build

Build a Python package

$ python -m build

$ python -m build --sdist

$ python -m build --wheel

$ python -m build --outdir [dist/]

$ python -m build -v

$ python -m build --no-isolation

python -m build [options] [sourcedirectory_]

build is the standard Python package builder that creates source distributions (sdist) and wheels from Python projects. It is the recommended way to build packages for distribution on PyPI, replacing direct calls to setup.py sdist bdist_wheel.
By default, build creates an isolated virtual environment with only build dependencies installed, ensuring reproducible builds. It reads configuration from pyproject.toml and delegates to the configured build backend (setuptools, flit, hatch, etc.).
The output is placed in a dist/ directory containing a .tar.gz source distribution and a .whl wheel file. These can be uploaded to PyPI with twine or installed directly with pip.

--sdist

Build a source distribution only.

Build a wheel only.

Output directory for built packages (default: dist/).

Build without creating isolated environment.

Skip dependency verification.

Pass settings to the build backend.

Increase output verbosity.

Short form of --config-setting.

Requires a pyproject.toml file with build system configuration. The isolated build environment downloads dependencies on each build; use --no-isolation for faster repeated builds during development. Some legacy packages without proper pyproject.toml may fail to build.

The build package was created by the Python Packaging Authority (PyPA) as part of modernizing Python packaging. It was first released in 2020 to provide a simple, standardized way to build packages according to PEP 517 and PEP 518 specifications. It replaced the older practice of running python setup.py commands directly, supporting any PEP 517 compliant build backend.

pip(1), twine(1), setuptools(1), flit(1), hatch(1)