stickytape: Convert Python packages into a single script

Stickytape can be used to convert a Python script and any Python modules it depends on into a single-file Python script. There are likely better alternatives depending on what you're trying to do. For instance:

• If you want to create a single file that can be executed by a Python interpreter, use zipapp.
• If you need to create a standalone executable from your Python script, I recommend using an alternative such as PyInstaller.

Since Stickytape relies on correctly analysing both your script and any dependent modules, it may not work correctly in all circumstances. I bodged together the code a long time ago for a specific use case I had, so many normal uses of Python imports are not properly supported.

Installation

pip install stickytape

Usage

You can tell stickytape which directories to search using the --add-python-path argument. For instance:

stickytape scripts/blah --add-python-path . > /tmp/blah-standalone

Or to output directly to a file:

stickytape scripts/blah --add-python-path . --output-file /tmp/blah-standalone

You can also point stickytape towards a Python binary that it should use sys.path from, for instance the Python binary inside a virtualenv:

stickytape scripts/blah --python-binary _virtualenv/bin/python --output-file /tmp/blah-standalone

Stickytape cannot automatically detect dynamic imports, but you can use --add-python-module to explicitly include modules:

stickytape scripts/blah --add-python-module blah.util

By default, stickytape will ignore the shebang in the script and use "#!/usr/bin/env python" in the output file. To copy the shebang from the original script, use --copy-shebang:

stickytape scripts/blah --copy-shebang --output-file /tmp/blah-standalone

As you might expect with a program that munges source files, there are a few caveats:

• Due to the way that stickytape generates the output file, your script source file should be encoded using UTF-8. If your script doesn't declare its encoding in its first two lines, then it will be UTF-8 by default as of Python 3.
• Your script shouldn't have any from __future__ imports.
• Anything that relies on the specific location of files will probably no longer work. In other words, __file__ probably isn't all that useful.
• Any files that aren't imported won't be included. Static data that might be part of your project, such as other text files or images, won't be included.