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just-buildit

The missing PEP 517 build backend for C extensions.

You know how to build your project. just-buildit knows how to package it. That's the whole deal.

The problem

Every existing Python build backend either wants to own your build system, assumes you're using setuptools extensions, or drags in a dependency tree bigger than your project. There's no option that just says:

"Here are your C files. Build them however you want. I'll ship the result."

just-buildit is that option.

Quickstart

Got a single C extension in src/mylib/? No configuration needed:

[build-system]
requires = ["just-buildit"]
build-backend = "just_buildit"

[project]
name = "mylib"
version = "0.1.0"

Run pip install . and just-buildit finds src/mylib/, compiles every .c file it contains, and ships the result.

For anything more complex, point it at your build command:

[tool.just-buildit]
command = "make"

just-buildit sets environment variables, calls your command, packages everything written to $JUST_BUILDIT_OUTPUT_DIR, and ships the result.

CLI

uvx just-buildit inspect   # dry-run: show config and what would be built
uvx just-buildit build     # build wheel into dist/
uvx just-buildit sdist     # build source distribution into dist/

Requirements

  • Python 3.11+
  • A compiler (you already have one)
  • uv for wheel repair (uvx auditwheel / uvx delocate-wheel / uvx delvewheel)