build: remove aiconfigurator-core compatibility wheel (cherry-pick #1329)

.github/workflows/accuracy-regression-testing.yml

@@ -61,9 +61,9 @@ jobs:
           OLD_VENV="${OLD_ROOT}/.venv"
           python -m venv "${OLD_VENV}"
           "${OLD_VENV}/bin/python" -m pip install --upgrade pip
-          # Split-era revisions need the payload-bearing Maturin core installed
-          # first. Newer revisions keep this path only as a compatibility
-          # metapackage, which must not be installed ahead of the root package.
+          # Split-era revisions need the historical payload-bearing Maturin core
+          # installed first. Current revisions have no separate Python core
+          # project, but regression tests still need to install old baselines.
           if grep -q 'build-backend = "maturin"' "${OLD_ROOT}/src/aiconfigurator-core/pyproject.toml" 2>/dev/null; then
             "${OLD_VENV}/bin/python" -m pip install -e "${OLD_ROOT}/src/aiconfigurator-core"
           fi

.github/workflows/build-test.yml

@@ -228,12 +228,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build the aiconfigurator_core Rust extension
         # The AICONFIGURATOR_RUST_CORE_AUTOBUILD env var is a no-op; the compiled
         # aiconfigurator_core extension must be built explicitly with maturin so
-        # the parity suite exercises the current Rust source. On release/0.10.0 the
-        # maturin project is the core-wheel package at src/aiconfigurator-core (its
-        # [tool.maturin] manifest-path points at rust/aiconfigurator-core/Cargo.toml);
-        # the repo-root pyproject.toml still uses setuptools on this branch, so
-        # maturin must run from the core package dir, not the repo root.
-        working-directory: src/aiconfigurator-core
+        # the parity suite exercises the current Rust source. The maturin project
+        # is the repo root (see root pyproject.toml [tool.maturin]).
         run: |
           VIRTUAL_ENV="${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/.venv" \
             "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/.venv/bin/maturin" develop --release

README.md

@@ -39,9 +39,8 @@ pip3 install aiconfigurator
 ```
 
 The `aiconfigurator` wheel is self-contained: it includes the CLI, SDK, model
-and system data, Spica, and the native core extension. The
-`aiconfigurator-core` distribution remains available as a payload-free
-compatibility package that installs the matching `aiconfigurator` version.
+and system data, Spica, and the native core extension. No separate Python core
+distribution is required.
 
 ### Build and Install from Source
 
@@ -65,7 +64,7 @@ pip3 install .
 ### Build with Docker
 
 ```bash
-# This creates the self-contained AIC wheel and a compatibility metapackage wheel
+# This creates the self-contained AIC wheel
 docker build -f docker/Dockerfile --no-cache --target build -t aiconfigurator:latest .
 docker create --name aic aiconfigurator:latest && docker cp aic:/workspace/dist dist/ && docker rm aic
 ```

docker/Dockerfile

@@ -17,10 +17,9 @@ ENV MPLCONFIGDIR=/tmp/matplotlib
 
 FROM base AS build
 # The `aiconfigurator` wheel owns the Rust extension, SDK/data payload, CLI,
-# generator, webapp, and Spica packages. The small `aiconfigurator-core` wheel
-# built afterward is only a compatibility metapackage. Maturin needs the Rust
-# crate sources, a C linker (gcc), and ca-certificates so cargo can fetch crates
-# from crates.io over TLS. Rust itself is bootstrapped by maturin's build backend.
+# generator, webapp, and Spica packages. Maturin needs the Rust crate sources,
+# a C linker (gcc), and ca-certificates so cargo can fetch crates from crates.io
+# over TLS. Rust itself is bootstrapped by maturin's build backend.
 RUN apt-get update && \
     apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends ca-certificates gcc libc6-dev && \
     rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
@@ -39,12 +38,11 @@ RUN set -e; \
         exit 1; \
     fi
 RUN uv build --wheel --out-dir /workspace/dist && \
-    cd src/aiconfigurator-core && uv build --wheel --out-dir /workspace/dist && \
-    cd /workspace && python tools/verify_release_wheels.py /workspace/dist
+    python tools/verify_release_wheels.py /workspace/dist
 
 FROM base AS runtime
 COPY --from=build /workspace/dist /wheelhouse
-RUN uv pip install /wheelhouse/*.whl && \
+RUN uv pip install /wheelhouse/aiconfigurator-*.whl && \
     rm -rf /wheelhouse
 
 FROM runtime AS test

src/aiconfigurator/sdk/config_builders.py

@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
 
 """Shared ModelConfig construction helpers.
 
-These helpers are used by both the upper CLI layer and lower modeling/engine
-paths. Keeping them in ``sdk`` prevents the core wheel from importing CLI code.
+These helpers are used by both the CLI layer and lower modeling/engine paths.
+Keeping them in ``sdk`` prevents lower-level code from importing CLI code.
 """
 
 from __future__ import annotations

tools/verify_release_wheels.py

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2025-2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-"""Verify that release wheels have one owner for the complete AIC payload."""
+"""Verify the self-contained AIC release wheel."""
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ def _source_payload() -> set[str]:
     return expected
 
 
-def _verify_main_wheel(wheel: Path) -> str:
+def _verify_main_wheel(wheel: Path) -> None:
     names, metadata = _wheel_files(wheel)
     required = {
         "aiconfigurator/cli/main.py",
@@ -82,29 +82,10 @@ def _verify_main_wheel(wheel: Path) -> str:
 
     requirements = metadata.get_all("Requires-Dist", [])
     if any(requirement.lower().startswith("aiconfigurator-core") for requirement in requirements):
-        raise RuntimeError(f"{wheel.name}: must not depend on the compatibility metapackage")
+        raise RuntimeError(f"{wheel.name}: must not depend on the removed aiconfigurator-core distribution")
 
-    version = metadata.get("Version")
-    if not version:
+    if not metadata.get("Version"):
         raise RuntimeError(f"{wheel.name}: missing distribution version")
-    return version
-
-
-def _verify_core_metapackage(wheel: Path, aic_version: str) -> None:
-    names, metadata = _wheel_files(wheel)
-    payload = sorted(name for name in names if ".dist-info/" not in name)
-    if payload:
-        raise RuntimeError(f"{wheel.name}: compatibility wheel must not own payload files: {payload}")
-
-    if metadata.get("Version") != aic_version:
-        raise RuntimeError(
-            f"{wheel.name}: version {metadata.get('Version')!r} does not match aiconfigurator {aic_version!r}"
-        )
-
-    requirements = metadata.get_all("Requires-Dist", [])
-    expected = f"aiconfigurator=={aic_version}"
-    if expected not in requirements:
-        raise RuntimeError(f"{wheel.name}: expected Requires-Dist {expected!r}, found {requirements}")
 
 
 def main() -> int:
@@ -113,10 +94,12 @@ def main() -> int:
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
     main_wheel = _one_wheel(args.dist_dir, "aiconfigurator-*.whl")
-    core_wheel = _one_wheel(args.dist_dir, "aiconfigurator_core-*.whl")
-    aic_version = _verify_main_wheel(main_wheel)
-    _verify_core_metapackage(core_wheel, aic_version)
-    print(f"Verified self-contained {main_wheel.name} and payload-free {core_wheel.name}")
+    removed_core_wheels = sorted(args.dist_dir.glob("aiconfigurator_core-*.whl"))
+    if removed_core_wheels:
+        raise RuntimeError(f"unexpected aiconfigurator-core wheel: {[path.name for path in removed_core_wheels]}")
+
+    _verify_main_wheel(main_wheel)
+    print(f"Verified self-contained {main_wheel.name}")
     return 0