Stop including 'wheel', setuptools 70.1 has native bdist_wheel support

docs/changelog/2868.feature.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+No longer bundle ``wheel`` wheels, ``setuptools`` includes native ``bdist_wheel`` support.
+Update ``pip`` to ``25.1``.

docs/development.rst

@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ that folder.
 Release
 ~~~~~~~
 
-virtualenv's release schedule is tied to ``pip``, ``setuptools`` and ``wheel``. We bundle the latest version of these
+virtualenv's release schedule is tied to ``pip`` and ``setuptools``. We bundle the latest version of these
 libraries so each time there's a new version of any of these, there will be a new virtualenv release shortly afterwards
 (we usually wait just a few days to avoid pulling in any broken releases).
 

docs/user_guide.rst

@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ The tool works in two phases:
   four further sub-steps:
 
   - create a python that matches the target python interpreter from phase 1,
-  - install (bootstrap) seed packages (one or more of :pypi:`pip`, :pypi:`setuptools`, :pypi:`wheel`) in the created
+  - install (bootstrap) seed packages (one or more of :pypi:`pip`, :pypi:`setuptools`) in the created
     virtual environment,
   - install activation scripts into the binary directory of the virtual environment (these will allow end users to
     *activate* the virtual environment from various shells).
@@ -138,9 +138,9 @@ at the moment has two types of virtual environments:
 
 Seeders
 -------
-These will install for you some seed packages (one or more of: :pypi:`pip`, :pypi:`setuptools`, :pypi:`wheel`) that
+These will install for you some seed packages (one or more of: :pypi:`pip`, :pypi:`setuptools`) that
 enables you to install additional python packages into the created virtual environment (by invoking pip). Installing
-:pypi:`setuptools` and :pypi:`wheel` is disabled by default on Python 3.12+ environments. There are two
+:pypi:`setuptools` is disabled by default on Python 3.12+ environments. There are two
 main seed mechanisms available:
 
 - ``pip`` - this method uses the bundled pip with virtualenv to install the seed packages (note, a new child process
@@ -163,8 +163,8 @@ Wheels
 To install a seed package via either ``pip`` or ``app-data`` method virtualenv needs to acquire a wheel of the target
 package. These wheels may be acquired from multiple locations as follows:
 
-- ``virtualenv`` ships out of box with a set of embed ``wheels`` for all three seed packages (:pypi:`pip`,
-  :pypi:`setuptools`, :pypi:`wheel`). These are packaged together with the virtualenv source files, and only change upon
+- ``virtualenv`` ships out of box with a set of embed ``wheels`` for both seed packages (:pypi:`pip`,
+  :pypi:`setuptools`). These are packaged together with the virtualenv source files, and only change upon
   upgrading virtualenv. Different Python versions require different versions of these, and because virtualenv supports a
   wide range of Python versions, the number of embedded wheels out of box is greater than 3. Whenever newer versions of
   these embedded packages are released upstream ``virtualenv`` project upgrades them, and does a new release. Therefore,

src/virtualenv/seed/embed/base_embed.py

@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 from abc import ABC
+from argparse import SUPPRESS
 from pathlib import Path
+from warnings import warn
 
 from virtualenv.seed.seeder import Seeder
 from virtualenv.seed.wheels import Version
@@ -18,14 +20,21 @@ def __init__(self, options) -> None:
 
         self.pip_version = options.pip
         self.setuptools_version = options.setuptools
-        self.wheel_version = options.wheel
 
         self.no_pip = options.no_pip
         self.no_setuptools = options.no_setuptools
-        self.no_wheel = options.no_wheel
         self.app_data = options.app_data
         self.periodic_update = not options.no_periodic_update
 
+        if options.no_wheel:
+            warn(
+                "The --no-wheel option is deprecated. "
+                "It has no effect, wheel is no longer bundled in virtualenv. "
+                "This option will be removed in pip 26.",
+                DeprecationWarning,
+                stacklevel=1,
+            )
+
         if not self.distribution_to_versions():
             self.enabled = False
 
@@ -34,7 +43,6 @@ def distributions(cls) -> dict[str, Version]:
         return {
             "pip": Version.bundle,
             "setuptools": Version.bundle,
-            "wheel": Version.bundle,
         }
 
     def distribution_to_versions(self) -> dict[str, str]:
@@ -71,7 +79,7 @@ def add_parser_arguments(cls, parser, interpreter, app_data):  # noqa: ARG003
             default=[],
         )
         for distribution, default in cls.distributions().items():
-            if interpreter.version_info[:2] >= (3, 12) and distribution in {"wheel", "setuptools"}:
+            if interpreter.version_info[:2] >= (3, 12) and distribution == "setuptools":
                 default = "none"  # noqa: PLW2901
             parser.add_argument(
                 f"--{distribution}",
@@ -88,6 +96,13 @@ def add_parser_arguments(cls, parser, interpreter, app_data):  # noqa: ARG003
                 help=f"do not install {distribution}",
                 default=False,
             )
+        # DEPRECATED: Remove in pip 26
+        parser.add_argument(
+            "--no-wheel",
+            dest="no_wheel",
+            action="store_true",
+            help=SUPPRESS,
+        )
         parser.add_argument(
             "--no-periodic-update",
             dest="no_periodic_update",

src/virtualenv/seed/wheels/embed/__init__.py

@@ -9,37 +9,30 @@
     "3.8": {
         "pip": "pip-25.0.1-py3-none-any.whl",
         "setuptools": "setuptools-75.3.2-py3-none-any.whl",
-        "wheel": "wheel-0.45.1-py3-none-any.whl",
     },
     "3.9": {
-        "pip": "pip-25.0.1-py3-none-any.whl",
+        "pip": "pip-25.1-py3-none-any.whl",
         "setuptools": "setuptools-78.1.0-py3-none-any.whl",
-        "wheel": "wheel-0.45.1-py3-none-any.whl",
     },
     "3.10": {
-        "pip": "pip-25.0.1-py3-none-any.whl",
+        "pip": "pip-25.1-py3-none-any.whl",
         "setuptools": "setuptools-78.1.0-py3-none-any.whl",
-        "wheel": "wheel-0.45.1-py3-none-any.whl",
     },
     "3.11": {
-        "pip": "pip-25.0.1-py3-none-any.whl",
+        "pip": "pip-25.1-py3-none-any.whl",
         "setuptools": "setuptools-78.1.0-py3-none-any.whl",
-        "wheel": "wheel-0.45.1-py3-none-any.whl",
     },
     "3.12": {
-        "pip": "pip-25.0.1-py3-none-any.whl",
+        "pip": "pip-25.1-py3-none-any.whl",
         "setuptools": "setuptools-78.1.0-py3-none-any.whl",
-        "wheel": "wheel-0.45.1-py3-none-any.whl",
     },
     "3.13": {
-        "pip": "pip-25.0.1-py3-none-any.whl",
+        "pip": "pip-25.1-py3-none-any.whl",
         "setuptools": "setuptools-78.1.0-py3-none-any.whl",
-        "wheel": "wheel-0.45.1-py3-none-any.whl",
     },
     "3.14": {
-        "pip": "pip-25.0.1-py3-none-any.whl",
+        "pip": "pip-25.1-py3-none-any.whl",
         "setuptools": "setuptools-78.1.0-py3-none-any.whl",
-        "wheel": "wheel-0.45.1-py3-none-any.whl",
     },
 }
 MAX = "3.8"

tests/unit/config/test___main__.py

@@ -64,15 +64,15 @@ def test_fail_with_traceback(raise_on_session_done, tmp_path, capsys):
 
 @pytest.mark.usefixtures("session_app_data")
 def test_session_report_full(tmp_path: Path, capsys: pytest.CaptureFixture[str]) -> None:
-    run_with_catch([str(tmp_path), "--setuptools", "bundle", "--wheel", "bundle"])
+    run_with_catch([str(tmp_path), "--setuptools", "bundle"])
     out, err = capsys.readouterr()
     assert not err
     lines = out.splitlines()
     regexes = [
         r"created virtual environment .* in \d+ms",
         r"  creator .*",
         r"  seeder .*",
-        r"    added seed packages: .*pip==.*, setuptools==.*, wheel==.*",
+        r"    added seed packages: .*pip==.*, setuptools==.*",
         r"  activators .*",
     ]
     _match_regexes(lines, regexes)

tests/unit/create/test_creator.py

@@ -398,6 +398,10 @@ def test_create_long_path(tmp_path):
     subprocess.check_call([str(result.creator.script("pip")), "--version"])
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(
+    sys.version_info[:2] == (3, 8),
+    reason="Disable on Python 3.8, which still uses pip 25.0.1 (without https://github.com/pypa/pip/pull/13330)",
+)
 @pytest.mark.slow
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("creator", sorted(set(PythonInfo.current_system().creators().key_to_class) - {"builtin"}))
 @pytest.mark.usefixtures("session_app_data")
@@ -411,8 +415,6 @@ def test_create_distutils_cfg(creator, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
             creator,
             "--setuptools",
             "bundle",
-            "--wheel",
-            "bundle",
         ],
     )
 
@@ -470,7 +472,7 @@ def list_files(path):
 def test_zip_importer_can_import_setuptools(tmp_path):
     """We're patching the loaders so might fail on r/o loaders, such as zipimporter on CPython<3.8"""
     result = cli_run(
-        [str(tmp_path / "venv"), "--activators", "", "--no-pip", "--no-wheel", "--copies", "--setuptools", "bundle"],
+        [str(tmp_path / "venv"), "--activators", "", "--no-pip", "--copies", "--setuptools", "bundle"],
     )
     zip_path = tmp_path / "site-packages.zip"
     with zipfile.ZipFile(str(zip_path), "w", zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED) as zip_handler:

tests/unit/seed/embed/test_base_embed.py

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import sys
+import warnings
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
 import pytest
@@ -20,11 +21,21 @@ def test_download_cli_flag(args, download, tmp_path):
     assert session.seeder.download is download
 
 
+# DEPRECATED: Remove in pip 26
+def test_download_deprecated_cli_flag(tmp_path):
+    with warnings.catch_warnings(record=True) as w:
+        warnings.simplefilter("always")
+        session_via_cli(["--no-wheel", str(tmp_path)])
+    assert len(w) == 1
+    assert issubclass(w[-1].category, DeprecationWarning)
+    assert str(w[-1].message) == (
+        "The --no-wheel option is deprecated. "
+        "It has no effect, wheel is no longer bundled in virtualenv. "
+        "This option will be removed in pip 26."
+    )
+
+
 def test_embed_wheel_versions(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     session = session_via_cli([str(tmp_path)])
-    expected = (
-        {"pip": "bundle"}
-        if sys.version_info[:2] >= (3, 12)
-        else {"pip": "bundle", "setuptools": "bundle", "wheel": "bundle"}
-    )
+    expected = {"pip": "bundle"} if sys.version_info[:2] >= (3, 12) else {"pip": "bundle", "setuptools": "bundle"}
     assert session.seeder.distribution_to_versions() == expected

tests/unit/seed/embed/test_bootstrap_link_via_app_data.py

@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ def test_seed_link_via_app_data(tmp_path, coverage_env, current_fastest, copies)
     # Windows does not allow removing a executable while running it, so when uninstalling pip we need to do it via
     # python -m pip
     remove_cmd = [str(result.creator.exe), "-m", "pip", *remove_cmd[1:]]
-    process = Popen([*remove_cmd, "pip", "wheel"])
+    process = Popen([*remove_cmd, "pip"])
     _, __ = process.communicate()
     assert not process.returncode
     # pip is greedy here, removing all packages removes the site-package too
@@ -208,13 +208,13 @@ def test_populated_read_only_cache_and_copied_app_data(tmp_path, current_fastest
 
 
 @pytest.mark.slow
-@pytest.mark.parametrize("pkg", ["pip", "setuptools", "wheel"])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("pkg", ["pip", "setuptools"])
 @pytest.mark.usefixtures("session_app_data", "current_fastest", "coverage_env")
 def test_base_bootstrap_link_via_app_data_no(tmp_path, pkg):
-    create_cmd = [str(tmp_path), "--seeder", "app-data", f"--no-{pkg}", "--wheel", "bundle", "--setuptools", "bundle"]
+    create_cmd = [str(tmp_path), "--seeder", "app-data", f"--no-{pkg}", "--setuptools", "bundle"]
     result = cli_run(create_cmd)
     assert not (result.creator.purelib / pkg).exists()
-    for key in {"pip", "setuptools", "wheel"} - {pkg}:
+    for key in {"pip", "setuptools"} - {pkg}:
         assert (result.creator.purelib / key).exists()
 
 
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ def test_app_data_parallel_fail(tmp_path: Path, mocker: MockerFixture) -> None:
     exceptions = _run_parallel_threads(tmp_path)
     assert len(exceptions) == 2
     for exception in exceptions:
-        assert exception.startswith("failed to build image wheel because:\nTraceback")
+        assert exception.startswith("failed to build image pip because:\nTraceback")
         assert "RuntimeError" in exception, exception
 
 
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ def _run_parallel_threads(tmp_path):
 
     def _run(name):
         try:
-            cli_run(["--seeder", "app-data", str(tmp_path / name), "--no-pip", "--no-setuptools", "--wheel", "bundle"])
+            cli_run(["--seeder", "app-data", str(tmp_path / name), "--no-setuptools"])
         except Exception as exception:  # noqa: BLE001
             as_str = str(exception)
             exceptions.append(as_str)

tests/unit/seed/embed/test_pip_invoke.py

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 
 
 @pytest.mark.slow
-@pytest.mark.parametrize("no", ["pip", "setuptools", "wheel", ""])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("no", ["pip", "setuptools", ""])
 def test_base_bootstrap_via_pip_invoke(tmp_path, coverage_env, mocker, current_fastest, no):  # noqa: C901
     extra_search_dir = tmp_path / "extra"
     extra_search_dir.mkdir()
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ def _execute(cmd, env):
 
     original = PipInvoke._execute  # noqa: SLF001
     run = mocker.patch.object(PipInvoke, "_execute", side_effect=_execute)
-    versions = {"pip": "embed", "setuptools": "bundle", "wheel": new["wheel"].split("-")[1]}
+    versions = {"pip": "embed", "setuptools": "bundle"}
 
     create_cmd = [
         "--seeder",
@@ -76,14 +76,13 @@ def _execute(cmd, env):
     site_package = result.creator.purelib
     pip = site_package / "pip"
     setuptools = site_package / "setuptools"
-    wheel = site_package / "wheel"
     files_post_first_create = list(site_package.iterdir())
 
     if no:
         no_file = locals()[no]
         assert no not in files_post_first_create
 
-    for key in ("pip", "setuptools", "wheel"):
+    for key in ("pip", "setuptools"):
         if key == no:
             continue
         assert locals()[key] in files_post_first_create

tests/unit/seed/wheels/test_periodic_update.py

@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ def _do_update(  # noqa: PLR0913
         packages[args[1]["distribution"]].append(args[1]["for_py_version"])
     packages = {key: sorted(value) for key, value in packages.items()}
     versions = sorted(BUNDLE_SUPPORT.keys())
-    expected = {"setuptools": versions, "wheel": versions, "pip": versions}
+    expected = {"setuptools": versions, "pip": versions}
     assert packages == expected
 
 
@@ -97,12 +97,9 @@ def test_pick_periodic_update(tmp_path, mocker, for_py_version):
             "--activators",
             "",
             "--no-periodic-update",
-            "--no-wheel",
             "--no-pip",
             "--setuptools",
             "bundle",
-            "--wheel",
-            "bundle",
         ],
     )