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taipan: Run Python Anywhere in a Single Binary

A single self-contained executable with CPython 3.14 embedded, written in Zig. Runs Python files and PEP 723 scripts with inline dependencies on machines with no Python installed, with roughly 10ms warm starts, and compiles scripts into standalone executables.

ZigPythonCPythonCLIPEP 723ToolingOpen Source
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taipan is a ~31 MB executable with a full CPython interpreter inside. Drop it on a machine with nothing installed and taipan script.py just works, including scripts that declare dependencies inline with PEP 723.

  • No Python required. The interpreter ships in the binary.
  • Inline dependencies. PEP 723 blocks are installed with uv and cached, one install per dependency set.
  • ~10 ms warm starts, about 3x faster than uv run.
  • Standalone executables. taipan build bundles a script, or a whole package and its console script, into one file that runs offline.
  • Linux, macOS, and Windows.

sys.argv, __file__, exit codes, tracebacks, threads, and every multiprocessing start method behave exactly as they would under a regular CPython.