This tutorial walks you through how to package a simple Python project. It will show you how to add the necessary files and structure to create the package, how to build the package, and how to upload it to the Python Package Index.
This tutorial uses a simple project named example_pkg. If you are unfamiliar
with Python's modules and :term:`import packages <import package>`, take a few
minutes to read over the Python documentation for packages and modules. Even if you already have a project that you want to package up, we recommend following this tutorial as-is using this example package and then trying with your own package.
To create this project locally, create the following file structure:
/packaging_tutorial
/example_pkg
__init__.py
Once you create this structure, you'll want to run all of the commands in this
tutorial within the top-level folder - so be sure to cd packaging_tutorial.
You should also edit :file:`example_pkg/__init__.py` and put the following code in there:
name = "example_pkg"This is just so that you can verify that it installed correctly later in this tutorial.
You will now create a handful of files to package up this project and prepare it for distribution. Create the new files listed below - you will add content to them in the following steps.
/packaging_tutorial
/example_pkg
__init__.py
setup.py
LICENSE
README.md
:file:`setup.py` is the build script for :ref:`setuptools`. It tells setuptools about your package (such as the name and version) as well as which code files to include.
Open :file:`setup.py` and enter the following content. You should update the package name to include your username (for example, example-pkg-theacodes. You can personalize the other values if you'd like:
import setuptools
with open("README.md", "r") as fh:
long_description = fh.read()
setuptools.setup(
name="example-pkg-your-username",
version="0.0.1",
author="Example Author",
author_email="author@example.com",
description="A small example package",
long_description=long_description,
long_description_content_type="text/markdown",
url="https://github.com/pypa/sampleproject",
packages=setuptools.find_packages(),
classifiers=[
"Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
"License :: OSI Approved :: MIT License",
"Operating System :: OS Independent",
],
):func:`setup` takes several arguments. This example package uses a relatively minimal set:
nameis the distribution name of your package. This can be any name as long as only contains letters, numbers,_, and-. It also must not already taken on pypi.org. Be sure to update this with your username, as this ensures you won't run into any name collisions when you upload the package.versionis the package version see PEP 440 for more details on versions.authorandauthor_emailare used to identify the author of the package.descriptionis a short, one-sentence summary of the package.long_descriptionis a detailed description of the package. This is shown on the package detail package on the Python Package Index. In this case, the long description is loaded from :file:`README.md` which is a common pattern.long_description_content_typetells the index what type of markup is used for the long description. In this case, it's Markdown.urlis the URL for the homepage of the project. For many projects, this will just be a link to GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, or similar code hosting service.packagesis a list of all Python :term:`import packages <Import Package>` that should be included in the :term:`distribution package`. Instead of listing each package manually, we can use :func:`find_packages` to automatically discover all packages and subpackages. In this case, the list of packages will be example_pkg as that's the only package present.classifierstell the index and :ref:`pip` some additional metadata about your package. In this case, the package is only compatible with Python 3, is licensed under the MIT license, and is OS-independent. You should always include at least which version(s) of Python your package works on, which license your package is available under, and which operating systems your package will work on. For a complete list of classifiers, see https://pypi.org/classifiers/.
There are many more than the ones mentioned here. See :doc:`/guides/distributing-packages-using-setuptools` for more details.
Open :file:`README.md` and enter the following content. You can customize this if you'd like.
# Example Package
This is a simple example package. You can use
[Github-flavored Markdown](https://guides.github.com/features/mastering-markdown/)
to write your content.It's important for every package uploaded to the Python Package Index to include a license. This tells users who install your package the terms under which they can use your package. For help picking a license, see https://choosealicense.com/. Once you have chosen a license, open :file:`LICENSE` and enter the license text. For example, if you had chosen the MIT license:
Copyright (c) 2018 The Python Packaging Authority
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.
The next step is to generate :term:`distribution packages <distribution package>` for the package. These are archives that are uploaded to the Package Index and can be installed by :ref:`pip`.
Make sure you have the latest versions of setuptools and wheel
installed:
python3 -m pip install --user --upgrade setuptools wheelTip
IF you have trouble installing these, see the :doc:`installing-packages` tutorial.
Now run this command from the same directory where :file:`setup.py` is located:
python3 setup.py sdist bdist_wheelThis command should output a lot of text and once completed should generate two files in the :file:`dist` directory:
dist/
example_pkg_your_username-0.0.1-py3-none-any.whl
example_pkg_your_username-0.0.1.tar.gz
Note
If you run into trouble here, please copy the output and file an issue over on packaging problems and we'll do our best to help you!
The tar.gz file is a :term:`source archive` whereas the .whl file is a
:term:`built distribution`. Newer :ref:`pip` versions preferentially install
built distributions, but will fall back to source archives if needed. You
should always upload a source archive and provide built archives for the
platforms your project is compatible with. In this case, our example package is
compatible with Python on any platform so only one built distribution is needed.
Finally, it's time to upload your package to the Python Package Index!
The first thing you'll need to do is register an account on Test PyPI. Test PyPI is a separate instance of the package index intended for testing and experimentation. It's great for things like this tutorial where we don't necessarily want to upload to the real index. To register an account, go to https://test.pypi.org/account/register/ and complete the steps on that page. You will also need to verify your email address before you're able to upload any packages. For more details on Test PyPI, see :doc:`/guides/using-testpypi`.
Now that you are registered, you can use :ref:`twine` to upload the distribution packages. You'll need to install Twine:
python3 -m pip install --user --upgrade twineOnce installed, run Twine to upload all of the archives under :file:`dist`:
python3 -m twine upload --repository-url https://test.pypi.org/legacy/ dist/*You will be prompted for the username and password you registered with Test PyPI. After the command completes, you should see output similar to this:
Uploading distributions to https://test.pypi.org/legacy/
Enter your username: [your username]
Enter your password:
Uploading example_pkg_your_username-0.0.1-py3-none-any.whl
100%|█████████████████████| 4.65k/4.65k [00:01<00:00, 2.88kB/s]
Uploading example_pkg_your_username-0.0.1.tar.gz
100%|█████████████████████| 4.25k/4.25k [00:01<00:00, 3.05kB/s]Once uploaded your package should be viewable on TestPyPI, for example, https://test.pypi.org/project/example-pkg-your-username
You can use :ref:`pip` to install your package and verify that it works. Create a new :ref:`virtualenv` (see :doc:`/tutorials/installing-packages` for detailed instructions) and install your package from TestPyPI:
python3 -m pip install --index-url https://test.pypi.org/simple/ --no-deps example-pkg-your-usernameMake sure to specify your username in the package name!
pip should install the package from Test PyPI and the output should look something like this:
Collecting example-pkg-your-username
Downloading https://test-files.pythonhosted.org/packages/.../example-pkg-your-username-0.0.1-py3-none-any.whl
Installing collected packages: example-pkg-your-username
Successfully installed example-pkg-your-username-0.0.1
Note
This example uses --index-url flag to specify TestPyPI instead of live PyPI. Additionally, it specifies --no-deps. Since TestPyPI doesn't have the same packages as the live PyPI, it's possible that attempting to install dependencies may fail or install something unexpected. While our example package doesn't have any dependencies, it's a good practice to avoid installing dependencies when using TestPyPI.
You can test that it was installed correctly by importing the module and
referencing the name property you put in :file:`__init__.py` earlier.
Run the Python interpreter (make sure you're still in your virtualenv):
pythonAnd then import the module and print out the name property. This should be
the same regardless of what you name you gave your :term:`distribution package`
in :file:`setup.py` (in this case, example-pkg-your-username) because your :term:`import package` is example_pkg.
>>> import example_pkg
>>> example_pkg.name
'example_pkg'Congratulations, you've packaged and distributed a Python project! ✨ 🍰 ✨
Keep in mind that this tutorial showed you how to upload your package to Test
PyPI, which isn't a permanent storage. The Test system occasionally deletes
packages and accounts. If you want to upload your package to the real Python
Package Index you can do it by registering an account on https://pypi.org and
following the same instructions, however, use twine upload dist/* to upload
your package and enter your credentials for the account you registered on the
real PyPI. You can install your package from the real PyPI using
pip install [your-package].
At this point if you want to read more on packaging Python libraries here are some things you can do:
- Read more about using :ref:`setuptools` to package libraries in :doc:`/guides/distributing-packages-using-setuptools`.
- Read about :doc:`/guides/packaging-binary-extensions`.
- Consider alternatives to :ref:`setuptools` such as :ref:`flit`, hatch, and poetry.