory (cd ~), that you are not in a virtual environment, and enter the
following command:
/Applications/Python\ 3.6/Install\ Certificates.command
If you installed Python 3.7 or 3.8, change 3.6 to 3.7 or 3.8 in the command above.
If you get a permission error while trying to install a package after entering
the above command, include sudo before the command, and be prepared to enter
your system password.
If you cannot find the Install Certificates.command, try adding the
following lines to either your ~/.bash_profile or ~/.zprofile file:
CERT_PATH=$(python -m certifi)
export SSL_CERT_FILE=${CERT_PATH}
export REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE=${CERT_PATH}
Note: if you need to enter python3 instead of python at the command line,
replace python with python3 in the first line above.
Close your terminal window and re-open it and see if the issue is resolved.
If you cannot find the Install Certificates.command file, the contents of
this file can be found at:
https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/master/Mac/BuildScript/resources/install_certificates.command.
Download this file and run it in Python and see if it fixes your problem.
If you're getting an error like this in conda, try
conda remove certifi
conda install certifiAnother link with possible solutions beyond the above might be found at this link: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/40684543/how-to-make-python-use-ca-certificates-from-mac-os-truststore/42107877#42107877?newreg=819ef0d3d63740389ddd7206c106b4a0