Python Packaging

Comprehensive guide to creating, structuring, and distributing Python packages using modern packaging tools, pyproject.toml, and publishing to PyPI.

When to Use This Skill

• Creating Python libraries for distribution
• Building command-line tools with entry points
• Publishing packages to PyPI or private repositories
• Setting up Python project structure
• Creating installable packages with dependencies
• Building wheels and source distributions
• Versioning and releasing Python packages
• Creating namespace packages
• Implementing package metadata and classifiers

Core Concepts

1. Package Structure

• Source layout: src/package_name/ (recommended)
• Flat layout: package_name/ (simpler but less flexible)
• Package metadata: pyproject.toml, setup.py, or setup.cfg
• Distribution formats: wheel (.whl) and source distribution (.tar.gz)

2. Modern Packaging Standards

• PEP 517/518: Build system requirements
• PEP 621: Metadata in pyproject.toml
• PEP 660: Editable installs
• pyproject.toml: Single source of configuration

3. Build Backends

• setuptools: Traditional, widely used
• hatchling: Modern, opinionated
• flit: Lightweight, for pure Python
• poetry: Dependency management + packaging

4. Distribution

• PyPI: Python Package Index (public)
• TestPyPI: Testing before production
• Private repositories: JFrog, AWS CodeArtifact, etc.

Quick Start

Minimal Package Structure

my-package/
├── pyproject.toml
├── README.md
├── LICENSE
├── src/
│   └── my_package/
│       ├── __init__.py
│       └── module.py
└── tests/
    └── test_module.py

Minimal pyproject.toml

[build-system]
requires = ["setuptools>=61.0"]
build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"

[project]
name = "my-package"
version = "0.1.0"
description = "A short description"
authors = [{name = "Your Name", email = "you@example.com"}]
readme = "README.md"
requires-python = ">=3.8"
dependencies = [
    "requests>=2.28.0",
]

[project.optional-dependencies]
dev = [
    "pytest>=7.0",
    "black>=22.0",
]

Package Structure Patterns

Pattern 1: Source Layout (Recommended)

my-package/
├── pyproject.toml
├── README.md
├── LICENSE
├── .gitignore
├── src/
│   └── my_package/
│       ├── __init__.py
│       ├── core.py
│       ├── utils.py
│       └── py.typed          # For type hints
├── tests/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── test_core.py
│   └── test_utils.py
└── docs/
    └── index.md

Advantages:

• Prevents accidentally importing from source
• Cleaner test imports
• Better isolation

pyproject.toml for source layout:

[tool.setuptools.packages.find]
where = ["src"]

Pattern 2: Flat Layout

my-package/
├── pyproject.toml
├── README.md
├── my_package/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── module.py
└── tests/
    └── test_module.py

Simpler but:

• Can import package without installing
• Less professional for libraries

Pattern 3: Multi-Package Project

project/
├── pyproject.toml
├── packages/
│   ├── package-a/
│   │   └── src/
│   │       └── package_a/
│   └── package-b/
│       └── src/
│           └── package_b/
└── tests/

Complete pyproject.toml Examples

Pattern 4: Full-Featured pyproject.toml

[build-system]
requires = ["setuptools>=61.0", "wheel"]
build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"

[project]
name = "my-awesome-package"
version = "1.0.0"
description = "An awesome Python package"
readme = "README.md"
requires-python = ">=3.8"
license = {text = "MIT"}
authors = [
    {name = "Your Name", email = "you@example.com"},
]
maintainers = [
    {name = "Maintainer Name", email = "maintainer@example.com"},
]
keywords = ["example", "package", "awesome"]
classifiers = [
    "Development Status :: 4 - Beta",
    "Intended Audience :: Developers",
    "License :: OSI Approved :: MIT License",
    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8",
    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9",
    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10",
    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11",
    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12",
]

dependencies = [
    "requests>=2.28.0,<3.0.0",
    "click>=8.0.0",
    "pydantic>=2.0.0",
]

[project.optional-dependencies]
dev = [
    "pytest>=7.0.0",
    "pytest-cov>=4.0.0",
    "black>=23.0.0",
    "ruff>=0.1.0",
    "mypy>=1.0.0",
]
docs = [
    "sphinx>=5.0.0",
    "sphinx-rtd-theme>=1.0.0",
]
all = [
    "my-awesome-package[dev,docs]",
]

[project.urls]
Homepage = "https://github.com/username/my-awesome-package"
Documentation = "https://my-awesome-package.readthedocs.io"
Repository = "https://github.com/username/my-awesome-package"
"Bug Tracker" = "https://github.com/username/my-awesome-package/issues"
Changelog = "https://github.com/username/my-awesome-package/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md"

[project.scripts]
my-cli = "my_package.cli:main"
awesome-tool = "my_package.tools:run"

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

[tool.setuptools]
package-dir = {"" = "src"}
zip-safe = false

[tool.setuptools.packages.find]
where = ["src"]
include = ["my_package*"]
exclude = ["tests*"]

[tool.setuptools.package-data]
my_package = ["py.typed", "*.pyi", "data/*.json"]

# Black configuration
[tool.black]
line-length = 100
target-version = ["py38", "py39", "py310", "py311"]
include = '\.pyi?$'

# Ruff configuration
[tool.ruff]
line-length = 100
target-version = "py38"

[tool.ruff.lint]
select = ["E", "F", "I", "N", "W", "UP"]

# MyPy configuration
[tool.mypy]
python_version = "3.8"
warn_return_any = true
warn_unused_configs = true
disallow_untyped_defs = true

# Pytest configuration
[tool.pytest.ini_options]
testpaths = ["tests"]
python_files = ["test_*.py"]
addopts = "-v --cov=my_package --cov-report=term-missing"

# Coverage configuration
[tool.coverage.run]
source = ["src"]
omit = ["*/tests/*"]

[tool.coverage.report]
exclude_lines = [
    "pragma: no cover",
    "def __repr__",
    "raise AssertionError",
    "raise NotImplementedError",
]

Pattern 5: Dynamic Versioning

[build-system]
requires = ["setuptools>=61.0", "setuptools-scm>=8.0"]
build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"

[project]
name = "my-package"
dynamic = ["version"]
description = "Package with dynamic version"

[tool.setuptools.dynamic]
version = {attr = "my_package.__version__"}

# Or use setuptools-scm for git-based versioning
[tool.setuptools_scm]
write_to = "src/my_package/_version.py"

In init.py:

# src/my_package/__init__.py
__version__ = "1.0.0"

# Or with setuptools-scm
from importlib.metadata import version
__version__ = version("my-package")

Command-Line Interface (CLI) Patterns

Pattern 6: CLI with Click

# src/my_package/cli.py
import click

@click.group()
@click.version_option()
def cli():
    """My awesome CLI tool."""
    pass

@cli.command()
@click.argument("name")
@click.option("--greeting", default="Hello", help="Greeting to use")
def greet(name: str, greeting: str):
    """Greet someone."""
    click.echo(f"{greeting}, {name}!")

@cli.command()
@click.option("--count", default=1, help="Number of times to repeat")
def repeat(count: int):
    """Repeat a message."""
    for i in range(count):
        click.echo(f"Message {i + 1}")

def main():
    """Entry point for CLI."""
    cli()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Register in pyproject.toml:

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

Usage:

pip install -e .
my-tool greet World
my-tool greet Alice --greeting="Hi"
my-tool repeat --count=3

Pattern 7: CLI with argparse

# src/my_package/cli.py
import argparse
import sys

def main():
    """Main CLI entry point."""
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
        description="My awesome tool",
        prog="my-tool"
    )

    parser.add_argument(
        "--version",
        action="version",
        version="%(prog)s 1.0.0"
    )

    subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(dest="command", help="Commands")

    # Add subcommand
    process_parser = subparsers.add_parser("process", help="Process data")
    process_parser.add_argument("input_file", help="Input file path")
    process_parser.add_argument(
        "--output", "-o",
        default="output.txt",
        help="Output file path"
    )

    args = parser.parse_args()

    if args.command == "process":
        process_data(args.input_file, args.output)
    else:
        parser.print_help()
        sys.exit(1)

def process_data(input_file: str, output_file: str):
    """Process data from input to output."""
    print(f"Processing {input_file} -> {output_file}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Building and Publishing

Pattern 8: Build Package Locally

# Install build tools
pip install build twine

# Build distribution
python -m build

# This creates:
# dist/
#   my-package-1.0.0.tar.gz (source distribution)
#   my_package-1.0.0-py3-none-any.whl (wheel)

# Check the distribution
twine check dist/*

Pattern 9: Publishing to PyPI

# Install publishing tools
pip install twine

# Test on TestPyPI first
twine upload --repository testpypi dist/*

# Install from TestPyPI to test
pip install --index-url https://test.pypi.org/simple/ my-package

# If all good, publish to PyPI
twine upload dist/*

Using API tokens (recommended):

# Create ~/.pypirc
[distutils]
index-servers =
    pypi
    testpypi

[pypi]
username = __token__
password = pypi-...your-token...

[testpypi]
username = __token__
password = pypi-...your-test-token...

Pattern 10: Automated Publishing with GitHub Actions

# .github/workflows/publish.yml
name: Publish to PyPI

on:
  release:
    types: [created]

jobs:
  publish:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Set up Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
        with:
          python-version: "3.11"

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          pip install build twine

      - name: Build package
        run: python -m build

      - name: Check package
        run: twine check dist/*

      - name: Publish to PyPI
        env:
          TWINE_USERNAME: __token__
          TWINE_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.PYPI_API_TOKEN }}
        run: twine upload dist/*

Advanced Patterns

Pattern 11: Including Data Files

[tool.setuptools.package-data]
my_package = [
    "data/*.json",
    "templates/*.html",
    "static/css/*.css",
    "py.typed",
]

Accessing data files:

# src/my_package/loader.py
from importlib.resources import files
import json

def load_config():
    """Load configuration from package data."""
    config_file = files("my_package").joinpath("data/config.json")
    with config_file.open() as f:
        return json.load(f)

# Python 3.9+
from importlib.resources import files

data = files("my_package").joinpath("data/file.txt").read_text()

Pattern 12: Namespace Packages

For large projects split across multiple repositories:

# Package 1: company-core
company/
└── core/
    ├── __init__.py
    └── models.py

# Package 2: company-api
company/
└── api/
    ├── __init__.py
    └── routes.py

Do NOT include init.py in the namespace directory (company/):

# company-core/pyproject.toml
[project]
name = "company-core"

[tool.setuptools.packages.find]
where = ["."]
include = ["company.core*"]

# company-api/pyproject.toml
[project]
name = "company-api"

[tool.setuptools.packages.find]
where = ["."]
include = ["company.api*"]

Usage:

# Both packages can be imported under same namespace
from company.core import models
from company.api import routes

Pattern 13: C Extensions

[build-system]
requires = ["setuptools>=61.0", "wheel", "Cython>=0.29"]
build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"

[tool.setuptools]
ext-modules = [
    {name = "my_package.fast_module", sources = ["src/fast_module.c"]},
]

Or with setup.py:

# setup.py
from setuptools import setup, Extension

setup(
    ext_modules=[
        Extension(
            "my_package.fast_module",
            sources=["src/fast_module.c"],
            include_dirs=["src/include"],
        )
    ]
)

Version Management

Pattern 14: Semantic Versioning

# src/my_package/__init__.py
__version__ = "1.2.3"

# Semantic versioning: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH
# MAJOR: Breaking changes
# MINOR: New features (backward compatible)
# PATCH: Bug fixes

Version constraints in dependencies:

dependencies = [
    "requests>=2.28.0,<3.0.0",  # Compatible range
    "click~=8.1.0",              # Compatible release (~= 8.1.0 means >=8.1.0,<8.2.0)
    "pydantic>=2.0",             # Minimum version
    "numpy==1.24.3",             # Exact version (avoid if possible)
]

Pattern 15: Git-Based Versioning

[build-system]
requires = ["setuptools>=61.0", "setuptools-scm>=8.0"]
build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"

[project]
name = "my-package"
dynamic = ["version"]

[tool.setuptools_scm]
write_to = "src/my_package/_version.py"
version_scheme = "post-release"
local_scheme = "dirty-tag"

Creates versions like:

• 1.0.0 (from git tag)
• 1.0.1.dev3+g1234567 (3 commits after tag)

Testing Installation

Pattern 16: Editable Install

# Install in development mode
pip install -e .

# With optional dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"
pip install -e ".[dev,docs]"

# Now changes to source code are immediately reflected

Pattern 17: Testing in Isolated Environment

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv test-env
source test-env/bin/activate  # Linux/Mac
# test-env\Scripts\activate  # Windows

# Install package
pip install dist/my_package-1.0.0-py3-none-any.whl

# Test it works
python -c "import my_package; print(my_package.__version__)"

# Test CLI
my-tool --help

# Cleanup
deactivate
rm -rf test-env

Documentation

Pattern 18: README.md Template

# My Package

[![PyPI version](https://badge.fury.io/py/my-package.svg)](https://pypi.org/project/my-package/)
[![Python versions](https://img.shields.io/pypi/pyversions/my-package.svg)](https://pypi.org/project/my-package/)
[![Tests](https://github.com/username/my-package/workflows/Tests/badge.svg)](https://github.com/username/my-package/actions)

Brief description of your package.

## Installation

```bash
pip install my-package
```

## Quick Start

```python
from my_package import something

result = something.do_stuff()
```

## Features

- Feature 1
- Feature 2
- Feature 3

## Documentation

Full documentation: https://my-package.readthedocs.io

## Development

```bash
git clone https://github.com/username/my-package.git
cd my-package
pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest
```

## License

MIT

Common Patterns

Pattern 19: Multi-Architecture Wheels

# .github/workflows/wheels.yml
name: Build wheels

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  build_wheels:
    name: Build wheels on ${{ matrix.os }}
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    strategy:
      matrix:
        os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest, macos-latest]

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Build wheels
        uses: pypa/cibuildwheel@v2.16.2

      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
        with:
          path: ./wheelhouse/*.whl

Pattern 20: Private Package Index

# Install from private index
pip install my-package --index-url https://private.pypi.org/simple/

# Or add to pip.conf
[global]
index-url = https://private.pypi.org/simple/
extra-index-url = https://pypi.org/simple/

# Upload to private index
twine upload --repository-url https://private.pypi.org/ dist/*

File Templates

.gitignore for Python Packages

# Build artifacts
build/
dist/
*.egg-info/
*.egg
.eggs/

# Python
__pycache__/
*.py[cod]
*$py.class
*.so

# Virtual environments
venv/
env/
ENV/

# IDE
.vscode/
.idea/
*.swp

# Testing
.pytest_cache/
.coverage
htmlcov/

# Distribution
*.whl
*.tar.gz

MANIFEST.in

# MANIFEST.in
include README.md
include LICENSE
include pyproject.toml

recursive-include src/my_package/data *.json
recursive-include src/my_package/templates *.html
recursive-exclude * __pycache__
recursive-exclude * *.py[co]

Checklist for Publishing

• Code is tested (pytest passing)
• Documentation is complete (README, docstrings)
• Version number updated
• CHANGELOG.md updated
• License file included
• pyproject.toml is complete
• Package builds without errors
• Installation tested in clean environment
• CLI tools work (if applicable)
• PyPI metadata is correct (classifiers, keywords)
• GitHub repository linked
• Tested on TestPyPI first
• Git tag created for release

Resources

• Python Packaging Guide: https://packaging.python.org/
• PyPI: https://pypi.org/
• TestPyPI: https://test.pypi.org/
• setuptools documentation: https://setuptools.pypa.io/
• build: https://pypa-build.readthedocs.io/
• twine: https://twine.readthedocs.io/

Best Practices Summary

1. Use src/ layout for cleaner package structure
2. Use pyproject.toml for modern packaging
3. Pin build dependencies in build-system.requires
4. Version appropriately with semantic versioning
5. Include all metadata (classifiers, URLs, etc.)
6. Test installation in clean environments
7. Use TestPyPI before publishing to PyPI
8. Document thoroughly with README and docstrings
9. Include LICENSE file
10. Automate publishing with CI/CD