CLI Reference

Build command

python -m appimage.build [OPTIONS]
appimage-build [OPTIONS]

Options

Option	Description
--check	Show detected build configuration and exit without building.
--init	Write auto-detected values to [tool.appimage.build] in pyproject.toml (only missing keys).
--app NAME	Override the application name.
--entry-point EP	Override the console script entry point.
--python VERSION	Override the Python version to bundle (e.g. 3.13).
--python-date DATE	Override the python-build-standalone release date for reproducible builds (e.g. 20260211).
--extras EXTRA	Override extras to install (e.g. production). May be repeated.
--package TARGET	Additional pip install target. May be repeated.
--project-dir PATH	Path to the project root (default: current directory).
--appimagetool PATH	Path to a local appimagetool binary. Skips PATH lookup and download.
--python-archive PATH	Path to a local python-build-standalone tarball. Skips the download.

Examples

# Build with a specific Python version
python -m appimage.build --python 3.13

# Reproducible build pinned to a specific release date
python -m appimage.build --python-date 20260211

# Override app name and entry point
python -m appimage.build --app myapp --entry-point myapp.cli:main

# Install extras and additional packages
python -m appimage.build --extras production --package extra-lib

# Build from a different project directory
python -m appimage.build --project-dir /path/to/project

# Use a locally installed appimagetool instead of downloading
python -m appimage.build --appimagetool /opt/appimagetool-x86_64.AppImage

# Use a previously downloaded Python archive (e.g. from another build)
python -m appimage.build --python-archive /shared/cache/python.tar.gz

# Fully offline build using local copies of both tools
python -m appimage.build \
  --appimagetool /opt/appimagetool-x86_64.AppImage \
  --python-archive /shared/cache/python-3.11-x86_64.tar.gz