setuptools version
82.0.1
Python version
Python 3.11
OS
independent
Additional environment information
No response
Description
With some release between version 69.0.2 and 81.0.0, setuptools added its own test suite to the wheel. This is discouraged according to the official packaging user guide (https://packaging.python.org/en/latest/discussions/package-formats/#what-is-a-wheel):
With that being said, there are still important differences between sdists and wheels, even for pure Python projects. Wheels are meant to contain exactly what is to be installed, and nothing more. In particular, wheels should never include tests and documentation, while sdists commonly do.
Expected behavior
setuptools follows the usual recommendations and does not bundle its tests inside the wheels.
How to Reproduce
wget https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/9d/76/f789f7a86709c6b087c5a2f52f911838cad707cc613162401badc665acfe/setuptools-82.0.1-py3-none-any.whlless setuptools-82.0.1-py3-none-any.whl | grep '/tests/'
Output
2706 Defl:N 947 65% 2026-03-09 12:46 2996a99a setuptools/_distutils/compilers/C/tests/test_base.py
2701 Defl:N 898 67% 2026-03-09 12:46 fccecf0c setuptools/_distutils/compilers/C/tests/test_cygwin.py
1900 Defl:N 596 69% 2026-03-09 12:46 0d6559b7 setuptools/_distutils/compilers/C/tests/test_mingw.py
4151 Defl:N 1495 64% 2026-03-09 12:46 c271d464 setuptools/_distutils/compilers/C/tests/test_msvc.py
14642 Defl:N 2751 81% 2026-03-09 12:46 b12b3038 setuptools/_distutils/compilers/C/tests/test_unix.py
1485 Defl:N 655 56% 2026-03-09 12:46 e9911219 setuptools/_distutils/tests/__init__.py
4099 Defl:N 1723 58% 2026-03-09 12:46 4445810b setuptools/_distutils/tests/support.py
11441 Defl:N 2429 79% 2026-03-09 12:46 b18830e1 setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_archive_util.py
1396 Defl:N 518 63% 2026-03-09 12:46 a2e9e8d3 setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_bdist.py
2247 Defl:N 907 60% 2026-03-09 12:46 f2ced6b7 setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_bdist_dumb.py
3932 Defl:N 1051 73% 2026-03-09 12:46 b018d96b setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_bdist_rpm.py
1742 Defl:N 631 64% 2026-03-09 12:46 2491f14b setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_build.py
4331 Defl:N 1114 74% 2026-03-09 12:46 50f4acde setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_build_clib.py
22545 Defl:N 5515 76% 2026-03-09 12:46 282bfc6c setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_build_ext.py
6882 Defl:N 1905 72% 2026-03-09 12:46 ef4f7a66 setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_build_py.py
2880 Defl:N 880 69% 2026-03-09 12:46 4b968823 setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_build_scripts.py
6226 Defl:N 1573 75% 2026-03-09 12:46 812bd060 setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_check.py
1240 Defl:N 474 62% 2026-03-09 12:46 f20bf3f6 setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_clean.py
3254 Defl:N 869 73% 2026-03-09 12:46 bbf8266b setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_cmd.py
2664 Defl:N 1002 62% 2026-03-09 12:46 2d88902a setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_config_cmd.py
3829 Defl:N 1116 71% 2026-03-09 12:46 2e92f15f setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_core.py
4500 Defl:N 1297 71% 2026-03-09 12:46 801cf141 setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_dir_util.py
18793 Defl:N 4249 77% 2026-03-09 12:46 c8afaf7e setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_dist.py
3670 Defl:N 1084 71% 2026-03-09 12:46 e168571b setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_extension.py
3522 Defl:N 944 73% 2026-03-09 12:46 e7657940 setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_file_util.py
10766 Defl:N 2163 80% 2026-03-09 12:46 9132fc15 setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_filelist.py
8618 Defl:N 2403 72% 2026-03-09 12:46 6da5cbf7 setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_install.py
2464 Defl:N 646 74% 2026-03-09 12:46 ef31b667 setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_install_data.py
936 Defl:N 392 58% 2026-03-09 12:46 ef6916dc setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_install_headers.py
3612 Defl:N 921 75% 2026-03-09 12:46 d0a9b33a setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_install_lib.py
1600 Defl:N 462 71% 2026-03-09 12:46 f3df62a0 setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_install_scripts.py
323 Defl:N 210 35% 2026-03-09 12:46 7637b72d setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_log.py
4221 Defl:N 1147 73% 2026-03-09 12:46 458e0a08 setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_modified.py
15062 Defl:N 3693 76% 2026-03-09 12:46 14fc0433 setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_sdist.py
4803 Defl:N 1220 75% 2026-03-09 12:46 96144ed7 setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_spawn.py
11986 Defl:N 3288 73% 2026-03-09 12:46 7837b7b3 setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_sysconfig.py
3460 Defl:N 797 77% 2026-03-09 12:46 e33219d4 setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_text_file.py
7988 Defl:N 2422 70% 2026-03-09 12:46 39e3378f setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_util.py
2750 Defl:N 655 76% 2026-03-09 12:46 607187c1 setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_version.py
0 Defl:N 2 0% 2026-03-09 12:46 00000000 setuptools/_distutils/tests/test_versionpredicate.py
386 Defl:N 200 48% 2026-03-09 12:46 196cf78b setuptools/_distutils/tests/unix_compat.py
0 Defl:N 2 0% 2026-03-09 12:46 00000000 setuptools/_distutils/tests/compat/__init__.py
1026 Defl:N 204 80% 2026-03-09 12:46 d588f537 setuptools/_distutils/tests/compat/py39.py
335 Defl:N 202 40% 2026-03-09 12:46 8575f92f setuptools/tests/__init__.py
3166 Defl:N 1100 65% 2026-03-09 12:46 48e7ce27 setuptools/tests/contexts.py
3102 Defl:N 1343 57% 2026-03-09 12:46 0e58427d setuptools/tests/environment.py
12224 Defl:N 3781 69% 2026-03-09 12:46 93615f91 setuptools/tests/fixtures.py
22 Defl:N 24 -9% 2026-03-09 12:46 ebe9bdfd setuptools/tests/mod_with_constant.py
2774 Defl:N 1007 64% 2026-03-09 12:46 74574c98 setuptools/tests/namespaces.py
18 Defl:N 20 -11% 2026-03-09 12:46 aa9ddd80 setuptools/tests/script-with-bom.py
845 Defl:N 421 50% 2026-03-09 12:46 29fcab24 setuptools/tests/test_archive_util.py
775 Defl:N 383 51% 2026-03-09 12:46 30686b82 setuptools/tests/test_bdist_deprecations.py
1957 Defl:N 702 64% 2026-03-09 12:46 c5fc42b7 setuptools/tests/test_bdist_egg.py
23091 Defl:N 5888 75% 2026-03-09 12:46 97ab6b08 setuptools/tests/test_bdist_wheel.py
798 Defl:N 366 54% 2026-03-09 12:46 6a6bea7a setuptools/tests/test_build.py
3123 Defl:N 752 76% 2026-03-09 12:46 f79d7aa2 setuptools/tests/test_build_clib.py
10099 Defl:N 2866 72% 2026-03-09 12:46 5dfc7d7d setuptools/tests/test_build_ext.py
33320 Defl:N 7166 79% 2026-03-09 12:46 fc4a5fe6 setuptools/tests/test_build_meta.py
14201 Defl:N 3449 76% 2026-03-09 12:46 e65d2e50 setuptools/tests/test_build_py.py
22580 Defl:N 5568 75% 2026-03-09 12:46 3549dfaf setuptools/tests/test_config_discovery.py
18038 Defl:N 5049 72% 2026-03-09 12:46 5d14e4c1 setuptools/tests/test_core_metadata.py
424 Defl:N 213 50% 2026-03-09 12:46 b528b231 setuptools/tests/test_depends.py
3136 Defl:N 1066 66% 2026-03-09 12:46 459a071c setuptools/tests/test_develop.py
8951 Defl:N 2364 74% 2026-03-09 12:46 cf982af9 setuptools/tests/test_dist.py
5005 Defl:N 1617 68% 2026-03-09 12:46 3e27ed58 setuptools/tests/test_dist_info.py
5987 Defl:N 1920 68% 2026-03-09 12:46 060a3329 setuptools/tests/test_distutils_adoption.py
42498 Defl:N 9286 78% 2026-03-09 12:46 7b56fa87 setuptools/tests/test_editable_install.py
44941 Defl:N 6794 85% 2026-03-09 12:46 ff628a51 setuptools/tests/test_egg_info.py
296 Defl:N 155 48% 2026-03-09 12:46 03fc0ab8 setuptools/tests/test_extern.py
7819 Defl:N 1746 78% 2026-03-09 12:46 5791c85d setuptools/tests/test_find_packages.py
2404 Defl:N 732 70% 2026-03-09 12:46 9f215a31 setuptools/tests/test_find_py_modules.py
887 Defl:N 350 61% 2026-03-09 12:46 f05d6436 setuptools/tests/test_glob.py
3433 Defl:N 917 73% 2026-03-09 12:46 d5ababd7 setuptools/tests/test_install_scripts.py
2096 Defl:N 955 54% 2026-03-09 12:46 ca3a7925 setuptools/tests/test_logging.py
18562 Defl:N 3862 79% 2026-03-09 12:46 544be390 setuptools/tests/test_manifest.py
2508 Defl:N 649 74% 2026-03-09 12:46 5d837438 setuptools/tests/test_namespaces.py
379 Defl:N 183 52% 2026-03-09 12:46 00d8cfab setuptools/tests/test_scripts.py
32808 Defl:N 7360 78% 2026-03-09 12:46 40ba660f setuptools/tests/test_sdist.py
1365 Defl:N 515 62% 2026-03-09 12:46 9a911542 setuptools/tests/test_setopt.py
9323 Defl:N 2525 73% 2026-03-09 12:46 e27d7414 setuptools/tests/test_setuptools.py
641 Defl:N 329 49% 2026-03-09 12:46 aea8cf4a setuptools/tests/test_shutil_wrapper.py
316 Defl:N 181 43% 2026-03-09 12:46 faf3a03f setuptools/tests/test_unicode_utils.py
3730 Defl:N 1297 65% 2026-03-09 12:46 411bde62 setuptools/tests/test_virtualenv.py
3347 Defl:N 940 72% 2026-03-09 12:46 ae67b268 setuptools/tests/test_warnings.py
18722 Defl:N 3903 79% 2026-03-09 12:46 247cfd59 setuptools/tests/test_wheel.py
7868 Defl:N 2198 72% 2026-03-09 12:46 15dd93a3 setuptools/tests/test_windows_wrappers.py
123 Defl:N 86 30% 2026-03-09 12:46 f34da988 setuptools/tests/text.py
98 Defl:N 80 18% 2026-03-09 12:46 3a919651 setuptools/tests/textwrap.py
0 Defl:N 2 0% 2026-03-09 12:46 00000000 setuptools/tests/compat/__init__.py
135 Defl:N 92 32% 2026-03-09 12:46 3d2c77a0 setuptools/tests/compat/py39.py
0 Defl:N 2 0% 2026-03-09 12:46 00000000 setuptools/tests/config/__init__.py
1912 Defl:N 796 58% 2026-03-09 12:46 6d38c2b5 setuptools/tests/config/setupcfg_examples.txt
29609 Defl:N 7455 75% 2026-03-09 12:46 36f30607 setuptools/tests/config/test_apply_pyprojecttoml.py
8933 Defl:N 2404 73% 2026-03-09 12:46 2df96129 setuptools/tests/config/test_expand.py
13182 Defl:N 3594 73% 2026-03-09 12:46 d3ac442a setuptools/tests/config/test_pyprojecttoml.py
3265 Defl:N 758 77% 2026-03-09 12:46 2942d63a setuptools/tests/config/test_pyprojecttoml_dynamic_deps.py
33712 Defl:N 6120 82% 2026-03-09 12:46 36b149a0 setuptools/tests/config/test_setupcfg.py
1827 Defl:N 784 57% 2026-03-09 12:46 e2ca9e44 setuptools/tests/config/downloads/__init__.py
450 Defl:N 265 41% 2026-03-09 12:46 582bcf77 setuptools/tests/config/downloads/preload.py
92 Defl:N 84 9% 2026-03-09 12:46 06f2ea9a setuptools/tests/indexes/test_links_priority/external.html
174 Defl:N 117 33% 2026-03-09 12:46 05226d87 setuptools/tests/indexes/test_links_priority/simple/foobar/index.html
0 Defl:N 2 0% 2026-03-09 12:46 00000000 setuptools/tests/integration/__init__.py
2688 Defl:N 1097 59% 2026-03-09 12:46 b45cd78c setuptools/tests/integration/helpers.py
432 Defl:N 246 43% 2026-03-09 12:46 913c4ecd setuptools/tests/integration/test_pbr.py
8256 Defl:N 3485 58% 2026-03-09 12:46 238103dd setuptools/tests/integration/test_pip_install_sdist.py
setuptools version
82.0.1
Python version
Python 3.11
OS
independent
Additional environment information
No response
Description
With some release between version 69.0.2 and 81.0.0, setuptools added its own test suite to the wheel. This is discouraged according to the official packaging user guide (https://packaging.python.org/en/latest/discussions/package-formats/#what-is-a-wheel):
Expected behavior
setuptools follows the usual recommendations and does not bundle its tests inside the wheels.
How to Reproduce
wget https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/9d/76/f789f7a86709c6b087c5a2f52f911838cad707cc613162401badc665acfe/setuptools-82.0.1-py3-none-any.whlless setuptools-82.0.1-py3-none-any.whl | grep '/tests/'Output