Project configuration options#

Briefcase is a PEP518-compliant build tool. It uses a pyproject.toml file, in the root directory of your project, to provide build instructions for the packaged file.

If you have an application called “My App”, with source code in the src/myapp directory, the simplest possible pyproject.toml Briefcase configuration file would be:

[tool.briefcase]
project_name = "My Project"
bundle = "com.example"
version = "0.1"

[tool.briefcase.app.myapp]
formal_name = "My App"
description = "My first Briefcase App"
sources = ['src/myapp']

The configuration sections are tool specific, and start with the prefix tool.briefcase.

The location of the pyproject.toml file is treated as the root of the project definition. Briefcase should be invoked in a directory that contains a pyproject.toml file, and all relative file path references contained in the pyproject.toml file will be interpreted relative to the directory that contains the pyproject.toml file.

Configuration sections#

A project that is packaged by Briefcase can declare multiple applications. Each application is a distributable product of the build process. A simple project will only have a single application. However, a complex project may contain multiple applications with shared code.

Each setting can be specified:

At the level of an output format (e.g., settings specific to building macOS DMGs);
At the level of an platform for an app (e.g., macOS specific settings);
At the level of an individual app; or
Globally, for all applications in the project.

When building an application in a particular output format, Briefcase will look for settings in the same order. For example, if you’re building a macOS DMG for an application called myapp, Briefcase will look for macOS DMG settings for myapp, then for macOS settings for myapp, then for myapp settings, then for project-level settings.

`[tool.briefcase]`#

The base [tool.briefcase] section declares settings that project specific, or are are common to all applications in this repository.

`[tool.briefcase.app.<app name>]`#

Configuration options for a specific application.

<app name> must adhere to a valid Python distribution name as specified in PEP508. The app name must also not be a reserved word in Python, Java or JavaScript (i.e., app names like switch or pass would not be valid); and it may not include any of the filenames prohibited by Windows (i.e., CON, PRN, or LPT1).

`[tool.briefcase.app.<app name>.<platform>]`#

Configuration options for an application that are platform specific. The platform must match a name for a platform supported by Briefcase (e.g., macOS or windows). A list of the platforms supported by Briefcase can be obtained by running briefcase -h, and inspecting the help for the platform option

`[tool.briefcase.app.<app name>.<platform>.<output format>]`#

Configuration options that are specific to a particular output format. For example, macOS applications can be generated in app or dmg format.

This section can contain additional layers. for example, an app targeting the Linux system backend can define a tool.briefcase.app.<app name>.linux.system.ubuntu.jammy section to provide configurations specific to Ubuntu 22.04 “Jammy” deployments. See the documentation for each backend for more details.

Project configuration#

Required values#

`bundle`#

A reverse-domain name that can be used to identify resources for the application e.g., com.example. The bundle identifier will be combined with the app name to produce a unique application identifier - e.g., if the bundle identifier is com.example and the app name is myapp, the application will be identified as com.example.myapp.

`project_name`#

The project is the collection of all applications that are described by the briefcase configuration. For projects with a single app, this may be the same as the formal name of the solitary packaged app.

`version`#

A PEP440 compliant version string.

Examples of valid version strings:

1.0
1.2.3
1.2.3.dev4 - A development release
1.2.3a5 - An alpha pre-release
1.2.3b6 - A Beta pre-release
1.2.3rc7 - A release candidate
1.2.3.post8 - A post-release

Optional values#

`author`#

The person or organization responsible for the project.

`author_email`#

The contact email address for the person or organization responsible for the project.

`url`#

A URL where more details about the project can be found.

Application configuration#

Required#

`description`#

A short, one-line description of the purpose of the application.

`sources`#

A list of paths, relative to the pyproject.toml file, where source code for the application can be found. The contents of any named files or folders will be copied into the application bundle. Parent directories in any named path will not be included. For example, if you specify src/myapp as a source, the contents of the myapp folder will be copied into the application bundle; the src directory will not be reproduced.

Unlike most other keys in a configuration file, sources is a cumulative setting. If an application defines sources at the global level, application level, and platform level, the final set of sources will be the concatenation of sources from all levels, starting from least to most specific.

Optional values#

`accent_color`#

A hexadecimal RGB color value (e.g., #D81B60) for a subtle secondary color to be used throughout an application to call attention to key elements. This setting is only used if the platform allows color modification, otherwise it is ignored.

`author`#

The person or organization responsible for the application.

`author_email`#

The contact email address for the person or organization responsible for the application.

`build`#

A build identifier. An integer, used in addition to the version specifier, to identify a specific compiled version of an application.

`cleanup_paths`#

A list of strings describing paths that will be removed from the project after the installation of the support package and app code. The paths provided will be interpreted relative to the app bundle folder (e.g., the macOS/app/My App folder in the case of a macOS app).

Paths can be:

An explicit reference to a single file
An explicit reference to a single directory
Any file system glob accepted by pathlib.glob (See the Python documentation for details)

Paths are treated as format strings prior to glob expansion. You can use Python string formatting to include references to configuration properties of the app (e.g., app.formal_name, app.version, etc).

For example, the following cleanup_paths specification:

cleanup_paths = [
    "path/to/unneeded_file.txt",
    "path/to/unneeded_directory",
    "path/**/*.exe",
    "{app.formal_name}/content/extra.doc"
]

on an app with a formal name of “My App” would remove:

The file path/to/unneeded_file.txt
The directory path/to/unneeded_directory
Any .exe file in path or its subdirectories.
The file My App/content/extra.doc.

`exit_regex`#

A regular expression that will be executed against the console output generated by an application. If/when the regular expression find match, the application will be terminated; the line matching the regular expression will not be output to the console. Used by Briefcase to monitor test suites; however, the filter will also be honored on normal run invocations.

The regular expression should capture a single group named returncode, capturing the integer exit status that should be reported for the process. The default value for this regular expression is ^>>>>>>>>>> EXIT (?P<returncode>.*) <<<<<<<<<<$ The regex will be compiled with the re.MULTILINE flag enabled.

`formal_name`#

The application name as it should be displayed to humans. This name may contain capitalization and punctuation. If it is not specified, the name will be used.

`icon`#

A path, relative to the directory where the pyproject.toml file is located, to an image to use as the icon for the application. The path should exclude the extension; Briefcase will append a platform appropriate extension when configuring the application. For example, an icon specification of icon = "resources/icon" will use resources/icon.icns on macOS, and resources/icon.ico on Windows.

Some platforms require multiple icons, at different sizes; these will be handled by appending the required size to the provided icon name. For example, iOS requires multiple icon sizes (ranging from 20px to 1024px); Briefcase will look for resources/icon-20.png, resources/icon-1024.png, and so on. The sizes that are required are determined by the platform template.

`installer_icon`#

A path, relative to the directory where the pyproject.toml file is located, to an image to use as the icon for the installer. As with icon, the path should exclude the extension, and a platform-appropriate extension will be appended when the application is built.

`installer_background`#

A path, relative to the directory where the pyproject.toml file is located, to an image to use as the background for the installer. As with splash, the path should exclude the extension, and a platform-appropriate extension will be appended when the application is built.

`long_description`#

A longer description of the purpose of the application. This description can be multiple paragraphs, if necessary. The long description must not be a copy of the description, or include the description as the first line of the long_description.

`primary_color`#

A hexadecimal RGB color value (e.g., #008577) to use as the primary color for the application. This setting is only used if the platform allows color modification, otherwise it is ignored.

`primary_color_dark`#

A hexadecimal RGB color value (e.g., #008577) used alongside the primary color. This setting is only used if the platform allows color modification, otherwise it is ignored.

`requires`#

A list of packages that must be packaged with this application.

Unlike most other keys in a configuration file, requires is a cumulative setting. If an application defines requirements at the global level, application level, and platform level, the final set of requirements will be the concatenation of requirements from all levels, starting from least to most specific.

`revision`#

An identifier used to differentiate specific builds of the same version of an app. Defaults to 1 if not provided.

`splash`#

A path, relative to the directory where the pyproject.toml file is located, to an image to use as the splash screen for the application. The path should exclude the extension; Briefcase will append a platform appropriate extension when configuring the application.

Some platforms require multiple splash images, at different sizes; these will be handled by appending the required size to the provided icon name. For example, iOS requires multiple splash images, (1024px, 2048px and 3072px); with a splash setting of resources/my_splash, Briefcase will look for resources/my_splash-1024.png, resources/my_splash-2045.png, and resources/my_splash-3072.png. The sizes that are required are determined by the platform template.

Some platforms also require different variants. For example, Android requires splash screens for normal, large and xlarge devices. These variants can be specified by qualifying the splash specification:

splash.normal = "resource/normal-splash"
splash.large = "resource/large-splash"
splash.xlarge = "resource/xlarge-splash"

These settings can, if you wish, all use the same prefix.

If the platform requires different sizes for each variant (as Android does), those size will be appended to path provided by the variant specifier. For example, using the previous example, Android would look for resource/normal-splash-320.png, resource/normal-splash-480.png, resource/large-splash.480.png, resource/xlarge-splash-720.png, amongst others.

If the platform output format does not use a splash screen, the splash setting is ignored.

`splash_background_color`#

A hexadecimal RGB color value (e.g., #6495ED) to use as the background color for splash screens.

If the platform output format does not use a splash screen, this setting is ignored.

`support_package`#

A file path or URL pointing at a tarball containing a Python support package. (i.e., a precompiled, embeddable Python interpreter for the platform)

If this setting is not provided, Briefcase will use the default support package for the platform.

`support_revision`#

The specific revision of a support package that should be used. By default, Briefcase will use the support package revision nominated by the application template. If you specify a support revision, that will override the revision nominated by the application template.

If you specify an explicit support package (either as a URL or a file path), this argument is ignored.

`supported`#

Indicates that the platform is not supported. For example, if you know that the app cannot be deployed to Android for some reason, you can explicitly prevent deployment by setting supported=False in the Android section of the app configuration file.

If supported is set to false, the create command will fail, advising the user of the limitation.

`template`#

A file path or URL pointing at a cookiecutter template for the output format.

If this setting is not provided, Briefcase will use a default template for the output format and Python version.

`template_branch`#

The branch of the project template to use when generating the app. If the template is a local file, this attribute will be ignored. If not specified, Briefcase will use a branch matching the version of Briefcase that is being used (i.e., if you’re using Briefcase 0.3.9, Briefcase will use the v0.3.9 template branch when generating the app). If you’re using a development version of Briefcase, Briefcase will use the main branch of the template.

`test_requires`#

A list of packages that are required for the test suite to run.

Unlike most other keys in a configuration file, test_requires is a cumulative setting. If an application defines requirements at the global level, application level, and platform level, the final set of requirements will be the concatenation of requirements from all levels, starting from least to most specific.

`test_sources`#

A list of paths, relative to the pyproject.toml file, where test code for the application can be found. The contents of any named files or folders will be copied into the application bundle. Parent directories in any named path will not be included. For example, if you specify src/myapp as a source, the contents of the myapp folder will be copied into the application bundle; the src directory will not be reproduced.

As with sources, test_sources is a cumulative setting. If an application defines sources at the global level, application level, and platform level, the final set of sources will be the concatenation of test sources from all levels, starting from least to most specific.

`url`#

A URL where more details about the application can be found.

Permissions#

Applications may also need to declare the permissions they require. Permissions are specified as sub-attributes of a permission property, defined at the level of an project, app, or platform. Permission declarations are cumulative; if an application defines permissions at the global level, application level, and platform level, the final set of permissions will be the merged set of all permissions from all levels, starting from least to most specific, with the most specific taking priority.

Briefcase maintains a set of cross-platform permissions:

permission.camera - permission to access to the camera to take photos or video.
permission.microphone - permission to access the microphone.
permission.coarse_location - permission to determine a rough GPS location.
permission.fine_location - permission to determine a precise GPS location.
permission.background_location - permission to track GPS location while in the background.
permission.photo_library - permission to access to the user’s photo library.

If a cross-platform permission is used, it will be mapped to platform-specific values in whatever files are used to define permissions on that platform.

Permissions can also be configured by adding platform-specific configuration items. See the documentation for the the platform backends to see the options that are available.

The value for each permission is a short description of why that permission is required. If the platform requires, the value may be displayed to the user as part of an authorization dialog. This description should describe why the app requires the permission, rather than a generic description of the permission being requested.

The use of permissions may also imply other settings in your app. See the individual platform backends for details on how cross-platform permissions are mapped.

Document types#

Applications in a project can register themselves with the operating system as handlers for specific document types by adding a document_type configuration section for each document type the application can support. This section follows the format:

[tool.briefcase.app.<app name>.document_type.<extension>]

or, for a platform specific definition:

[tool.briefcase.app.<app name>.<platform>.document_type.<extension>]

where extension is the file extension to register. For example, myapp could register as a handler for PNG image files by defining the configuration section [tool.briefcase.app.myapp.document_type.png].

The document type declaration requires the following settings:

`description`#

A short, one-line description of the document format.

`icon`#

A path, relative to the directory where the pyproject.toml file is located, to an image for an icon to register for use with documents of this type. The path should exclude the extension; Briefcase will append a platform appropriate extension when configuring the application. For example, an icon specification of:

icon = "resources/icon"

will use resources/icon.icns on macOS, and resources/icon.ico on Windows.

Some platforms also require different variants (e.g., both square and round icons). These variants can be specified by qualifying the icon specification:

icon.round = "resource/round-icon"
icon.square = "resource/square-icon"

If a platform requires both different sizes and variants, the variant handling and size handling will be combined. For example, Android requires round and square icons, in sizes ranging from 48px to 192px; Briefcase will look for resource/round-icon-42.png, resource/square-icon-42.png, resource/round-icon-192.png, and so on.

`url`#

A URL for help related to the document format.

PEP621 compatibility#

Many of the keys that exist in Briefcase’s configuration have analogous settings in PEP621 project metadata. If your pyproject.toml defines a [project] section, Briefcase will honor those settings as a top level definition. Any [tool.briefcase] definitions will override those in the [project] section.

The following PEP621 project metadata keys will be used by Briefcase if they are available:

version maps to the same key in Briefcase.
authors The email and name keys of the first value in the authors setting map to author and author_email.
dependencies maps to the Briefcase requires setting. This is a cumulative setting; any packages defined in the requires setting at the [tool.briefcase] level will be appended to the packages defined with dependencies at the [project] level.
description maps to the same key in Briefcase.
test in an [project.optional-dependencies] section maps to test_requires., As with dependencies/requires, this is a cumulative setting.
text in a [project.license] section will be mapped to license.
homepage in a [project.urls] section will be mapped to url.

Project configuration options#

Configuration sections#

[tool.briefcase]#

[tool.briefcase.app.<app name>]#

[tool.briefcase.app.<app name>.<platform>]#

[tool.briefcase.app.<app name>.<platform>.<output format>]#

Project configuration#

Required values#

bundle#

project_name#

version#

Optional values#

author#

author_email#

url#

Application configuration#

Required#

description#

sources#

Optional values#

accent_color#

author#

author_email#

build#

cleanup_paths#

exit_regex#

formal_name#

icon#

installer_icon#

installer_background#

long_description#

primary_color#

primary_color_dark#

requires#

revision#

splash#

splash_background_color#

support_package#

support_revision#

supported#

template#

template_branch#

test_requires#

test_sources#

url#

Permissions#

Document types#

description#

icon#

url#

PEP621 compatibility#

`[tool.briefcase]`#

`[tool.briefcase.app.<app name>]`#

`[tool.briefcase.app.<app name>.<platform>]`#

`[tool.briefcase.app.<app name>.<platform>.<output format>]`#

`bundle`#

`project_name`#

`version`#

`author`#

`author_email`#

`url`#

`description`#

`sources`#

`accent_color`#

`author`#

`author_email`#

`build`#

`cleanup_paths`#

`exit_regex`#

`formal_name`#

`icon`#

`installer_icon`#

`installer_background`#

`long_description`#

`primary_color`#

`primary_color_dark`#

`requires`#

`revision`#

`splash`#

`splash_background_color`#

`support_package`#

`support_revision`#

`supported`#

`template`#

`template_branch`#

`test_requires`#

`test_sources`#

`url`#

`description`#

`icon`#

`url`#