Skip to content

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.

Installation

pip install just-buildit

Quickstart

Flat layouts, nested packages, multiple extensions across subdirectories, mixed pure Python and C — whatever your build produces.

Zero config — a single C extension in src/mylib/:

[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.

Custom build command — Make, CMake, Meson, Bazel, or anything else:

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

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

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 3.8+
  • A compiler (you already have one)
  • uv for wheel repair (uvx auditwheel / uvx delocate-wheel / uvx delvewheel)