CI: Reproduce Failing Wheels & Collect Logs For Debugging

Hey everyone! 👋 We're diving into a crucial step for improving our continuous integration (CI) pipeline. The goal? To nail down those pesky wheel build failures on macOS and Windows and make debugging a breeze. Let's break down the plan to reproduce failing wheels and collect logs, ensuring we have the artifacts needed to understand and resolve build issues.

The Lowdown: Why This Matters

So, why are we doing this? Well, currently, we've got some wheel builds that are failing on certain platforms and architectures. Specifically, we're seeing issues on macOS (arm64, x86_64, and universal2 builds) and Windows (MSVC x64). These failures are a headache, and they're blocking us from delivering the best possible experience to our users. Our main mission here is to create a CI job that replicates these failures, captures all the juicy details, and packages it up for us to examine. This means we'll get the full logs, the wheel files themselves, and a way to make sure the wheels actually work after they're built. This is super important because it helps us to debug the failures and improve the efficiency of our workflow. By tackling these problems head-on, we'll ensure that our wheels are built correctly for everyone. Imagine all the time saved from the debugging process, allowing us to focus on the things we truly care about. No one likes when wheels fail, so we will get them working properly as soon as possible. With the help of the new CI job, the debugging process will run more smoothly. This should mean more time for other tasks. This setup will give us a strong foundation for future development, and provide users with a stable, reliable experience. This will improve overall code quality and maintainability, because if everything works, everyone will have a great experience.

Goalposts: What We Want to Achieve

Our primary goals are pretty straightforward, but crucial. We want a CI system that can consistently:

• Reproduce those darn failures: The CI job needs to trigger the exact same failures we're seeing on macOS (arm64, x86_64, universal2) and Windows (MSVC x64).
• Gather all the evidence: We need to collect the full build logs and the actual wheel files as artifacts. Think of this as gathering clues at a crime scene. The more details, the better.
• Test the goods: After building the wheel, we need a small smoke test that installs the wheel and runs python -c "import benpy; print(benpy.__version__)" to verify the build is working as expected. This guarantees a level of confidence in the final product. The final goal is to create a stable, reproducible CI environment, and the only way to do that is to collect the artifacts.

By nailing these goals, we will have a solid foundation for further debugging, making it easier for us to find out why the wheels failed and what we can do to fix it. This is not just a technical fix, but also a chance to strengthen our testing framework and improve our overall process. These goals are really important, and help us improve the quality of our product. Setting goals in a clear way will assist in fixing and improving the process more efficiently, increasing the likelihood of successful CI builds. This is important to ensure everything will work for everyone, regardless of their operating system or architecture.

The Game Plan: Tasks to Get It Done

Alright, let's get into the nitty-gritty. Here's the roadmap to make this happen:

1. Set up the matrix: We'll add a new workflow or job in GitHub Actions. This job will use a matrix setup to cover the target Python versions and the different platforms/architectures where we're seeing failures.
2. Preserve the output: We need to make sure that the pip build output is fully preserved. This means no truncating and ensuring we save all those valuable build logs.
3. Artifact gathering: Once the wheels are built, and the logs are captured, we'll upload both as job artifacts. This makes it easy for us to grab the files we need for debugging.
4. Smoke test time: As a final step, we'll add a smoke test. This test installs the wheel and runs a simple Python command (python -c "import benpy; print(benpy.__version__)") to make sure that the installed wheel works.

This is a straight-forward approach that will lead us to success. Making sure the build output is preserved is necessary, as there is often valuable information that is lost when the output is truncated. Gathering artifacts makes our lives much easier, and the smoke test will provide confidence in our final product. By setting up the matrix, the build process will be more thorough, as it covers multiple versions and operating systems. This is more of an improvement than a change, as it will improve the quality of everything we do. This is a game plan that will help us get to the end result in a more efficient manner.

The Fine Print: Acceptance Criteria

So, how will we know if we've succeeded? Here's what we're looking for to declare victory:

• Failures reproduced: The CI runs need to accurately reproduce the failures we're currently seeing.
• Artifacts available: The build logs and wheel files need to be available as artifacts for us to inspect and debug. If the above requirements are met, then we will be on the right path. This will ensure that our CI pipeline is working like it should. This is important to ensure that the CI runs do not fail.

Extra Notes: Helpful Hints

One more thing, we can use cibuildwheel to create multi-arch macOS builds. Also, you can set skip/only as needed while debugging to focus on specific platforms or Python versions. This is extremely helpful, and will ensure that the debugging process runs smoothly. This can come in handy when you are fixing the wheels.

We're taking a vital step toward a more reliable and efficient build process. By reproducing failures, collecting artifacts, and adding smoke tests, we're equipping ourselves with the tools we need to diagnose and fix wheel build issues effectively. Let's get those wheels rolling smoothly!