Build the wheel you plan to release, inspect that exact archive, and compare its complete file list with an explicit list of what your project is supposed to ship. Then validate the hashes in its .dist-info/RECORD file. RECORD can help detect file-integrity problems, but it cannot tell you whether a file you intended to include is missing.
Build the wheel you will actually publish
Inspect the built .whl, not just the source tree: a build backend can transform files while creating a distribution. The Python Packaging User Guide shows building a wheel with the build frontend, for example python3 -m build --wheel source-tree-directory. See the Python Packaging User Guide for the current packaging workflow.
After reviewing the artifact, publish those same wheel files. If you rebuild, treat the newly created artifacts as unreviewed and repeat the inspection.
List the archive’s complete contents
A wheel is a ZIP-format archive, so its members can be listed with a ZIP utility or Python’s zipfile interface. Save the full paths for the exact wheel under review. The archive listing shows what is present; it does not judge whether those files are correct for your project. The wheel specification describes the archive format and layout.
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One way to print every path in a wheel is:
python -m zipfile -l dist/example.whlReplace dist/example.whl with the path to your built artifact. Keep the output with the release review so it can be compared against the intended contents.
Compare actual files with an expected-file list
Prepare a project-specific list of paths that should be installed: package modules, required package data, scripts, license files and distribution metadata, as applicable. Compare that list with the archive listing and investigate both missing expected paths and unexpected members.
This check answers two different questions:
- Is anything expected missing? For example, confirm that runtime data files your package needs are in the wheel at the paths your code expects.
- Did anything unintended get included? Look for development-only files or other content that should not ship in the installable distribution.
Wheels are intended to contain files installed for the distribution; source distributions commonly include tests and documentation that do not necessarily belong in wheels. Decide what is appropriate for your project rather than assuming every file in the repository should be packaged. The Python Packaging User Guide’s package formats discussion explains the distinction.
Review the wheel’s standard layout and metadata
Check that the archive’s top-level installable files and standardized metadata directories match expectations. A wheel normally includes a {distribution}-{version}.dist-info/ directory. It may also include a {distribution}-{version}.data/ directory for files installed into other installation-scheme locations. Confirm the names and contents rather than treating their presence as proof that the wheel is complete.
Review the key metadata files:
METADATA: distribution metadata, including project details and declared dependencies.WHEEL: wheel-format metadata, including compatibility information.RECORD: the archive’s file inventory, hashes and sizes.
Scripts and files destined for particular installation locations have wheel-specific placement rules; compare those paths with the wheel specification when reviewing a nontrivial layout.
Validate RECORD hashes—and understand their limits
RECORD is a CSV manifest of wheel paths, hashes and sizes. Under the wheel specification, every file other than RECORD must have a hash using SHA-256 or stronger. Installers verify recorded hashes against file contents during extraction. That makes hash validation useful for checking integrity: it can reveal a mismatch between a recorded digest and the corresponding file.
It is not a completeness test against your project’s intent. A wheel can have a consistent RECORD and still omit a required data file, because the manifest describes what is in the archive rather than what you meant to include. Check that the archive listing and RECORD paths make sense, validate recorded hashes, and separately compare the archive against your expected-file list. See the wheel specification for the manifest requirements.
Inspect each wheel variant separately
Wheel filenames include Python, ABI and platform compatibility tags. If a release contains distinct wheels for different interpreters, ABIs or platforms, inspect each archive independently. For every artifact, compare its complete path list with the expected contents, review its metadata and validate its recorded hashes. One wheel’s inventory does not establish that another variant contains the right files.
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The packaging guide documents Twine checks for distribution validation and README rendering. Run twine check as an additional release check, but do not use it in place of archive inspection: it is not a complete audit of whether every intended runtime file is present in the wheel. Follow the current packaging guide for the surrounding build and upload workflow.
Quick Recap
Pre-publish checklist
- Build the release wheel with the project’s declared backend through the
buildfrontend. - List and retain every path in the exact wheel artifact.
- Compare actual members with a deliberate expected-file list; resolve missing and unexpected paths.
- Review the
.dist-infoand any.datadirectories, plusMETADATA,WHEELandRECORD. - Check the
RECORDpaths and validate the hashes it records. - Repeat the inspection for each wheel variant in the release.
- Run
twine checkseparately, then publish the reviewed artifacts without rebuilding them.
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