delocate
Move macOS dynamic libraries into package
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you build or distribute Python wheels on macOS with compiled extensions. Delocate is the standard tool for making those wheels portable across machines. If you only install wheels or work on Linux, it is not needed. No known security vulnerabilities; actively maintained; low install friction.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- macOS only; requires Python 3.9 or later; wheels must contain compiled extensions with dynamic library dependencies to be useful.
- Low friction: pure Python wheel with three lightweight runtime dependencies (packaging, typing_extensions, macholib).
- Active maintenance with last commit 2026-05-25 and stable release status.
License · maintenance · safety
permissive license (permissive) — BSD 2-Clause permissive license; you can use, modify, and distribute delocate and wheels it processes freely, provided you retain the copyright notice and disclaimer.
last release 2025-01-30 (561 days) · last repo commit 2026-05-25 · 297 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 598,544 downloads/mo, #5,833 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install delocate
# List dynamic libraries a wheel depends on
delocate-listdeps scipy-0.14.0-cp34-cp34m-macosx_10_6_intel.whl
# Copy libraries into wheel and relink
delocate-wheel -w fixed_wheels scipy-0.14.0-cp34-cp34m-macosx_10_6_intel.whl- Whether delocate-merge (dual-architecture wheel combining) works with current macOS/Xcode toolchains.
- Performance impact of delocate-wheel on large wheels with many library dependencies.
What it is and what it does
Delocate is a macOS-specific build tool that solves the problem of distributing Python wheels containing compiled extensions that link to dynamic libraries outside the system paths. When you build a wheel on a machine with Homebrew or custom-compiled libraries, the wheel's extensions link to those libraries by absolute path—making the wheel fail on other machines that don't have them installed. Delocate analyzes the wheel, copies all non-system dynamic libraries into a `.dylibs` directory within the wheel, and rewrites the extension load paths to find them there instead.
The package provides four command-line tools: `delocate-listdeps` shows what libraries a wheel depends on, `delocate-path` relocates libraries in a directory tree, `delocate-wheel` processes a wheel file directly, and `delocate-merge` combines wheels built for different architectures (e.g., `x86_64` and `arm64`) into a single universal binary. It also validates that wheels contain the required architectures for compatibility with system Python and Python.org distributions.
Use it for
- Build and distribute a Scipy or NumPy wheel from a machine with Homebrew gfortran without requiring users to install gfortran.
- Verify that a wheel's compiled extensions and libraries have the correct architectures (x86_64, arm64) before release.
- Combine separately built x86_64 and arm64 wheels into a single universal2 wheel for macOS.
- Audit which external dynamic libraries a third-party wheel depends on before installation.
- Prepare wheels for PyPI distribution that will work on any macOS machine with Python 3.9+.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you build or distribute Python wheels on macOS with compiled extensions.
Delocate is the standard tool for making those wheels portable across machines. If you only install wheels or work on Linux, it is not needed. No known security vulnerabilities; actively maintained; low install friction.
Install
delocate on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction: pure Python wheel with three lightweight runtime dependencies (packaging, typing_extensions, macholib). Active maintenance with last commit 2026-05-25 and stable release status.
macOS only; requires Python 3.9 or later; wheels must contain compiled extensions with dynamic library dependencies to be useful.
License in practice
BSD 2-Clause permissive license; you can use, modify, and distribute delocate and wheels it processes freely, provided you retain the copyright notice and disclaimer.
Quickstart
pip install delocate
# List dynamic libraries a wheel depends on
delocate-listdeps scipy-0.14.0-cp34-cp34m-macosx_10_6_intel.whl
# Copy libraries into wheel and relink
delocate-wheel -w fixed_wheels scipy-0.14.0-cp34-cp34m-macosx_10_6_intel.whlVerify before relying
- Whether delocate-merge (dual-architecture wheel combining) works with current macOS/Xcode toolchains.
- Performance impact of delocate-wheel on large wheels with many library dependencies.
Package facts
| License | permissive license permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.9 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 3 packagespackagingtyping_extensionsmacholib |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 561 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 598,544 / month, #5,833 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableEnvironment :: ConsoleIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: BSD LicenseNatural Language :: EnglishOperating System :: MacOS :: MacOS XProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Topic :: Software Development :: Build ToolsTopic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python ModulesTyping :: Typed |
Evidence: delocate-0.13.0-py3-none-any.whl
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