Feature Request: Option to Remove Build Artifacts

[SHi-ON]

Summary:
I would like to request a feature that adds an option to remove build artifacts generated by the uv build command. This feature would help in keeping the project directory clean and managing disk space more efficiently.

Use Case:
Currently, after running uv build, the generated build artifacts remain in the project directory. In certain scenarios, such as continuous integration and deployment pipelines, it is beneficial to remove these artifacts once they are no longer needed. An option to automatically clean up these artifacts would streamline the build process and reduce manual intervention.

Proposed Solution:
Introduce a new command-line option (e.g., --clean or --remove-artifacts) in the uv build command that removes the generated build artifacts after the build process is completed.

Benefits:

• Simplifies the build process by reducing the need for manual cleanup.
• Helps in managing disk space by removing unnecessary files.
• Improves the efficiency of CI/CD pipelines by automating the cleanup process.

Example:

uv build --clean

Thank you for considering this feature request. I believe it will greatly benefit developers who use uv in their projects.

[samypr100]

I'd expect something like this to be part of uv clean instead

[negentropicdev]

This just surprised me. uv publish tries to publish everything in dist, not just the current version's build. Was surprised there's not a clean command.

[tombohub]

Does that mean we need to delete ./dist folder before building and publishing?

[sistason]

yes, that is the current workaround. rm -r ./dist && uv build && uv publish

[alexchandel]

This option would be nice, because when scripting for multiple platforms (e.g. Windows and non-Windows), rm -r does not work.

[konstin]

I've opened #16371 for the rm -r ./dist && uv build && uv publish use case.

@SHi-ON Your post sounds like you uv build && rm -r ./dist instead. Is that correct, and if so, why are you calling uv build instead of e.g. uv pip install .?

[SHi-ON]

@konstin I initially suggested an after-the-fact cleanup, but it probably makes more sense to clear any stale build artifacts before uv publish now.