---
id: whey
version: "0.1.1"
license: Copyright (c) 2021 Dominic Davis-Foster Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in… (full text in the JSON record)
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# whey — A simple Python wheel builder for simple projects.

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 705.0K/mo

## What it is and what it does

whey is a lightweight Python wheel builder designed as a PEP 517 build backend for projects that use PEP 621 metadata in pyproject.toml. It creates wheels according to PEP 427 and handles type hint files (py.typed and .pyi stubs) automatically. The package is actively maintained, supports Python 3.6 through 3.12 on both CPython and PyPy, and carries no known security vulnerabilities.

The package targets developers building simple to moderately complex Python projects who want a straightforward, standards-compliant build system without the overhead of larger frameworks. It integrates directly into the build process via pyproject.toml configuration and can optionally validate README rendering for PyPI compatibility.

Use it for:

- Use it as your build backend in pyproject.toml for projects that follow PEP 621 metadata standards
- Build wheels with automatic type hint file handling for libraries that ship .pyi stubs or py.typed markers
- Validate that your README will render correctly on PyPI before uploading (with the readme extra)
- Replace setuptools or other build backends in simple projects that don't need extensive customization

## Worth the install?

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

whey is a PEP 517 build backend that creates Python wheels from projects using PEP 621 metadata, handling type hint files and supporting simple project structures.

Yes, if you are building a simple Python project and want a lightweight, standards-compliant PEP 517 build backend. The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, uses a permissive MIT license, and integrates cleanly via pyproject.toml. It is not worth installing if you need advanced build customization or are already committed to another build system.

## Install

pip install whey
uv add whey
poetry add whey

## Installing whey

Before you install: Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel distribution. Actively maintained as of July 2026 with recent commits. Depends on 11 runtime packages including packaging, click, and pyproject-parser.

License in practice: MIT License permits unrestricted use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions—suitable for any project type.

Quickstart:

# Install whey
pip install whey

# Configure in pyproject.toml
[build-system]
requires = ["whey"]
build-backend = "whey"

# Build a wheel
python -m build

Requires Python 3.6.1 or later. The build-system configuration must be present in pyproject.toml following PEP 621 metadata format.

Verify before relying:

- Whether whey handles all common packaging scenarios or is limited to 'simple projects' as described
- Performance characteristics when building large projects or monorepos
- Comparison of feature completeness versus other PEP 517 backends

## Package facts

- License: Copyright (c) 2021 Dominic Davis-Foster Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in… (full text in the JSON record) (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 705.0K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

python wheel builder, pep 517 build backend, pep 621 metadata, python packaging tool, wheel creation, build system, python distribution builder, build-backend, pep-517, wheel-builder

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