use an earlier version of setuptools because modern versions have a bug

pypa/setuptools#3278

.github/actions/gmt-pytest/action.yml

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ runs:
       shell: bash
       working-directory: ${{ inputs.gmt-directory }}
       run: |
-        python -m pip install --upgrade pip
+        python -m pip install --upgrade pip --user setuptools==58.3.0
         pip install -r requirements.txt -r requirements-dev.txt
         pip install -r metric_providers/psu/energy/ac/xgboost/system/model/requirements.txt