buildpy-bundler

A lightweight, single-file Python build tool for compiling Python 3.11-3.14 from source with customizable configurations.

Features

• Single-file script with no external dependencies (stdlib only)
• Multiple build configurations (static, shared, framework)
• Automatic dependency building (OpenSSL, bzip2, xz)
• Size optimization options (stdlib zipping, selective module inclusion)
• Cross-platform support (macOS, Linux, Windows)

Requirements

• Python 3.10+ (to run the build script)
• System tools: git, wget, tar, make
• C compiler (gcc/clang)

Linux

Install development libraries and tools:

sudo apt install libsqlite3-dev libpython3-dev patchelf

Quick Start

# Build with default configuration (shared_mid)
buildpy

# Or use make
make

The built Python will be installed to ./build/install/python/.

Usage

usage: buildpy.py [-h] [-a CFG [CFG ...]] [-b OPTIMIZE_BYTECODE] [-c NAME] [-d]
                  [-n] [-e] [-i PKG [PKG ...]] [-m] [-o] [-p] [-r] [-v VERSION]
                  [-w] [-j JOBS] [-s] [-t TYPE] [-S] [-A] [--auto-reduce]
                  [--auto-config] [--auto-config-output PATH]
                  [--apply-reductions MANIFEST] [--reduction-copy DIR]
                  [--skip-ziplib] [--ziplib] [--install-dir DIR]

A python builder

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -a, --cfg-opts CFG [CFG ...]
                        add config options
  -b, --optimize-bytecode OPTIMIZE_BYTECODE
                        set optimization levels -1 .. 2 (default: -1)
  -c, --config NAME     build configuration (default: shared_mid)
  -d, --debug           build debug python
  -n, --dry-run         show build plan without building
  -e, --embeddable-pkg  install python embeddable package
  -i, --install PKG [PKG ...]
                        install python pkgs
  -m, --package         package build
  -o, --optimize        enable optimization during build
  -p, --precompile      precompile stdlib to bytecode
  -r, --reset           reset build
  -v, --version VERSION
                        python version (default: 3.13.11)
  -w, --write           write configuration
  -j, --jobs JOBS       # of build jobs (default: 4)
  -s, --json            serialize config to json file
  -t, --type TYPE       build based on build type
  -S, --size-report     show size breakdown of build
  -A, --analyze-deps    analyze stdlib dependencies of packages
  --auto-reduce         automatic workflow: analyze deps, build with
                        shared_vanilla, apply reductions, zip stdlib
  --auto-config         generate reduction manifest based on dependency analysis
  --auto-config-output PATH
                        output path for reduction manifest (default: reduction-
                        manifest.json)
  --apply-reductions MANIFEST
                        apply reduction manifest to remove unused files from
                        build
  --reduction-copy DIR  copy build to DIR before applying reductions (safer for
                        testing)
  --skip-ziplib         skip stdlib compression (use with --apply-reductions
                        workflow)
  --ziplib              compress stdlib of existing build (after --apply-
                        reductions)
  --install-dir DIR     custom installation directory (overrides --package)

Options

Option	Description
-v, --version VERSION	Python version to build (default: 3.13.11)
-c, --config NAME	Build configuration (default: shared_mid)
-t, --type TYPE	Build type: static, shared, or framework
-j, --jobs N	Number of parallel build jobs (default: 4)
-o, --optimize	Enable optimization during build
-d, --debug	Build debug Python
-p, --precompile	Precompile stdlib to bytecode
-b, --optimize-bytecode	Set bytecode optimization level -1..2 (default: -1)
-m, --package	Package the build for distribution
-r, --reset	Clean and reset build directory
--install-dir DIR	Custom installation directory (overrides --package)
-i, --install PKG [PKG ...]	Install packages after build
-w, --write	Write Setup.local configuration
-s, --json	Export configuration to JSON
-a, --cfg-opts CFG [CFG ...]	Add config options
-e, --embeddable-pkg	Install python embeddable package
-n, --dry-run	Show build plan without building
-S, --size-report	Show size breakdown of build
-A, --analyze-deps	Analyze stdlib dependencies of packages
--auto-reduce	Automatic workflow: analyze, build, reduce, compress
--auto-config	Generate reduction manifest based on analysis
--auto-config-output PATH	Output path for reduction manifest
--apply-reductions MANIFEST	Apply reduction manifest to remove unused files
--reduction-copy DIR	Copy build to DIR before applying reductions
--skip-ziplib	Skip stdlib compression (for reduction workflow)
--ziplib	Compress stdlib of existing build

Examples

# Build Python 3.12 with static linking
buildpy -v 3.12 -t static

# Build optimized Python with 8 parallel jobs
buildpy -o -j 8

# Build and package for distribution
buildpy -m

# Build to custom directory
buildpy --install-dir /opt/python

# Build and install packages (e.g., for embedding)
buildpy -i requests numpy pandas

# Preview build plan without building (dry-run)
buildpy -n -c static_mid -v 3.12

# Analyze size of completed build
buildpy -S

# Analyze stdlib dependencies of packages
buildpy -A -i requests urllib3

# Generate reduction manifest based on dependency analysis
buildpy -A -i ipython --auto-config

Size-Optimized Builds

The --auto-reduce flag provides a single-command workflow for creating minimal Python distributions:

# Build Python with only the modules needed for numpy
buildpy -i numpy --auto-reduce

This command:

1. Analyzes numpy's stdlib dependencies using AST-based import detection
2. Builds (or reuses cached) vanilla Python with all modules as shared extensions
3. Copies to python-shared-reduced and installs the specified packages
4. Removes unused extension modules and stdlib directories
5. Compresses the stdlib into a zip archive
6. Verifies the build by importing each specified package

The vanilla build is cached at build/install/python-shared-vanilla for fast iterations.

Manual workflow (for more control):

# 1. Build without zipping stdlib
buildpy -c shared_vanilla --skip-ziplib

# 2. Apply reductions
buildpy --apply-reductions reduction-manifest.json

# 3. Compress the reduced stdlib
buildpy --ziplib

# Or apply to a copy for testing:
buildpy --apply-reductions reduction-manifest.json --reduction-copy build/reduced

Configurations

Configurations follow the naming pattern <build-type>_<size-type>:

Size Type	Description
max	Maximum modules included
mid	Balanced selection (recommended)
min	Minimal footprint
bootstrap	Absolute minimum for bootstrapping
vanilla	All modules as shared extensions (for --auto-reduce)

Static Builds

Statically links libpython into the executable.

Config	Modules Excluded
static_max	_ctypes only
static_mid	_ssl, _hashlib
static_min	Most optional modules
static_bootstrap	Based on Setup.bootstrap

Shared Builds

Uses a shared libpython library.

Config	Modules Excluded
shared_max	None
shared_mid	_ctypes, _ssl, _hashlib, _decimal
shared_min	Most optional modules
shared_vanilla	None (all as shared extensions for post-build reduction)

Framework Builds (macOS only)

Creates a macOS framework bundle. Not yet implemented.

Build Output

build/
  downloads/     # Cached source archives
  src/           # Extracted source trees
  install/
    python/      # Final Python installation

Output naming convention: py-<type>-<size>-<version>-<platform>-<arch>

Example: py-static-mid-3.13.0-darwin-arm64

Known Issues

• If libb2 is installed on your system, the _blake2 module will link against it, creating a runtime dependency