Activity

1. bcantoni commented on Feb 4, 2026

   

   bcantoni

   on Feb 4, 2026

   Contributor

   More actions

   I asked Cursor for a proposal for how to smoke test packages before publishing (in the context of #1745) and this was the suggested approach. Not testing at all, just repeating what the AI suggested :)

   Package Testing Strategy

   This document summarizes how to test packaging changes to prevent issues like the v0.39 bug.

   The v0.39 Bug

   What happened: PR #1739 changed pyproject.toml to use where = ["tableauserverclient"] instead of where = ["."]. This caused the package to be built incorrectly with files at server/server.py instead of tableauserverclient/server/server.py, making the module unimportable.

   Why it wasn't caught: The change worked fine with editable installs (pip install -e .) but broke regular wheel installations (pip install tableauserverclient).

   Quick Local Test

   Run this script before any packaging changes:

   ./test-package.sh

   This script:

   1. Builds the wheel
   2. Inspects the wheel structure
   3. Tests installation in a clean virtual environment
   4. Verifies imports and basic functionality

   Automated Testing

   New CI Workflow

   The .github/workflows/test-package-install.yml workflow now runs on:

   • PRs that modify pyproject.toml, setup.py, or MANIFEST.in
   • PRs that modify package source code
   • Manual trigger via workflow_dispatch

   It tests wheel installation on Linux, macOS, and Windows.

   Existing Workflows

   • publish-pypi.yml: Already publishes to TestPyPI before real PyPI (good!)
   • pypi-smoke-tests.yml: Tests installation from PyPI daily (catches issues after release)

   Testing Checklist

   Before merging packaging changes:

   • Run ./test-package.sh locally
   • Verify CI passes (test-package-install workflow)
   • Inspect wheel contents: unzip -l dist/*.whl | grep tableauserverclient
   • For major changes: test via TestPyPI
   • For releases: wait for pypi-smoke-tests to pass

   Key Differences: Editable vs Wheel Install

   Aspect	Editable (pip install -e .)	Wheel (pip install pkg.whl)
   How it works	Symlinks to source directory	Copies files to site-packages
   Tests packaging	❌ No	✅ Yes
   Good for	Development	Testing releases
   Catches structure bugs	❌ No	✅ Yes

   Always test with wheel installs before releasing!

   Resources

   • Full guide: docs/testing-package-builds.md
   • Test script: ./test-package.sh
   • CI workflow: .github/workflows/test-package-install.yml

   Quick Reference

   # Build and test locally
   ./test-package.sh
   
   # Manually inspect wheel
   python -m build
   unzip -l dist/*.whl | grep tableauserverclient
   
   # Test in clean environment
   python -m venv test-env
   source test-env/bin/activate
   pip install dist/*.whl
   cd /tmp
   python -c "import tableauserverclient as TSC; print('Success!')"
   deactivate
   
   # Test via TestPyPI (after pushing to GitHub)
   git tag v0.39.1-test
   git push origin v0.39.1-test
   # Wait for workflow, then:
   pip install --index-url https://test.pypi.org/simple/ \
               --extra-index-url https://pypi.org/simple/ \
               tableauserverclient
2. jacalata

   closed this as completedin #1798on Jun 25, 2026