Building on Windows

On Windows, pyzed build makes a folder with Shop.exe and everything it needs. You can share that folder as a zip, or wrap it in an installer.

Build the .exe

1. Install uv if you do not have it (PowerShell):

   powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

2. In the project folder, build:

   uv

   uv run pyzed build

   pip

   .venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
   pyzed build          # or: py -m pyzed build

3. Try it: double-click dist\Shop\Shop.exe, or from PowerShell:

   .\dist\Shop\Shop.exe

The result has no console window (windowed = true). While you are testing, build with --console to see errors and print output in a terminal next to the app.

Folder or single file

	Folder (default)	--onefile
Result	dist\Shop\Shop.exe plus an _internal folder	dist\Shop.exe
Starts	Fast	Slower: it unpacks itself to a temporary folder each time
Antivirus	Rarely flagged	Flagged more often (false positives)
Self-update	Supported (Updates)	Not supported

Prefer the folder build, and give people a zip or an installer.

The icon

Windows uses an .ico file. Put it in the project and point to it:

pyproject.toml

[tool.pyzed.build]
icon = "assets/icon.ico"

See Icons and metadata to make an .ico from a PNG and to set the version shown in the file’s properties.

Share it

As a zip

The simplest way: zip the app folder and share the zip. People unzip it anywhere and run Shop.exe.

Compress-Archive -Path dist\Shop -DestinationPath Shop-windows-x86_64.zip

Name it <app>-windows-<arch>.zip if you plan to update the app by itself.

As an installer

An installer adds the app to the Start menu, can create a desktop shortcut and registers an uninstaller.

Not built by pyzed build yet

pyzed build makes the app folder, not a setup program. Create the installer with a separate tool such as Inno Setup (free) or WiX, from the folder in dist\.

Pyzed Design itself is installed this way: its Inno Setup script is installer/windows/pyzed-design.iss and is a good template. It installs for the current user only, without administrator rights, in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\<App>, which keeps the folder writable so the app can update itself. A minimal script:

installer/shop.iss

#define AppName "Shop"
#define AppExe "Shop.exe"

[Setup]
; Generate your own AppId once (Tools -> Generate GUID in Inno Setup) and never change it.
AppId={{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}
AppName={#AppName}
AppVersion=1.0.0
DefaultDirName={autopf}\{#AppName}
PrivilegesRequired=lowest
OutputBaseFilename=Shop-setup
Compression=lzma2/max
SolidCompression=yes
WizardStyle=modern

[Files]
Source: "..\dist\Shop\*"; DestDir: "{app}"; Flags: ignoreversion recursesubdirs createallsubdirs

[Icons]
Name: "{autoprograms}\{#AppName}"; Filename: "{app}\{#AppExe}"
Name: "{autodesktop}\{#AppName}"; Filename: "{app}\{#AppExe}"; Tasks: desktopicon

[Tasks]
Name: "desktopicon"; Description: "{cm:CreateDesktopIcon}"; Flags: unchecked

Compile it (Inno Setup 6 installs ISCC.exe; choco install innosetup also works):

& "C:\Program Files (x86)\Inno Setup 6\ISCC.exe" installer\shop.iss

With PrivilegesRequired=lowest, {autopf} is the user’s own programs folder.

Sign it

Windows SmartScreen warns about executables that are not signed (“Windows protected your PC”). Unsigned apps still run (More info → Run anyway), but signing with a code signing certificate removes the warning over time.

signtool sign /f certificate.pfx /p $env:CERT_PASSWORD /fd sha256 `
  /tr http://timestamp.digicert.com /td sha256 dist\Shop\Shop.exe

signtool.exe comes with the Windows SDK. Sign the .exe before zipping or building the installer, then sign the setup .exe too. The CI page shows how to keep the certificate in a GitHub secret.

SmartScreen reputation

Even signed apps can show the warning at first: SmartScreen builds reputation per certificate as people download and run your app. Extended Validation (EV) certificates start with more reputation.

Things to know

• Architecture: the app is built for the architecture of the Python that runs the build (usually x86-64). An x86-64 build also runs on Windows on ARM through emulation.
• Paths: Windows paths in pyproject.toml use forward slashes (assets/icon.ico); that works on every system.
• Antivirus: if an antivirus quarantines the app, prefer the folder build, sign it, and report the false positive to the vendor.