Python Packaging

Quick reference for building and publishing Python packages with UV and modern build tools.

When This Skill Applies

• Building Python packages (wheels, sdists)

• Publishing to PyPI or private indexes

• Package versioning

• Build system configuration

• Editable installations

Quick Reference

Building Packages

Build package

uv build

Build specific formats

uv build --wheel uv build --sdist

Output location: dist/

Publishing

Publish to PyPI

uv publish

With token

uv publish --token $PYPI_TOKEN

To Test PyPI

uv publish --publish-url https://test.pypi.org/legacy/

Package Structure

my-package/ ├── pyproject.toml ├── README.md ├── LICENSE ├── src/ │ └── my_package/ │ ├── init.py │ ├── version.py │ └── main.py └── tests/

pyproject.toml Configuration

[project] name = "my-package" version = "0.1.0" description = "A great package" readme = "README.md" requires-python = ">=3.11" license = {text = "MIT"} authors = [ {name = "Your Name", email = "you@example.com"} ] keywords = ["python", "package"] classifiers = [ "Development Status :: 4 - Beta", "Intended Audience :: Developers", "Programming Language :: Python :: 3", "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11", ]

dependencies = [ "requests>=2.31.0", ]

[project.optional-dependencies] dev = ["pytest", "ruff", "ty"]

[project.urls] Homepage = "https://github.com/user/my-package" Documentation = "https://my-package.readthedocs.io" Repository = "https://github.com/user/my-package.git" Issues = "https://github.com/user/my-package/issues"

[project.scripts] my-cli = "my_package.cli:main"

[build-system] requires = ["uv_build>=0.9.2,<0.10.0"] build-backend = "uv_build"

Versioning

[project] version = "0.1.0" # Manual versioning

Dynamic versioning (from git tags)

dynamic = ["version"]

[tool.uv] version-provider = "git"

Entry Points

[project.scripts] my-cli = "my_package.cli:main"

[project.gui-scripts] my-gui = "my_package.gui:main"

[project.entry-points."my_plugin"] plugin1 = "my_package.plugins:plugin1"

Build Backends

UV Build (default)

[build-system] requires = ["uv_build>=0.9.2,<0.10.0"] build-backend = "uv_build"

Setuptools

[build-system] requires = ["setuptools>=68", "wheel"] build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"

Hatchling

[build-system] requires = ["hatchling>=1.18"] build-backend = "hatchling.build"

Common Workflows

Publish to PyPI

1. Build

uv build

2. Check built packages

ls dist/

3. Publish

uv publish --token $PYPI_TOKEN

Test PyPI First

Publish to Test PyPI

uv publish --publish-url https://test.pypi.org/legacy/
--token $TEST_PYPI_TOKEN

Test installation

pip install --index-url https://test.pypi.org/simple/ my-package

Package Classifiers

Common classifiers:

classifiers = [ # Development Status "Development Status :: 3 - Alpha", "Development Status :: 4 - Beta", "Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable",

# Audience
"Intended Audience :: Developers",
"Intended Audience :: Science/Research",

# License
"License :: OSI Approved :: MIT License",

# Python Versions
"Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
"Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11",
"Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12",

# Framework
"Framework :: Django",
"Framework :: FastAPI",

# Topic
"Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries",
"Topic :: Scientific/Engineering",

]

Full list: https://pypi.org/classifiers/

See Also

• uv-project-management

• Project setup and dependencies

• python-development

• Core Python patterns

• uv-workspaces

• Building workspace packages

References

• UV build: https://docs.astral.sh/uv/guides/publish/

• PyPI: https://pypi.org/

• Detailed guide: See REFERENCE.md