zipapps 2024.8.7

Package your python code into one zip file, even a virtual environment.

zipapps

Changelogs

zipapps is a pure-python library, to package your python code into a single zip file with its dependencies.

Depends on PEP441 + zipapp + zipimport.

What is the .pyz?

.pyz to Python is like .jar to Java.

They are both zip archive files which aggregate many packages and associated metadata and resources (text, images, etc.) into one file for distribution.

All you need is the Python Interpreter as the runtime environment.

So, what could zipapps be?

1. packaging tool

   compress your package folder into a zip file.

2. single-file virtual environment

   a portable site-packages.

3. dependences installer

   lazy install requirements while first running.

4. set of import-path

   add many venv.pyz files to PYTHONPATH automatically.

5. requirements.txt freezing toolkit

   use venv to freeze your pip packages.

PS: The pyz extension can be modified to any character you want, such as .py and .zip.

Install & Quick Start

pip install zipapps -U

1. Source code without dependences

1. add your source code into the zip file, and set the entrypoint with -m

   1. python3 -m zipapps -c -a entry.py -m entry:main -o app.pyz

      1. entry.py could be a package package_name
      2. -m format is package.module:function
2. run app.pyz

   1. python3 app.pyz

2. Source code with dependences

1. zipapps with requirements

   1. python3 -m zipapps -c -a entry.py -m entry:main -o app.pyz bottle

      1. bottle is a pure-python lib which may not be unzipped
         1. -u AUTO or -u=* should be set for some .so/.pyd libs
            1. such as psutil
            2. notice that the -u=* != -u *

   2. you don't need to install requirements at running

      1. ensure the compatibility of the system environment and python version
      2. or add -d of lazy install mode to skip the compatibility problem
         1. but comes a long-time pip install process at the first running.

2. run app.pyz

   1. python3 app.pyz

   2. libs with .pyd/.so caches will be unzipped to the ./zipapps_cache/app by -u AUTO

3. Virtual environments

1. zipapps with requirements

   1. python3 -m zipapps -c -u AUTO -o venv.pyz -r requirements.txt

2. run entry.py with venv.pyz

   1. python3 venv.pyz entry.py

   2. the cache will be unzipped to ./zipapps_cache/venv for -u is not null

4. Activate the .pyz environment

1. import zipimport; zipimport.zipimporter('bottle.pyz').load_module("ensure_zipapps")
   1. automatically unzip cache, and add the path to sys.path
   2. it can be run multiple times
2. if they are all pure-python code and no need to decompress
   1. impory sys; sys.path.insert(0, "bottle.pyz")

Command line usage

Build Args

most common args:

• -c
  • to compress files, only for python3.7+.
• -a xxx.py
  • to add some files/folders into the zipped file.
• -u=AUTO
  • Recommended
  • auto unzip the .pyd / .so files
    • or -u=* to unzip all the files
• -r requirements.txt
  • install requirements with pip install
• -o my_app.pyz
  • output the zipped file as given path
• -m app.__main__:main
  • entry point
• -p /usr/bin/python3
  • set the shebang line
• -d
  • Recommended
  • requirements will be installed with pip while first running in the lazy install mode
  • zip file size will be very small, and the default unzip path is SELF/zipapps_cache/
• --clear-zipapps-cache, -czc
  • Clear the zipapps cache folder after running, but maybe failed for .pyd/.so files.

Details:

python3 -m zipapps -h

1. -h, --help
   1. show the simple doc
2. --includes, --add, -a
   1. The given paths will be copied to cache_path while packaging, which can be used while running. The path strings will be splited by ",".
      1. such as my_package_dir,my_module.py,my_config.json
      2. often used for libs not from pypi or some special config files
   2. the output arg of zipapps.create_app
3. --output, -o
   1. The path of the output file, defaults to app.pyz.
   2. the output arg of zipapps.create_app
4. --python, -p
   1. The path of the Python interpreter which will be set as the shebang line, defaults to None.
      1. with shebang /usr/bin/python3 you can run app with ./app.pyz directly, no need for python3 app.pyz
   2. the interpreter arg of zipapps.create_app
5. --main, -m
   1. The entry point function of the application, the valid format is:
      1. package.module:function
      2. package.module
      3. module:function
      4. package
   2. the main arg of zipapps.create_app
   3. WARNING: If the --main arg is set, python3 app.pyz will not be able to used as venv like python3 app.pyz xxx.py
6. --compress, -c
   1. Boolean value, compress files with the deflate method or not.
   2. the compressed arg of zipapps.create_app
7. --unzip, -u
   1. The names which need to be unzipped while running, splited by "," without ext, such as bottle,aiohttp, or the complete path like bin/bottle.py,temp.py. For .so/.pyd files(which can not be loaded by zipimport), or packages with operations of static files.
      1. if unzip is set to "*", then will unzip all files and folders.
      2. if unzip is set to AUTO, then will add the .pyd and .so files automatically.
   2. Can be overwrite with environment variable ZIPAPPS_UNZIP
   3. the unzip arg of zipapps.create_app
8. --unzip-exclude, -ue
   1. The opposite of --unzip / -u which will not be unzipped, should be used with --unzip / -u.
   2. Can be overwrite with environment variable ZIPAPPS_UNZIP_EXCLUDE
9. --unzip-path, -up 3. If unzip arg is not null, cache files will be unzipped to the given path while running. Defaults to zipapps_cache, support some internal variables as runtime args:
   1. $TEMP/$HOME/$SELF/$PID/$CWD as prefix, for example $HOME/zipapps_cache
      1. TEMP means tempfile.gettempdir()
      2. HOME means Path.home()
      3. SELF means .pyz file path.
      4. $PID means os.getpid()
      5. $CWD means Path.cwd()
   2. And you can also overwrite it with environment variables:
      1. ZIPAPPS_CACHE or UNZIP_PATH
   3. the unzip_path arg of zipapps.create_app
10. -cc, --pyc, --compile, --compiled
    1. Compile .py to .pyc for fast import, but zipapp does not work unless you unzip it(so NOT very useful).
    2. the compiled arg of zipapps.create_app
11. --cache-path, --source-dir, -cp
    1. The cache path of zipapps to store site-packages and includes files. If not set, will create and clean-up in TEMP dir automately.
    2. the cache_path arg of zipapps.create_app
12. --shell, -s
    1. Only while main is not set, used for shell=True in subprocess.run.
       1. very rarely used, because extra sub-process is not welcome
    2. the shell arg of zipapps.create_app
13. --main-shell, -ss
    1. Only for main is not null, call main with subprocess.Popen: python -c "import a.b;a.b.c()". This is used for psutil ImportError of DLL load.
       1. very rarely used too
    2. the main_shell arg of zipapps.create_app
14. --strict-python-path, -spp
    1. Boolean value. Ignore global PYTHONPATH, only use zipapps_cache and app.pyz.
    2. the ignore_system_python_path arg of zipapps.create_app
15. -b, --build-id
    1. The string to skip duplicate builds, it can be the paths of files/folders which splited by ",", then the modify time will be used as build_id. If build_id contains *, will use glob function to get paths. For example, you can set requirements.txt as your build_id by python3 -m zipapps -b requirements.txt -r requirements.txt when you use pyz as venv.
       1. very rarely used too too
    2. the build_id arg of zipapps.create_app
16. --zipapps, --env-paths
    1. Default --zipapps arg if it is not given while running. Support $TEMP/$HOME/$SELF/$PID/$CWD prefix.
17. --delay, -d, --lazy-pip, --lazy-install, --lazy-pip-install
    1. Install packages with pip while first running, which means requirements will not be install into pyz file.
18. --ensure-pip
    1. Add the ensurepip package to your pyz file, works for embed-python(windows) or other python versions without pip installed but lazy-install mode is enabled. [EXPERIMENTAL]
19. --layer-mode
    1. Layer mode for the serverless use case, __main__.py / ensure_zipapps.py / activate_zipapps.py files will not be set in this mode.
    2. --layer-mode-prefix
       1. Only work while --layer-mode is set, will move the files in the given prefix folder.
20. --clear-zipapps-cache, -czc
    1. Clear the zipapps cache folder after running, but maybe failed for .pyd/.so files.
21. --clear-zipapps-self, -czs
    1. Clear the zipapps pyz file self after running.
22. --chmod
    1. os.chmod(int(chmod, 8)) for unzip files with --chmod=777
       1. unix-like system only
23. --dump-config
    1. Dump zipapps build args into JSON string.
       1. A file path needed and - means stdout.
24. --load-config
    1. Load zipapps build args from a JSON file.
25. --freeze-reqs
    1. Freeze package versions of pip args with venv, output to the given file path.
       1. - equals to stdout
       2. logs will be redirect to stderr
    2. Based on pip + venv
       1. work folder is tempfile.TemporaryDirectory, prefix='zipapps_'
26. all the other (or unknown) args will be used by pip install
    1. such as -r requirements.txt
    2. such as bottle aiohttp
    3. the pip_args arg of zipapps.create_app

Runtime Args

available args while the .pyz is running

1. --zipapps
   1. including some other pyz into PYTHONPATH
   2. often be used as multiple venv combination
   3. for example
      1. build
         1. python3 -m zipapps -o six.pyz six
         2. python3 -m zipapps -o psutil.pyz -u AUTO psutil
         3. python3 -m zipapps -o bottle.pyz bottle
      2. run
         1. python3 six.pyz --zipapps=psutil.pyz,bottle.pyz -c "import psutil, bottle"
2. --activate-zipapps / --ensure-zipapps
   1. to ensure the zipapps_cache folder but do nothing
3. use environment variables to reset build args while running, and custom it with ENV_ALIAS arg
   1. the upper names are environment variables

   2.  'unzip': 'ZIPAPPS_UNZIP',
       'unzip_exclude': 'ZIPAPPS_UNZIP_EXCLUDE',
       'unzip_path': 'ZIPAPPS_CACHE',
       'ignore_system_python_path': 'STRICT_PYTHON_PATH',
       'python_version_slice': 'PYTHON_VERSION_SLICE',
       'clear_zipapps_cache': 'CLEAR_ZIPAPPS_CACHE',
       'clear_zipapps_self': 'CLEAR_ZIPAPPS_SELF',
       'unzip_chmod': 'UNZIP_CHMOD',
      

When to Use it?

1. Package your code(package or model) into one zipped file.

   1. Pure python code without any 3rd-party dependencies.

   2. Python code with 3rd-party dependencies installed together.

   3. Python code with requirements be not installed until running.

      1. [Recommended] The lazy install mode by the arg -d.

      2. The dependences will be installed at the first running(only once).

      3. This is cross-platform and cross-python-version for their independent cache paths.

2. Run with python interpreter from the venv path.

   1. which means the requirements(need to be unzipped) will be installed to the venv folder, not in pyz file.
   2. build your package into one pyz file with -m package.module:function -p /venv/bin/python.
   3. run the pyz file with /venv/bin/python app.pyz or ./app.pyz.

3. Rapidly deploy stateless applications

   1. Serverless
      1. with a ready layer
   2. Docker
      1. only built once for a Python environment
      2. wget http://S3_PATH/app.pyz && python3 app.pyz
   3. Spot instances
      1. AWS or Aliyun
   4. Hadoop-Streaming
      1. mapper & reducer scripts

4. Simple deployment towards different servers with jenkins, or other CI/CD tools.

   1. Easy to uploads a clean standalone zip file.

5. Share the app.pyzto your friends

   1. someone has python installed

      1. or embedded python

      2. or use nuitka

         1. zipapps with nuitka

6. Use as a requirements zip path, or some venv usages.

   1. inner the code

      1. import sys;sys.path.insert(0, 'app.pyz')

      2. with .so/.pyd?

         1. import activate_zipapps

   2. or run it directly

      1. python3 app.pyz script.py

7. Other usages need to be found, and enjoy yourself

Advanced Usage

Inspired by shiv and with the differences.

1. zipapps may not always create the cache folder.
   1. pure-python dependencies can be import directly without unzipped.
   2. unless your package includes the C language-based libraries or dynamic modules(.so/.pyd), such as psutil.
      1. use the arg -u=AUTO or -u=*
2. The default cache path is ./zipapps_cache instead of the HOME path.
3. One app name create cache folder only once.
4. You can install requirements with pip while first running(not packaging) by lazy install mode
   1. reducing your .pyz file size.
      1. cross-platform and cross-python-version
   2. python -m zipapps -c -d -a your-package -r requirements.txt
5. Mix multiple venv.pyz files together.
   1. python -m app.pyz --zipapps=bottle.pyz,requests.pyz
6. Freeze your requirements.txt
   1. python -m zipapps --freeze-reqs=requirements.lock -r requirements.txt

Click here read more

1. Package your script file with only built-ins functions.

1.1 Code of script.py

print('ok')

1.2 build the app.pyz

python3 -m zipapps -c -a script.py -m script -p /usr/bin/python3

1.3 run this app

python3 app.pyz

or

./app.pyz

ouput

ok

Details:

-c:
    compress files, 7.6KB => 3.3KB
-a:
    add the script file to app.pyz, so you can use it while running
-m:
    set the entry_point, also can be set as `-m script:main` as long as you has the main function
-p:
    set the shebang line, so you can use `./app.pyz` instead of `python3 app.pyz`

2. Package your package folder into one zip file.

2.1 The package example and the code of __main__.py

└── example
    ├── __init__.py
    └── __main__.py

def main():
    print('ok')


if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

2.2 build the example.pyz

python3 -m zipapps -c -a example -o example.pyz -m example.main:main -p /usr/bin/python3

2.3 Run with python3 example.pyz or ./example.pyz

output

ok

Details:

-m:
    set the entry_point with format like `package.model:function`
-o:
    set the output file path, you can set it some other paths like `/home/centos/example.abc` and run with `python3 /home/centos/example.abc`
no more new args.

3. Package your code with requirements (bottle).

3.1 The package example and the code of __main__.py

    └── example
        ├── __init__.py
        └── __main__.py

def main():
    import bottle
    print(bottle.__version__)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

3.2 build the example.pyz with requirements installed

python3 -m zipapps -c -a example -o example.pyz -m example.main:main bottle

3.3 Run with python3 example.pyz or ./example.pyz

Output

0.12.19

Details:

bottle:
    all the unhandled args (like `bottle`) will be used to `pip install`, so you can write `bottle` in requirements.txt and use like `-r requirements.txt`

WARNING: if the requirements have .pyd/.so files, you should unzip them while running, and the pure python libs like bottle or requests no need to unzip anything. Read the 4th paragraph for more info.

4. Package your code with the requirements which includes .pyd/.so files.

4.1 The package example and the code of __main__.py

└── example
    ├── __init__.py
    └── __main__.py

def main():
    import psutil
    print(psutil.__version__)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

4.2 build the example.pyz with requirements installed

python3 -m zipapps -c -a example -o example.pyz -m example.main:main -u AUTO -up TEMP/cache psutil

4.3 Run with python3 example.pyz or ./example.pyz

Output

5.8.0

Details:

-u:
    means the file or folder names you want to unzip while running. Here is the `AUTO`, will unzip the psutil package because of its .pyd or .so files included.
-up:
    the unzip path of cache folder. $TEMP/$HOME/$SELF/$PID/$CWD are the built-in runtime args, but for the stable usage you can ignore this arg then use `./zipapps_cache/example`. The cache will be refreshed while you rebuild this pyz.

WARNING: unzip path can be overwrited by export ZIPAPPS_CACHE=./xxx or export UNZIP_PATH=./xxx while running.

5. Package the requirements like a virtual environment without entry_point.

5.1 Code of script.py

import bottle, requests
print(bottle.__version__, requests.__version__)

5.2 build the venv.pyz

python3 -m zipapps -c -o venv.pyz -p /usr/bin/python3 bottle requests

5.3 Some use cases

5.3.1 use the venv.pyz like a middleware

python3 venv.pyz script.py

5.3.2 use the venv.pyz like the interpreter

./venv.pyz script.py

even like is also valid

python3 venv.pyz -c "import bottle,requests;print(bottle.__version__, requests.__version__)"

5.3.3 use the bottle lib of venv.pyz in your normal code

import sys
sys.path.append('path_to_venv/venv.pyz')
import bottle

print(bottle.__file__)

5.3.3 use the pstuil lib of venv.pyz in other normal code

python3 -m zipapps -c -o venv.pyz psutil

import sys
sys.path.append('path_to_venv/psutil_venv.pyz')
# need to activate the unzip action, there are 2 ways for the `.so/.pyd` libs
# 1. use the default activate name
import activate_zipapps
# 2. use a distinct lib name with file name for another venv file
sys.path.append('path_to_venv/lxml_venv.pyz')
import ensure_lxml_venv
# 2.1 or the old name
# import ensure_zipapps_lxml_venv


import psutil
import lxml

print(psutil.__file__)
print(lxml.__file__)

Output

0.12.19 2.25.1

Details:

No `-m` arg here, then the pyz file will do like an interpreter which contains the installed requirements.

So you can use it like this:
> python3 venv.pyz
>>> import bottle
>>> bottle.__file__

6. Using multiple venv pyz files for your pyz model.

6.1 Here is script.py again

import bottle, requests
print(bottle.__version__, requests.__version__)

6.2 Build the script.pyz

python3 -m zipapps -c -o script.pyz -a script.py -m script requests

6.3 Build the requests.pyz and bottle.pyz respectively

python3 -m zipapps -c -o requests.pyz requests

python3 -m zipapps -c -o bottle.pyz bottle

6.4 And now run the script.pyz with two requirements

python3 script.pyz --zipapps=bottle.pyz,requests.pyz

Output

0.12.19 2.25.1

Details:

--zipapps:
    This arg will help you run some zipapp with given venv.pyz files, the paths is separated by commas.

7. Package your code with lazy install mode, for a attempt of cross-platform.

7.1 Here is script.py again

import six
print(six.__file__)

7.2 Build the script.pyz, this is very fast without downloading and installing 3rd packages.

python3 -m zipapps -c -o script.pyz -a script.py -m script -d six

7.3 Run this .pyz file, and the requirements will be installed while first running.

python3 script.pyz

Output

Looking in indexes: https://pypi.xxx.com/simple/
Collecting six
Using cached https://xxx/packages/ee/ff/xxxx/six-1.15.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl (10 kB)
Installing collected packages: six
Successfully installed six-1.15.0
/tmp/zipapps_cache/script/_zipapps_lazy_pip/3.8/Linux/six.py

Details:

-d:
    Lazy install mode is useful for distributing your cross-platform apps.