Configuration methods¶

cibuildwheel can either be configured using environment variables, or from config file such as pyproject.toml.

This page describes how to set options. For a full list of available options, see the options reference.

Environment variables¶

Environment variables can be set in your CI config. For example, to configure cibuildwheel to run tests, add the following YAML to your CI config file:

GitHub Actions

.github/workflows/*.yml (docs) (can be global, in job, or in step)

env:
  CIBW_TEST_REQUIRES: pytest
  CIBW_TEST_COMMAND: "pytest {project}/tests"

Azure Pipelines

azure-pipelines.yml (docs)

variables:
  CIBW_TEST_REQUIRES: pytest
  CIBW_TEST_COMMAND: "pytest {project}/tests"

Travis CI

.travis.yml (docs)

env:
  global:
    - CIBW_TEST_REQUIRES=pytest
    - CIBW_TEST_COMMAND="pytest {project}/tests"

CircleCI

.circleci/config.yml (docs)

jobs:
  job_name:
    environment:
      CIBW_TEST_REQUIRES: pytest
      CIBW_TEST_COMMAND: "pytest {project}/tests"

Gitlab CI

.gitlab-ci.yml (docs)

linux:
  variables:
    CIBW_TEST_REQUIRES: pytest
    CIBW_TEST_COMMAND: "pytest {project}/tests"

Cirrus CI

.cirrus.yml (docs)

env:
  CIBW_TEST_REQUIRES: pytest
  CIBW_TEST_COMMAND: "pytest {project}/tests"

Configuration file¶

You can configure cibuildwheel with a config file, such as pyproject.toml. Options have the same names as the environment variable overrides, but are placed in [tool.cibuildwheel] and are lower case, with dashes, following common TOML practice. Anything placed in subsections linux, windows, macos, or pyodide will only affect those platforms. Lists can be used instead of strings for items that are naturally a list. Multiline strings also work just like in the environment variables. Environment variables will take precedence if defined.

The example above using environment variables could have been written like this:

[tool.cibuildwheel]
test-requires = "pytest"
test-command = "pytest ./tests"

The complete set of defaults for the current version of cibuildwheel are shown below:

[tool.cibuildwheel]
build = "*"
skip = ""
test-skip = ""
enable = []

archs = ["auto"]
build-frontend = "default"
config-settings = {}
dependency-versions = "pinned"
environment = {}
environment-pass = []
build-verbosity = 0

before-all = ""
before-build = ""
# TOML doesn't support explicit NULLs; use ["\u0000"] as a sentinel value.
xbuild-tools = ["\u0000"]
repair-wheel-command = ""

test-command = ""
before-test = ""
test-sources = []
test-requires = []
test-extras = []
test-groups = []
test-environment = {}

container-engine = "docker"

pyodide-version = ""

manylinux-x86_64-image = "manylinux_2_28"
manylinux-i686-image = "manylinux_2_28"
manylinux-aarch64-image = "manylinux_2_28"
manylinux-ppc64le-image = "manylinux_2_28"
manylinux-s390x-image = "manylinux_2_28"
manylinux-armv7l-image = "manylinux_2_31"
manylinux-riscv64-image = "manylinux_2_39"
manylinux-pypy_x86_64-image = "manylinux_2_28"
manylinux-pypy_i686-image = "manylinux_2_28"
manylinux-pypy_aarch64-image = "manylinux_2_28"

musllinux-x86_64-image = "musllinux_1_2"
musllinux-i686-image = "musllinux_1_2"
musllinux-aarch64-image = "musllinux_1_2"
musllinux-ppc64le-image = "musllinux_1_2"
musllinux-s390x-image = "musllinux_1_2"
musllinux-armv7l-image = "musllinux_1_2"
musllinux-riscv64-image = "musllinux_1_2"


[tool.cibuildwheel.linux]
repair-wheel-command = "auditwheel repair -w {dest_dir} {wheel}"

[tool.cibuildwheel.macos]
repair-wheel-command = "delocate-wheel --require-archs {delocate_archs} -w {dest_dir} -v {wheel}"

[tool.cibuildwheel.windows]

[tool.cibuildwheel.android]

[tool.cibuildwheel.ios]

[tool.cibuildwheel.pyodide]

Tip

Static configuration works across all CI systems, and can be used locally if you run cibuildwheel --platform linux. This is preferred, but environment variables are better if you need to change per-matrix element (CIBW_BUILD is often in this category, for example), or if you cannot or do not want to change a pyproject.toml file. You can specify a different file to use with --config-file on the command line, as well.

Configuration overrides¶

One feature specific to the configuration files is the ability to override settings based on selectors. To use, add a tool.cibuildwheel.overrides array, and specify a select string, referencing the build identifier (not wheel name!). Then any options you set will only apply to items that match that selector. These are applied in order, with later matches overriding earlier ones if multiple selectors match. Environment variables always override static configuration.

A few of the options below have special handling in overrides. A different before-all will trigger a new container to launch on Linux, and cannot be overridden on macOS or Windows. Overriding the image on linux will also trigger new containers, one per image.

Some commands are not supported

The output-dir, build, skip, test_skip selectors, and architectures cannot be overridden.

You can specify a table of overrides in inherit={}, any list or table in this list will inherit from previous overrides or the main configuration. The valid options are "none" (the default), "append", and "prepend".

Examples:¶

[tool.cibuildwheel.linux]
before-all = "yum install mylib"
test-command = "echo 'installed'"

[[tool.cibuildwheel.overrides]]
select = "*-musllinux*"
before-all = "apk add mylib"

This example will override the before-all command on musllinux only, but will still run the test-command. Note the double brackets, this is an array in TOML, which means it can be given multiple times.

[tool.cibuildwheel]
# Normal options, etc.
manylinux-x86_64-image = "manylinux_2_34"

[[tool.cibuildwheel.overrides]]
select = "cp38-*"
manylinux-x86_64-image = "manylinux2014"

[[tool.cibuildwheel.overrides]]
select = "cp3{9,10}-*"
manylinux-x86_64-image = "manylinux_2_28"

This example will build CPython 3.8 wheels on manylinux2014, CPython 3.9-3.10 wheels on manylinux_2_28, and manylinux_2_34 wheels for any newer Python (like 3.10).

[tool.cibuildwheel]
environment = {FOO="BAR", "HAM"="EGGS"}
test-command = ["pyproject"]

[[tool.cibuildwheel.overrides]]
select = "cp311*"

inherit.test-command = "prepend"
test-command = ["pyproject-before"]

inherit.environment="append"
environment = {FOO="BAZ", "PYTHON"="MONTY"}

[[tool.cibuildwheel.overrides]]
select = "cp311*"
inherit.test-command = "append"
test-command = ["pyproject-after"]

This example will provide the command "pyproject-before && pyproject && pyproject-after" on Python 3.11, and will have environment = {FOO="BAZ", "PYTHON"="MONTY", "HAM"="EGGS"}.

Extending existing options¶

In the TOML configuration, you can choose how tables and lists are inherited. By default, all values are overridden completely ("none") but sometimes you'd rather "append" or "prepend" to an existing list or table. You can do this with the inherit table in overrides. For example, if you want to add an environment variable for CPython 3.11, without inherit you'd have to repeat all the original environment variables in the override. With inherit, it's just:

[[tool.cibuildwheel.overrides]]
select = "cp311*"
inherit.environment = "append"
environment.NEWVAR = "Added!"

For a table, "append" will replace a key if it exists, while "prepend" will only add a new key, older keys take precedence.

Lists are also supported (and keep in mind that commands are lists). For example, you can print a message before and after a wheel is repaired:

[[tool.cibuildwheel.overrides]]
select = "*"
inherit.repair-wheel-command = "prepend"
repair-wheel-command = "echo 'Before repair'"

[[tool.cibuildwheel.overrides]]
select = "*"
inherit.repair-wheel-command = "append"
repair-wheel-command = "echo 'After repair'"

As seen in this example, you can have multiple overrides match - they match top to bottom, with the config being accumulated. If you need platform-specific inheritance, you can use select = "*-????linux_*" for Linux, select = "*-win_*" for Windows, and select = "*-macosx_*" for macOS. As always, environment variables will completely override any TOML configuration.