I have a Python package which I have zipped using zipfile.PyZipFile, so I now have a .zip containing only .pyc files and sub-packages for a particular version of Python.

I can manually place it into site-packages with a .pth file and it all works nicely.

I’d like to be able to automate this process, using the standard tools.

I used to have a pyproject.toml file which built a .pyd file with nuitka:

[build-system]
requires = ["setuptools", "wheel", "nuitka", "toml"]
build-backend = "nuitka.distutils.Build"

I don’t want to build a .pyd file now. It’s too large, takes too long to build, and runs slower. I only want minimal obfuscation to deter casual tinkering by clients, I know decompyle-ation is possible, and it doesn’t matter to me.

I think what I need is little different to compiling and distributing a .pyd file, but I don’t know where to insert my .zip into the build process.

I’m not interested in why I shouldn’t be trying to do this.

As with most things software, the question isn’t if something is possible, but how it is achievable.