---
id: flit-scm
version: "1.7.0"
license: unclear
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: abandoned
---

# flit-scm — A PEP 518 build backend that uses setuptools_scm to generate a version file from your version control system, then flit to build the package.

License: permissive · Maintenance: abandoned · Downloads: 218.7K/mo

## What it is and what it does

flit_scm is a build backend that sits between your project's pyproject.toml and the Python packaging system. It integrates setuptools_scm (which reads version tags from your Git history) with flit_core (which handles the actual package building). When you build your package, flit_scm orchestrates setuptools_scm to generate a version file, then passes control to flit_core to create the wheel or sdist.

You configure it by setting flit_scm as your build-backend in pyproject.toml, then customize setuptools_scm and flit behavior through their respective tool sections. This approach eliminates manual version bumping in source code—your version always comes from your VCS tags. However, the package has been abandoned since mid-2022, so it receives no updates or maintenance.

Use it for:

- Automate package versioning from Git tags without manually editing version strings in code.
- Build packages using flit while keeping version information synchronized with your repository's release tags.
- Set up CI/CD pipelines where version generation and package building happen in a single, declarative step via pyproject.toml.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

flit_scm is a PEP 518 build backend that combines setuptools_scm for version control-based versioning with flit_core for package building, configured via pyproject.toml.

No, unless you are maintaining an existing project already using it. The package is abandoned (last release 2022-07-07) and receives no maintenance or updates. For new projects, use setuptools_scm with flit_core directly, or choose a maintained build backend. If you must use it, accept that you will not receive security patches or compatibility fixes.

## Install

pip install flit-scm
uv add flit-scm
poetry add flit-scm

## Installing flit-scm

Before you install: Low install friction with three lightweight runtime dependencies (flit-core, setuptools_scm, tomli). However, the package is abandoned—last release was 2022-07-07, over 1499 days ago—so no active maintenance or bug fixes should be expected.

License in practice: Licensed under MIT (permissive), so you can use, modify, and distribute this package freely with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart:

# In pyproject.toml:
[build-system]
requires = ["flit_scm"]
build-backend = "flit_scm:buildapi"

[tool.setuptools_scm]
write_to = "src/_version.py"

# Then build with: pip install build && python -m build

Requires a Git repository (or other VCS) initialized in the project directory, since setuptools_scm derives the version from VCS tags.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package remains compatible with modern versions of setuptools_scm and flit_core, given its abandoned status.
- Whether VCS integration works reliably with current Git workflows and CI/CD systems.

## Package facts

- License: not declared (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: abandoned
- Downloads: 218.7K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

PEP 518 build backend, setuptools_scm version generation, flit build system, version control versioning, pyproject.toml build configuration, build-backend, version-control-integration

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