Refactor wheel building script

.github/actions/build-macos/action.yml

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ runs:
       shell: bash
       run: |
         echo "::group::Install dependencies"
-        uv pip install 'build<=1.4.2' setuptools
+        uv pip install build setuptools
         echo "::endgroup::"
 
     - name: Build wheel

.github/actions/build-wheel/action.yml

@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ runs:
       shell: bash
       run: |
         echo "::group::Install dependencies"
-        uv pip install 'build<=1.4.2' setuptools
+        uv pip install build setuptools
         if ${{ runner.os == 'Linux' }} ; then
           uv pip install auditwheel patchelf
         fi
@@ -50,8 +50,7 @@ runs:
         MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET: ${{ inputs.macos-target }}
       run: |
         echo "::group::Build frontend package"
-        python setup.py clean --all
-        MLX_BUILD_STAGE=1 python -m build -w
+        MLX_BUILD_FRONTEND_PACKAGE=1 python -m build -w
         echo "::endgroup::"
 
     - name: Post-process frontend package
@@ -77,8 +76,8 @@ runs:
         MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET: ${{ inputs.macos-target }}
       run: |
         echo "::group::Build backend package"
+        MLX_BUILD_BACKEND_PACKAGE=1 python -m build -w
         python setup.py clean --all
-        MLX_BUILD_STAGE=2 python -m build -w
         echo "::endgroup::"
 
     - name: Post-process backend package

.github/actions/setup/action.yml

@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ runs:
         echo "::group::Install common dependencies"
         sudo apt-get update
         sudo apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
-            gdb g++ ninja-build zip \
+            gdb g++ ninja-build unzip \
             libblas-dev liblapack-dev liblapacke-dev \
             openmpi-bin openmpi-common libopenmpi-dev
         echo "::endgroup::"
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ runs:
       shell: bash
       run: |
         echo "::group::Install macOS dependencies"
+        brew trust aws/tap # suppress warning in github actions
         brew install openmpi
         xcodebuild -showComponent MetalToolchain
         echo "::endgroup::"

.github/workflows/release.yml

@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           cmake-args: ${{ steps.setup.outputs.cmake-args }}
           build-backend: false
+      - run: unzip -l wheelhouse/*.whl
       - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
         with:
           name: frontend-${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}-py${{ matrix.python-version }}
@@ -127,6 +128,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           cmake-args: ${{ steps.setup.outputs.cmake-args }}
           build-frontend: false
+      - run: unzip -l wheelhouse/*.whl
       - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
         with:
           name: backend-${{ matrix.toolkit }}-${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}
@@ -168,6 +170,8 @@ jobs:
           macos-target: '26.2'
           cmake-args: ${{ steps.setup.outputs.cmake-args }}
           build-backend: ${{ matrix.python-version == '3.10' }}
+      - name: Display content of the wheels
+        run: for WHEEL in wheelhouse/*.whl; do unzip -l $WHEEL; echo; done
       - name: Upload frontend packages
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
         with:

setup.py

@@ -53,7 +53,22 @@ def get_version():
     return version
 
 
-build_stage = int(os.environ.get("MLX_BUILD_STAGE", 0))
+# Release builds for PyPi are separated into 2 packages:
+#
+# Frontend package:
+#  - Triggered with `MLX_BUILD_FRONTEND_PACKAGE=1`
+#  - Include everything except backend-specific binaries (e.g. libmlx.so, mlx.metallib, etc)
+#  - Wheel has Python ABI and platform tags
+#  - Wheel should be built for the cross-product of python version and platforms
+#  - Package name is "mlx" and it depends on backend packages (e.g. mlx-metal, mlx-cuda)
+# Backend package:
+#  - Triggered with `MLX_BUILD_BACKEND_PACKAGE=1`
+#  - Include headers and backend binaries.
+#  - Wheel has only platform tags
+#  - Wheel should be built only for different platforms
+#  - Package name is back-end specific, e.g mlx-metal, mlx-cuda
+build_frontend = int(os.environ.get("MLX_BUILD_FRONTEND_PACKAGE", 0))
+build_backend = int(os.environ.get("MLX_BUILD_BACKEND_PACKAGE", 0))
 build_macos = platform.system() == "Darwin"
 build_cuda = "MLX_BUILD_CUDA=ON" in os.environ.get("CMAKE_ARGS", "")
 
@@ -88,17 +103,9 @@ def build_extension(self, ext: CMakeExtension) -> None:
         if not build_temp.exists():
             build_temp.mkdir(parents=True)
 
-        install_prefix = extdir
-        pybind_out_dir = extdir
-        if build_stage == 1:
-            # Don't include MLX libraries in the wheel
-            install_prefix = build_temp
-        elif build_stage == 2:
-            # Don't include Python bindings in the wheel
-            pybind_out_dir = build_temp
         cmake_args = [
-            f"-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX={install_prefix}",
-            f"-DMLX_PYTHON_BINDINGS_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY={pybind_out_dir}",
+            f"-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX={extdir}",
+            f"-DMLX_PYTHON_BINDINGS_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY={extdir}",
             f"-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE={cfg}",
             f"-DPython_EXECUTABLE={sys.executable}",
             "-DMLX_BUILD_PYTHON_BINDINGS=ON",
@@ -113,8 +120,7 @@ def build_extension(self, ext: CMakeExtension) -> None:
         if "CMAKE_ARGS" in os.environ:
             cmake_args += [item for item in os.environ["CMAKE_ARGS"].split(" ") if item]
 
-        # For release wheel force building for all supported arches.
-        if build_stage == 2 and build_cuda:
+        if build_backend and build_cuda:
             # Last arch is always real and virtual for forward-compatibility
             cuda_archs = [
                 "75-real",
@@ -191,11 +197,35 @@ def run(self):
 class MLXBdistWheel(bdist_wheel):
     def get_tag(self) -> tuple[str, str, str]:
         impl, abi, plat_name = super().get_tag()
-        if build_stage == 2:
+        if build_backend:
             impl = self.python_tag
             abi = "none"
         return (impl, abi, plat_name)
 
+    def write_wheelfile(self, *args, **kwargs) -> None:
+        super().write_wheelfile(*args, **kwargs)
+
+        mlx_dir = Path(self.bdist_dir, "mlx")
+
+        def is_backend_file(file):
+            if file.is_relative_to(Path(mlx_dir, "lib")):
+                return True
+            if file.is_relative_to(Path(mlx_dir, "include")):
+                return True
+            if file.is_relative_to(Path(mlx_dir, "share")):
+                return True
+            if file.suffix == ".dll":
+                return True
+            return False
+
+        if build_frontend or build_backend:
+            for file in Path(self.bdist_dir).rglob("*"):
+                if not file.is_relative_to(mlx_dir) or not file.is_file():
+                    continue
+                bf = is_backend_file(file)
+                if (build_frontend and bf) or (build_backend and not bf):
+                    file.unlink()
+
 
 # Read the content of README.md
 with open(Path(__file__).parent / "README.md", encoding="utf-8") as f:
@@ -260,24 +290,8 @@ def get_tag(self) -> tuple[str, str, str]:
     }
     install_requires = []
 
-    # Release builds for PyPi are in two stages.
-    # Each stage should be run from a clean build:
-    #   python setup.py clean --all
-    #
-    # Stage 1:
-    #  - Triggered with `MLX_BUILD_STAGE=1`
-    #  - Include everything except backend-specific binaries (e.g. libmlx.so, mlx.metallib, etc)
-    #  - Wheel has Python ABI and platform tags
-    #  - Wheel should be built for the cross-product of python version and platforms
-    #  - Package name is mlx and it depends on subpackage in stage 2 (e.g. mlx-metal)
-    # Stage 2:
-    #  - Triggered with `MLX_BUILD_STAGE=2`
-    #  - Includes only backend-specific binaries (e.g. libmlx.so, mlx.metallib, etc)
-    #  - Wheel has only platform tags
-    #  - Wheel should be built only for different platforms
-    #  - Package name is back-end specific, e.g mlx-metal
-    if build_stage != 2:
-        if build_stage == 1:
+    if not build_backend:
+        if build_frontend:
             install_requires.append(
                 f'mlx-metal=={version}; platform_system == "Darwin"'
             )