setuptools.find_packages() without parameters not excluding tests

[penguinpee]

Hi there,

It's me again with another setuptools.find_packages() mystery.

I'm trying to build a wheel for RTFDE from source. Upstream uses packages=setuptools.find_packages() and none of the keywords (packages, py_modules, ext_modules) preventing setuptools automatic discovery from doing its magic are present.

When I run python3 -m build --wheel --outdir foo/wheel, the wheel contains the tests/ directory and everything in it.

Options to work around it:

1. Remove empty tests/__init__.pay
2. Add exclude=['tests*'], to setuptools.find_packages()

According to the Automatic Discovery documentation neither should be necessary. What am I missing?

I tried this with setuptools 68.2.2 and 62.6.0. Both failed in correctly discovering the module.

[abravalheri]

According to the Automatic Discover should be necessary. What am I missing?

The docs suggest you leave out the packages config completely, so setuptools finds it out based on some heuristics (shold work for the majority of pckages). This paragraph from the docs is relevant:

Automatic discovery will only be enabled if you don’t provide any configuration for packages and py_modules. If at least one of them is explicitly set, automatic discovery will not take place.

If automatic discovery is not enough for your project structure, then you can use find_packages for customisation. Note, however, that when you use find_packages , you are in complete control: no heuristics are applied. So you have to be explicit about what you want to include or exclude. With find_packages or find_namespace_packages.

It is usually a good idea to start with include=["RTFDE*"] and then trim the excesses with exclude=.

[abravalheri]

The reason why it contains tests is because that folder is a conventional Python package that is scanned as intended by find_packages.

If the original author does not mean to distribute tests, then the configuration for packages= needs to be changed.

[penguinpee]

According to the Automatic Discover should be necessary. What am I missing?

The docs suggest you leave out the packages config completely, so setuptools finds it out based on some heuristics (shold work for the majority of pckages). This paragraph from the docs is relevant:

Automatic discovery will only be enabled if you don’t provide any configuration for packages and py_modules. If at least one of them is explicitly set, automatic discovery will not take place.

Thanks! That was it.

I seem to have a hard time remembering that leaving out packages=setuptools.find_packages() is a valid configuration and the wording in the documentation does not make that any easier.

I'll try to remember that. But maybe adding something like:

⚠️ If you want automatic package discovery, don't use packages_find() in $FILE!

The above in addition to the info box that mentions not defining any of the other parameters. Or maybe on top of that box. Having packages= seems the intuitive thing to do.

[penguinpee]

If the original author does not mean to distribute tests, then the configuration for packages= needs to be changed.

It's almost always a mistake. But one that happens very often. I can see why.