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name: builds-and-wrapping description: "Install SimpleITK binaries, choose source or SuperBuild builds, inspect CMake wrapping options, and run safe contributor checks." disable-model-invocation: true metadata: disco-role: operating license: Apache 2.0

SimpleITK Builds and Wrapping

Use this sub-skill when a task mentions installing SimpleITK, building from source, configuring the SuperBuild, choosing CMake or WRAP_* options, packaging Python wheels, enabling optional elastix/transformix wrappers, or running maintainer-oriented checks.

Start Here

• Read references/install-build.md to choose PyPI, conda-forge, pre-release wheels, pip install ., direct CMake, or SuperBuild.
• Read references/cmake-wrapping.md for CMake options, WRAP_* language flags, Python packaging, Python limited API, SWIG-generated wrappers, and SimpleITK_USE_ELASTIX.
• Read references/maintainer-checks.md for safe docs, tests, pre-commit, and metadata checks, plus release-heavy exclusions.
• Read references/troubleshooting.md when a wheel is not selected, conda environments mix channels, CMake/SWIG/compiler detection fails, language dependencies are missing, or elastix classes are absent.
• Run scripts/check_build_metadata.py from a SimpleITK source checkout, or pass a checkout path, to print read-only JSON about build metadata files and key flags.

Decision Rules

• Prefer a binary install unless the user needs development-branch code, an unsupported language/platform binary, C++ integration, custom ITK modules, optional elastix wrappers, or maintainer work.
• Prefer pip install simpleitk for ordinary Python use; import with import SimpleITK as sitk, even though the distribution name is simpleitk.
• Prefer conda-forge in isolated conda environments; avoid mixing defaults with conda-forge for SimpleITK dependencies.
• Prefer SuperBuild for full source builds because it pins/fetches matching ITK, SWIG, GTest, and build support; use direct CMake only when supplying dependencies yourself.
• Treat pip install . from the source tree as a Python source build: it uses scikit-build-core, CMake, SWIG, and native compilation, so it can be slow and platform-sensitive.
• Treat ElastixImageFilter and TransformixImageFilter as optional build-dependent APIs. They were absent from the inspected wheel, while the source tree contains wrappers and examples.

Route Elsewhere

• For public image construction, spatial metadata, pixel types, and NumPy array conversion, route to ../image-core/SKILL.md.
• For file formats, ImageIO discovery, DICOM series, or transform IO, route to ../io-and-data/SKILL.md.
• For filters, segmentation, smoothing, thresholding, statistics, or N4 bias correction, route to ../filtering-segmentation/SKILL.md.
• For registration, transforms, resampling, or using elastix/transformix after the wrappers exist, route to ../registration-transforms/SKILL.md.

Safety Guardrails

• Mark full source builds, SuperBuilds, pip install ., docs builds with dependency installation, and broad ctest runs as expensive or environment-mutating before running them.
• Use the bundled helper only for read-only inspection; it never configures CMake, installs packages, downloads dependencies, or edits generated files.
• Do not rely on source checkout paths at runtime. Copy or write any future helper needed by this skill under this subtree and link it from the nearest SKILL.md.
• Do not use source release automation or download-statistics scripts for ordinary install/build answers; those are release-heavy maintainer tasks outside this sub-skill.