future: something like `python-build-standalone` but for Cosmopolitan Python

[metaist]

One limitation of our current approach is we're tied to whatever version of Cosmopolitan python happens to be published here:
https://cosmo.zip/pub/cosmos/bin/python

ahgamut/superconfigure is close, but I'd want all the different python versions easily accessible in a way that cosmofy (or some future uv bundle command) could just access.

[metaist]

Sometimes there are issues that are hard to diagnose, e.g., ahgamut/superconfigure#52 so we'd need a more robust way to convert python releases into Cosmopolitan Python.

[metaist]

Created by Claude Opus 4.5 during discussion with metaist.

Scoping: Cosmopolitan Python Builds

Problem Statement

1. No version control - cosmo.zip/pub/cosmos/bin/python provides a single unversioned binary
2. superconfigure bundles too much - Python is inside larger zips (datasette.zip, pypack1.zip) mixed with other tools, not standalone
3. Developer trust concerns - "Where does this Python come from?" is the first question from real developers

Proposed Solution: Standalone Project

A new GitHub repo (e.g., cosmopolitan-python or cosmo-python-builds) that publishes clean, versioned Python builds.

Release structure:

releases/
├── python-3.10.x-cosmo.zip   # Just Python 3.10 + stdlib
├── python-3.11.x-cosmo.zip   # Just Python 3.11 + stdlib
├── python-3.12.x-cosmo.zip   # Just Python 3.12 + stdlib
├── python-3.13.x-cosmo.zip   # Just Python 3.13 + stdlib
└── checksums.txt             # SHA256 hashes

Implementation Components

Component	Effort	Notes
Extract build logic from superconfigure	Medium	Their python/BUILD.mk is the starting point
GitHub Actions workflow	Medium	Build matrix for Python versions
Release automation	Low	GH releases + artifacts
Version tracking	Low	Track upstream CPython releases
Testing	Medium	Verify each build actually runs

Key Resources

• superconfigure python builds: https://github.com/ahgamut/superconfigure/tree/main/python
• superconfigure BUILD.mk: Build infrastructure to study
• Cosmopolitan libc: https://github.com/jart/cosmopolitan
• Current cosmofy download source: https://cosmo.zip/pub/cosmos/bin/python

What cosmofy would need after this exists

1. Add --python-version 3.12 flag to cosmofy bundle
2. Update download URL to point to new project's releases
3. Add --python-hash verification using checksums.txt from releases
4. This unblocks add: integrity verification for downloads #53 (integrity verification)

Skeleton Repo Structure

cosmopolitan-python/
├── .github/
│   └── workflows/
│       └── build.yml          # Matrix build for Python versions
├── scripts/
│   ├── build-python.sh        # Main build script
│   └── test-python.sh         # Verify build works
├── config/
│   └── versions.json          # Python versions to build
├── README.md                  # Project overview, usage
└── LICENSE                    # MIT or similar

Build Workflow Outline

1. Trigger: Manual dispatch or schedule (weekly/on CPython release)
2. Matrix: Python versions (3.10, 3.11, 3.12, 3.13)
3. Steps:
   • Checkout cosmopolitan libc
   • Download CPython source for target version
   • Apply cosmopolitan patches (from superconfigure)
   • Build with cosmopolitan toolchain
   • Package as zip (python binary + stdlib)
   • Generate checksums
4. Release: Create GH release with all artifacts + checksums.txt

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Next step: Create the new repo, then reference this issue for Claude to build out the skeleton with actual workflow files and scripts.