Distribution Archives

This project produces tarball archives containing Python distributions.

Full Archive

The canonical output of this project’s build system are .tar.zst (zstandard compressed tarballs) files.

All files within the tar are prefixed with python/.

Within the python/ directory are the following well-known paths:

PYTHON.json

Machine readable file describing this Python distribution.

See the PYTHON.json File section for the format of this file.

By convention, the build/ directory contains artifacts from building this distribution (object files, libraries, etc) and the install/ directory contains a working, self-contained Python installation of this distribution. The PYTHON.json file should be read to determine where specific entities are located within the archive.

PYTHON.json File

The PYTHON.json file describes the Python distribution in a machine readable manner. This file is meant to be opened by downstream consumers of this distribution so that they may learn things about the distribution without having to resort to heuristics.

The file contains a JSON map. This map has the following keys:

version

Version number of the file format. Currently 7.

target_triple

A target triple defining the platform and architecture of the machine that binaries target. We use Rust’s set of defined targets for values. Run rustup target list to see potential values.

Example values are x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu, x86_64-unknown-linux-musl, x86_64-pc-windows-msvc, and x86_64-apple-darwin.

(Version 5 or above only.)

optimizations

String indicating what optimization profile has been applied to the build.

Known values include debug, noopt, pgo, lto, and pgo+lto.

(Deprecated in version 8 in favor of build_options.)

build_options

String indicating what build options were used. Options are separated by a +.

Known values include debug, noopt, pgo, lto, and freethreading.

(Version 8 or above only.)

os

Target operating system for the distribution. e.g. linux, macos, or windows.

(Deprecated in version 5 in favor of target_triple.)

arch

Target architecture for the distribution. e.g. x86 (32-bit) or x86_64 (64-bit).

(Deprecated in version 5 in favor of target_triple.)

python_tag

The PEP 425 Python Tag value. e.g. cp313.

(Version 5 or above only.)

python_abi_tag

The PEP 425 ABI Tag value. e.g. cp313m.

This may be null if the distribution’s platform doesn’t expose the concept of an ABI tag.

(Version 5 or above only.)

python_platform_tag

The PEP 425 Platform Tag value. e.g. linux_x86_64.

(Version 5 or above only.)

python_flavor

Type of Python distribution. e.g. cpython.

(Deprecated in version 5 in favor of PEP 425 tags.)

python_implementation_cache_tag

Tag used by import machinery to derive filenames for bytecode files.

This is the value exposed by sys.implementation.cache_tag

(Version 5 or above only.)

python_implementation_hex_version

Hexidecimal expression of implementation version.

This is the value exposed by sys.implementation.hexversion.

(Version 5 or above only.)

python_implementation_name

Name of Python implementation.

This is the value exposed by sys.implementation.name.

(Version 5 or above only.)

python_implementation_version

Array of version components of Python implementation.

This is the value exposed by sys.implementation.version.

Unlike sys.implementation.version, all elements are strings, not a mix of numbers and strings.

(Version 5 or above only.)

python_version

Version of Python distribution. e.g. 3.13.0.

python_major_minor_version

X.Y version string consisting of Python major and minor version.

(Version 5 or above only.)

python_paths

Mapping of sysconfig path names to paths in the distribution.

Keys are values like stdlib and include. Values are relative paths within the distribution.

See https://docs.python.org/3/library/sysconfig.html#installation-paths for the meaning of keys.

(Version 5 or above only.)

python_paths_abstract

Mapping of sysconfig path names with placeholder values.

See https://docs.python.org/3/library/sysconfig.html#installation-paths for the meaning of keys.

This is equivalent to calling sysconfig.get_paths(expand=False).

(Version 6 or above only.)

python_config_vars

Mapping of string configuration names to string values.

This is equivalent to sysconfig.get_config_vars() with all values normalized to strings.

Many configuration values may represent state as it existed in the build environment and aren’t appropriate for the run-time environment on a different system.

(Version 6 or above only.)

python_exe

Relative path to main Python interpreter executable.

python_include

Relative path to include path for Python headers. If this path is on the compiler’s include path, #include <Python.h> should work.

(Deprecated in version 5 in favor of python_paths.)

python_stdlib

Relative path to Python’s standard library (where .py and resource files are located).

(Deprecated in version 5 in favor of python_paths.)

python_stdlib_platform_config

Relative path to a config-<platform> directory in the standard library containing files used to embed Python in a binary.

This is a standard directory present in POSIX Python installations and is not specific to this project.

The key may be absent if no platform config directory exists.

(Version 5 or above only.)

python_stdlib_test_packages

Array of strings of Python packages that define tests. (Version 4 or above only.)

python_suffixes

A map defining file suffixes for various Python file types. Each entry in the map is an array of strings.

The map has the following keys.

bytecode

Suffixes for bytecode modules. Corresponds to importlib.machinery.BYTECODE_SUFFIXES. e.g. [".pyc"].

debug_bytecode

Suffixes for debug bytecode modules. Corresponds to importlib.machinery.DEBUG_BYTECODE_SUFFIXES. e.g. [".pyc"].

extension

Suffixes for extension modules. Corresponds to importlib.machinery.EXTENSION_SUFFIXES. e.g. [".cpython-313-x86_64-linux-gnu.so", ".abi3.so", ".so"].

optimized_bytecode

Suffixes for optimized bytecode modules. Corresponds to importlib.machinery.OPTIMIZED_BYTECODE_SUFFIXES. e.g. [".pyc"].

source

Suffixes for source modules. Corresponds to importlib.machinery.SOURCE_SUFFIXES. e.g. [".py"].

(Version 5 or above only.)

python_bytecode_magic_number

Magic number to use for bytecode files, expressed as a hexidecimal string.

(Version 5 or above only.)

libpython_link_mode

How libpython is linked. Values can be one of the following:

static

Statically linked.

shared

Dynamically linked. (A libpythonXY shared library will be part of the distribution.)

(Version 5 or above only.)

link_mode

Alias of libpython_link_mode.

(Version 4 or above only. Deprecated in version 5.)

python_symbol_visibility

Defines how Python symbols are defined in binaries.

global-default

(UNIX only.) Symbols are defined as global and have default binding, making them visible outside their defining component.

dllexport

(Windows only.) Symbols are exported via __declspec(dllexport), making them visible to external libraries.

(Version 5 or above only.)

python_extension_module_loading

Defines support for loading Python extension modules.

The value is an array of strings denoting support for various loading mechanisms.

Note that downstream consumers reconstructing a new binary from object files or a static library can alter support depending on how that binary is linked.

The special values are as follows.

builtin

Supports loading of builtin extension modules compiled into the binary. (This should always be present.)

shared-library

Supports loading of extension modules defined as shared libraries. e.g. from .so or .pyd files.

(Version 5 or above only.)

apple_sdk_canonical_name

Optional canonical name of Apple SDK used to build.

Should only be present for target triples with apple in them.

The canonical name can be used to find a copy of this SDK on another machine.

(Version 7 or above only.)

apple_sdk_platform

Optional name of the platform of the Apple SDK used to build.

Should only be present for target triples with apple in them.

e.g. macosx

(Version 7 or above only.)

apple_sdk_version

Optional version of the Apple SDK used to build.

Should only be present for target triples with apple in them.

If relinking build artifacts, ideally this exact SDK version is used. Newer versions will likely work. Older versions or Clang toolchains associated with older versions may not.

(Version 7 or above only.)

apple_sdk_deployment_target

Optional version of the Apple SDK deployment target used to build.

This effectively establishes a minimum version of the target operating system this binary is purportedly compatible with.

(Version 7 or above only.)

crt_features

Describes C Runtime features/requirements for binaries.

The value is an array of strings denoting various properties.

The special string values are as follows.

glibc-dynamic

Binaries link dynamically against glibc.

glibc-max-symbol-version:N

Denotes the max symbol version seen in glibc versioned symbols.

This effectively advertises the oldest version of glibc that binaries support and indirectly advertises the oldest Linux distributions binaries can run on.

static

Binaries link the CRT statically.

vcruntime:N

Binaries link against the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Runtime, version N. N is a string like 140, which denotes the version component in a vcruntimeXYZ.dll file.

libSystem

Binaries link against libSystem.B.dylib, which is the mega library backing a lot of systems-level functionality in macOS.

(Version 5 or above only.)

run_tests

The path to a Python script to run the test harness for this distribution.

(Version 5 or above only.)

build_info

A map describing build configuration and artifacts for this distribution.

See the build_info Data section below.

licenses

Array of strings containing the license shortname identifiers from the SPDX license list (https://spdx.org/licenses/) for the Python distribution.

(Version 2 or above only.)

license_path

Path to a text file containing the license for this Python distribution.

(Version 2 or above only.)

tcl_library_path

Relative path to location of tcl library files. The path should be a directory tree containing tcl files to support the tkinter extension. This will include a subset of the library files provided by the tcl, tk, and tix packages.

This points to the root directory containing tcl resources. Actual tcl resources are in sub-directories underneath, as identified by tcl_library_paths.

(Version 3 or above only.)

tcl_library_paths

Array of relative paths holding tcl library files relative to tcl_library_path.

Because tcl_library_path can be shared with other resources (e.g. on UNIX the path is typically install/lib, which holds system libraries as well), distributions may advertise the list of directories under tcl_library_path actually containing tcl resources.

(Version 5 or above only.)

build_info Data

The build_info key in the PYTHON.json file describes build artifacts in the Python distribution. The primary goal of the data is to give downstream distribution consumers enough details to integrate build artifacts into their own build systems. This includes the ability to produce a Python binary with a custom set of built-in extension modules.

This map has the following keys:

core

A map describing the core Python distribution (essentially libpython).

objs

An array of paths to object files constituting the Python core distribution.

Core object files are typically object files that are linked together to create libpython.

links

An array of linking requirement maps. (See below for data format.)

shared_lib

Path to a shared library representing libpython. May not be defined. (Version 4 or above only.)

static_lib

Path to a static library representing libpython. May not be defined. (Version 4 or above only.)

inittab_object

Path to object file defining _PyImport_Inittab, which defines built-in extension modules.

(Version 5 or above only.)

inittab_source

Path to source code file that defines _PyImport_Inittab. On CPython, this will point to a config.c file.

(Version 5 or above only.)

inittab_cflags

Array of strings constituting compiler flags to use when compiling inittab_source.

(Version 5 or above only.)

extensions

A map of extension names to an array of maps describing candidate extensions.

Extensions are non-core/non-essential parts of the Python distribution that are frequently built as standalone entities.

Names in this map denote the name of the extension module.

Values are arrays of maps. Each map represents a potential candidate providing the extension. There is frequently only a single extension candidate. Multiple candidates can occur if there are e.g. varying libraries an extension can be linked against to supply underlying functionality.

Each map has the following keys:

in_core

Boolean indicating if this extension is defined by the core distribution.

If true, object files should be in the ['core']['objs'] array, not the objs array in this map.

Downstream consumers should key off this value to determine how to assemble this extension’s code into a new distribution.

This field was introduced to support Windows, where CPython’s Visual Studio project files define various extensions as part of the project providing libpython. This is in contrast to make-based builds, where the Modules/Setup.* files treat each extension as separate entities.

init_fn

The name of the extension module initialization function for this extension.

The string value may be NULL, which may need special handling by consumers.

licenses

Array of strings containing the license shortname identifiers from the SPDX license list (https://spdx.org/licenses/).

If this field is missing, licenses are unknown. Empty array denotes no known licenses.

The license applies to additional libraries needed by this extension, not the extension itself, as extensions should be licensed the same as the Python distribution.

(Version 2 or above only.)

license_path

Paths to text files containing the licenses for this extension.

(Version 2 or above only.)

license_public_domain

Bool indicating that the license for the extension is in the public domain.

There is no SPDX identifier for public domain. And we want to be explicit about something being in the public domain because of the legal implications.

(Version 2 or above only.)

links

An array of linking requirement maps. (See below for data format.)

objs

An array of paths to object files constituting this extension module.

required

Boolean indicating if this extension is required to initialize the Python interpreter.

shared_lib

The path to a shared library defining this extension module. May not be defined. (Version 4 or above only.)

static_lib

The path to a static library defining this extension module. May not be defined.

variant

String describing this extension variant. Downstream consumers can key off this value to choose an appropriate extension variant when there are multiple options.

object_file_format

Denotes the data format for object files. Can be one of the following values.

elf

Standard object file format for Linux.

llvm-bitcode:N

Files are LLVM bitcode produced with LLVM version N. e.g. llvm-bitcode:10.0.0.

This variant is typically seen for builds using LTO.

coff

Standard object file format for Windows.

mach-o

Standard object file format for macOS.

(Version 5 or newer only.)

Each entry in a links array is a map with the following keys:

name

Name of the library being linked against.

path_static

Path to the static version of this library, if available in the distribution.

path_dynamic

Path to the dynamic version of this library, if available in the distribution.

framework

Denotes that the link target is a macOS framework.

system

Denotes that the link target is a system library.

System libraries are typically passed into the linker by name only and found using default library search paths.

Install Only Archive

At release time, this project produces tar files containing just the Python installation, without the PYTHON.json or build files from the full .tar.zst archives. These are referred to as install only archives.

An install only archive is created by taking a .tar.zst and rewriting python/install/* to python/*. All files not under python/install/* are not carried forward to the install only archive.

The fastest available build for a given target is used for the install only archive. Builds are generally preferred in the following order: pgo+lto, pgo, lto, noopt.

For maximum compatibility, gzipped compressed versions of the install only archives are made available.