Installation

snipe ships as a single Python wheel. Installing it gives you both the Python API and the snipe command — the wheel installs a Typer console-script (snipe = "snipe.cli:main"), which is the sole CLI. There is no standalone binary to build separately.

Install the wheel

For most users, one line is enough:

pip install snipe

That puts the snipe command on your PATH and makes import snipe available in Python. The wheel is built with the python feature, so it reads and writes the native Parquet-encoded .snipesig format.

Build from source

Building from source uses maturin, and you pick what goes into the wheel with Cargo feature flags. The choice is a small matrix of goal × platform:

Goal	Command
Python wheel (CLI + API)	maturin build --release --features python
Python dev install (the CLI)	maturin develop --features python
+ SRA input (Linux / Windows)	add sra → --features python,sra
Everything	--features full
Library only (no Parquet)	cargo build --no-default-features

A few things to know about these choices:

• python is the feature you want for a normal wheel — CLI plus API, with Parquet .snipesig support included.
• sra adds direct SRA input on top of python. The full feature is exactly sra + python.
• --no-default-features produces a library-only build with no Parquet: it can still read and write the legacy JSON .snipesig, but errors on a Parquet one. Most people never want this.

Note

The default feature set is sketch-parquet, which is what makes .snipesig Parquet-encoded. It’s pulled in by python, sra, and full, so every normal wheel reads and writes Parquet .snipesig.

Build requirements

• cmake is required at build time — some compression dependencies build native libraries with it. If cmake is missing, the build prints a hint but doesn’t hard-fail on the check itself; install cmake before building.
• Rust 1.82 is the minimum supported version (MSRV), set in Cargo.toml and pinned in the dev environment.

Platform × feature notes

The one platform-specific wrinkle is SRA support.

Platform	python	sra / full
Linux	supported	supported
Windows	supported	supported
macOS	supported	not supported

SRA support does not build on recent macOS SDKs — there’s a strchrnul symbol conflict in the underlying SRA libraries. On macOS, build with --features python and omit sra. On Linux and Windows, --features python,sra (or --features full) works.

Caution

On macOS, don’t reach for --features full — it includes sra and won’t build. Use --features python instead.

The pixi workflow

For development, pixi is the preferred wrapper. It pins the toolchain (including the Rust MSRV) and wires up the build accelerators, so you don’t manage them by hand. The common tasks:

pixi run python-build-dev   # dev-install the CLI (maturin develop --features python)
pixi run build
pixi run test
pixi run clippy
pixi run fmt
pixi run check

pixi run python-build-dev is the fast path to a working snipe command from a checkout — it’s the maturin dev install wrapped so the environment is set up for you.

Next

• Quickstart → — sketch your first sample and read a QC report.
• The .snipesig format → — what a wheel with Parquet support reads and writes.
• Troubleshooting → — common build and install snags.