Installation

This page explains how to add scaldys-project as a development dependency of your own Python project. scaldys-project is a build-time tool — it automates your Windows distribution pipeline but is never shipped as part of your application.

Note

If you are setting up a development environment for scaldys-project itself (cloning the repo, running tests, publishing), see Contributing instead.

Requirements

Python 3.13 or newer
uv (recommended) or pip
Windows (for the build windows commands; the tool itself installs on any platform)

Installing as a development dependency

With uv (recommended):

uv add --dev scaldys-project

With pip:

pip install --index-url https://pypi.org/simple/ scaldys-project

Optional extras

The core package installs only the CLI framework and Rich console output. Install the extras for the build features you need:

Extra	What it adds	Install command
`cython`	Cython and setuptools for compiling Python modules to `.pyd`	`uv add --dev "scaldys-project[cython]"`
`windows`	PyInstaller for bundling a standalone Windows executable	`uv add --dev "scaldys-project[windows]"`
`docs`	Sphinx and the RTD theme for building HTML documentation	`uv add --dev "scaldys-project[docs]"`

To install all extras at once:

uv add --dev "scaldys-project[cython,windows,docs]"

Using a local development version

If you are working on a fork or local patch of scaldys-project and want to test it from a consuming project before publishing, point that project directly at the local source tree:

uv add --dev "scaldys-project @ path/to/scaldys-project"

Or install in editable mode so changes to scaldys-project are reflected immediately without reinstalling:

uv add --dev --editable "path/to/scaldys-project"

Note

If you are contributing to scaldys-project itself (not just consuming it), see Contributing for the full development setup.

Verifying the installation

After installation the scaldys-project script is available in your environment:

scaldys-project --help

You should see the top-level help message listing the available subcommands.

External tool dependencies

Some build steps rely on external tools that must be installed separately and available on PATH (or in their standard installation locations):

Tool	Required for	Notes
Sphinx (`sphinx-build`)	`build docs`, `build all`	Installed via the `[docs]` extra
PyInstaller (`pyinstaller`)	`build windows`, `build all` — `pyinstaller` mode only	Installed via the `[windows]` extra
Inno Setup (`ISCC.exe`)	`build windows`, `build all` — `pyinstaller` and `pyruntime` modes	Download from jrsoftware.org; must be installed to the default `%ProgramFiles%` location or be on `PATH`

The build all command performs pre-flight checks before starting and reports clearly which tools are missing.