cmake

What it is and what it does

cmake is a Python wheel distribution of CMake 4.4.2, the open-source build configuration tool. It bundles the cmake, ccmake, cpack, and ctest command-line tools and makes them available on PATH after a simple pip install, eliminating the need to download and configure CMake separately on each platform. The package is designed for both interactive use and as a build-time dependency declared in pyproject.toml or setup.py.

It covers multiple platforms and architectures through pre-built binary wheels: macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon), Linux (x86_64, i686, aarch64, ppc64le, s390x, armv7l, riscv64), Windows (x86_64, x86, ARM64), and musl-based systems. Because it has no runtime Python dependencies, installation is straightforward and does not pull in additional packages. The project is actively maintained by the scikit-build community and released under permissive licenses (Apache 2.0 for the distribution, BSD 3-clause for CMake itself).

Use it for:

• Declare cmake as a build-system dependency in pyproject.toml to ensure a consistent CMake version across CI/CD pipelines and developer machines.
• Use ctest to run and report on unit tests in C/C++/Fortran projects without requiring a separate CMake installation.
• Use cpack to generate platform-specific installers for C/C++ extensions in Python projects.
• Cross-compile projects for multiple architectures by invoking cmake with target-specific toolchain files.

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

Distributes CMake 4.4.2 as a Python package, making the cmake, ccmake, cpack, and ctest executables available on PATH for cross-platform build automation.

Yes. cmake is a mature, actively maintained distribution of a standard build tool with no runtime dependencies, permissive dual licensing, and broad platform coverage. Install it if your project needs CMake as a build-time dependency or if you want to avoid separate CMake installation complexity. Verify that CMake 4.4.2 meets your project's requirements.

Install

cmake on PyPI

pip install cmake

uv add cmake

poetry add cmake

Installing cmake

Before you install

Medium install friction due to platform-specific binary wheels across many architectures. Actively maintained with a release 10 days ago; no runtime dependencies simplifies integration.

License in practice

Dual-licensed under Apache 2.0 (permissive) for the Python distribution and BSD 3-clause for CMake itself—both OSI-approved and impose no restrictions on derivative works or commercial use.

Quickstart

pip install cmake

Then use cmake, ccmake, cpack, or ctest from the command line, or declare it in pyproject.toml:

[build-system]
requires = ["cmake"]

ccmake is not included on Windows; requires Python >=3.8.

Verify before relying

• Whether CMake 4.4.2 is current enough for your project's build requirements.
• Performance or compatibility implications of using the packaged CMake versus a separately installed version.

Package facts

Evidence: cmake-4.4.2-py3-none-macosx_10_10_universal2.whl; cmake-4.4.2-py3-none-manylinux2014_aarch64.manylinux_2_17_aarch64.whl; cmake-4.4.2-py3-none-manylinux2014_i686.manylinux_2_17_i686.whl; cmake-4.4.2-py3-none-manylinux2014_ppc64le.manylinux_2_17_ppc64le.whl; cmake-4.4.2-py3-none-manylinux2014_s390x.manylinux_2_17_s390x.whl; cmake-4.4.2-py3-none-manylinux2014_x86_64.manylinux_2_17_x86_64.whl; cmake-4.4.2-py3-none-manylinux_2_31_armv7l.whl; cmake-4.4.2-py3-none-manylinux_2_31_riscv64.whl; cmake-4.4.2-py3-none-musllinux_1_2_aarch64.whl; cmake-4.4.2-py3-none-musllinux_1_2_armv7l.whl; cmake-4.4.2-py3-none-musllinux_1_2_i686.whl; cmake-4.4.2-py3-none-musllinux_1_2_ppc64le.whl; cmake-4.4.2-py3-none-musllinux_1_2_riscv64.whl; cmake-4.4.2-py3-none-musllinux_1_2_s390x.whl; cmake-4.4.2-py3-none-musllinux_1_2_x86_64.whl; cmake-4.4.2-py3-none-win32.whl; cmake-4.4.2-py3-none-win_amd64.whl; cmake-4.4.2-py3-none-win_arm64.whl

Keywords: CMake, build, c++, fortran, cross-platform, cross-compilation

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