---
id: cmake
version: "4.4.2"
license: Apache 2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# cmake — CMake is an open-source, cross-platform family of tools designed to build, test and package software

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 18.0M/mo

## 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 above — 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

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

- License: Apache 2.0 (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: medium
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 18.0M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

cmake python package, cross-platform build tool, cmake executable pip install, cmake ctest cpack, build automation python, c++ project configuration, cmake for developers, build-automation, cross-platform, c-cpp-fortran

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/cmake) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/cmake/)